Yesterday, during a wonderfully warm Fall day in New Jersey, I jumped back onto the saddle (so to speak). It was a beautiful morning day with a light overcast; nothing to be concerned about really. Sure, I was running incredibly late for an important meeting, but my leader didn't seem to mind.
Lance, our surf instructor, fit the part to a T. He had just that perfect surfer hairstyle, the flat-shaped Billabong hat, a laid-back way about him and over 40 years of surf experience behind him. In other words, he had the street creeds to make be feel great about my choice to come out and learn to surf with proper instruction. His wife, Jen, and he run Coastline Adventures Surfing School – an awesome Jersey-based school with years of experience and plenty of happy students.
A quick series of sand-oriented lessons where he quickly described water dynamics and the best place to be, and we were on our boards, in the surf and surfing! Sure, I ate it on numerous occasions, but it was awesome! We watched dolphins make their way down the coast, talked about surfing theory and wave conditions and just generally had a great time.
I can't wait to go back again and surf like there's no tomorrow. I was stoked. It wasn't an escape that I found. It was life itself. Let's just say that I was hooked... yet again!
Photo credit: Fernando Fratacelli