So we went off to muizenberg on friday morning...
Dave hired a board. I took the paddle board out. Conditions could barely have been more different to the day before - see post below. The water was dirty and brown. A light wind made it calm. Swell was about 2 foot and just rolling in softly - like muizenberg is famous for. There were quite a few people out - maybe 40 or so, but well spread out. There were a lot of girls out, which was cool. So, every time is different, which is part of the pleasure of surfing.
So i battled a bit to get the barge out, falling off going out through waves. Standing up with an oar on a board is a completely different approach to waves. Sure, the principles are the same, but everything else is different, and i still have loads to learn. One of things i need to learn is how to fall off gracefully. When paddling out through broken water, the wave just stops and flicks your board to send you flopping into the sea. The paddle means theres no elegant dive. You just look like a tit. Falling off while standing still is even worse. You stand calmly when an unnoticed movement throws you off balance and leads to arms and torso being hurled over to counter, while stiff legs take quick steps towards the end of the board and a splash. Again: tit. And then you get back on and stand up so everyone can see who you are. Not ideal
Anyway, apart from these episodes, I was doing ok. I picked a quiet spot off to the side, and picked off a few waves and cruised for as long as possible. I was also leaving a few that I could've taken. I was joined by another stand-up which meant there were about 5 of us out in total. He got loads of waves. Anything that he could get, he would.
And, such is a bad name created for the stand-ups. You could just sense the bad vibe towards us. Whereas I was being courteous, I was still picking up bad vibes. Maybe not bad vibes, just uncool vibes. One guy who I passed while paddling out looked up and said: 'that's cheating'. No anger or hate in his voice, but just an undertone of disapproval. 'yep' I replied, with similar nuetrality. Anything else I could have said would have come across badly. After a good wave, no one shared the stoke - there was just a sublte peeved atmosphere.
At the end, you are just singled out and any bad vibes are projected at you. You're not seen as another wave rider, but a wave thief. And, in the end, this is probably justified. One of the sharper points on the learning-to-surf curve is lining yourself up for a wave. Whereas the gentle sand slope of the 'berg makes for good learning wave once you're on it, is makes picking the right spot harder, especially for a new, weaker paddler. The paddle board means getting in to a wave is easy, as your altitude, speed and paddle allow for wider area to be covered. All this is much to the chagrin of the floundering start-out.
Dave, who is such a beginner on the other hand, was having a good one on his rented 9 oh epoxy. He got a handful of waves and wobbled to his feet on a few occasions. Nola joined us later and I shared a wave with her - which was probably the highlight of the session. That, and the blue Kombi in the parking lot, registration: HUGE BRU - WP. Gotta love it. So, I will be back at muizies, but not on the SUP. That boat only gets used at quiter places from now on.
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