High tide

The day after I wrote The bright side, Andrea proposed we went for a session together. It was small at the Cote des Basques, log-high and perfect for my first session after a long time.

We had fun and I finally had the chance to get my new board in the water!!! Ok, I caught just a couple of good waves actually, but I decided it was a good start anyway.

So, we went when low tide was beginning to pick up and didn't manage the time. If you surfed there during spring, you know that the sand banks totally change the identity of the spot after winter storms. So that when the tide is low you can see the waves have dug some holes just in front of the rocks. And this causes difficulty to reach the beach during high tide, since there's a lot of stream and the waves break directly against the rocks.

But we didn't care that much or, at least, we cared but underestimated it.

So, long story short, when it was the time to go out it was already too late. Too much water and the waves were breaking on the rocks. We paddled to reach the one exit we thought it was the best and suddenly we were stuck between the waves and the rocks, the stream pushing us towards them and far from the exit.

I couldn't touch the ground (hello 1,50m tall!) and was panicking. I unleashed my board and climbed on the rocks, Andrea with two boards trying to walk against the stream.

In the end he managed to push my board towards me and he reached the exit with his 9'8 ft, which meanwhile had already had a tour on the rocks.

We kissed the ground and went home. God knows how we ended up with just a few bruises, a stiff neck and some dings on our boards.

It wasn't a great experience and even if we probably weren't in life danger, I assure you in that moment I thought I was about to break my head on the rocks.

So, why did I want to tell you this little story of mine?
In surf blogs we always read all about the love for the ocean, the amazing feeling of riding a wave or the latest shark attack. If in your country there are no sharks, you might think that surfing is just the breeze in you hair and the tan lines of your surf suit.
Well, surf is not only that.
It's also efforts, struggles, a lot of mind training and sometimes a few tears too.

With this being said, I don't want you to run away if you thought about learning to surf. And neither I am trying to keep you from the love you feel while you're in the water. I'd be a complete fool!

But if you want to paddle out smiling, it's sometimes better to be aware of all of these not-so-easy steps you have to overcome, in order to be safe and enjoy every second of it.
And believe me - when the fear and struggles are gone and you're sliding on that amazing peeler, your heart will be pumping for the excitement and you'll be ten time more stoked!
This for sure.


If you, like me, are trying to overcome fear while in the water, you can also check a previous post here.

I hope you're having a fearless salty week! ;)


xo


Credits // Author // Photography: Marta Tomasini