surferdude.blogspot.com

I have found my calling... surfing, it seems, is in my blood. After only 3 surfing trips, and around 12 hours of surfing under my belt, I am hooked.

My first surfing trip was in La Union, our introduction to the wonders of surfing. I found it fairly easy to catch a wave, with the help of Manong surfer who pushed us so we can ride the fairly easy waves (1-footers). Although I knew I had a long way to go in terms of skills, I felt I had the basics covered which, as far as I was concerned, was standing up and keep standing up until the wave died out. The following day, this time with no help from Manong surfer, we failed to catch some waves as there weren't as many good ones as the previous day. I, however, was not deterred.... me and my friends vowed to come back.

Brgy. Pundakit in Zambales was entirely a different story. We enrolled in a surf camp offered by Stonemoney Surf and 'trained' by surf-master Joe Villatora (a real surf pro from Hawaii). The waves here where much much bigger... 5 footers I believe, since a typhoon has passed by recently. We never caught any waves, but this was the real eye opener for me into the surfing lifestyle. As Joe said, 90% of surfing is paddling and I was okay with that. I loved the notion of paddling into the line up and waiting for the right wave to come. And the feeling of the wave just when it catches you.... heaven.

Finally, before the surfing season ended, Tots invited us back to Zambales for a final surf trip this time in San Narciso. Everyone was excited and really stoked to catch some waves, but disappointment greated us as we approached the beach... no waves. So we ended up playing frisbee and hanging out for the rest of the day. The following day, I woke up to my friends saying "Let's head off to the beach, there are waves! Time to surf!". And so we did... after some time of trying to catch one, I finally did it. I caught my own wave, and from then on I pretty much caught wave after wave... such is the life of a surfer.