Surf's Up
I finished my 2nd week at iXperience with a solid presentation on RealWorld, and what better way to celebrate than with another excursion. The Ghoema group boarded the 6:45 shuttle from Dizzy's and we were on our way to Muizenberg for the surfing excursion. It took about an hour and a half to get there, via shuttle and two subways. Two subways not because of a transfer, but because at one point the train we were on just decided it would turn around. Once we got off at our station, we were told not to take that subway alone because it can get kind of sketchy.
Anyway, we grabbed a quick breakfast at a cool place on the beach called Kned that had chandeliers and $3 breakfast sandwiches (only in Cape Town), and then we were on to Surf Emporium where we got dressed up in our wetsuits and headed down to our 9' long boards on the beach. After a quick safety instruction (people are the most dangerous animals in the ocean, sharks are 25th) and a warmup run/stretch (it was freezing!) we split up into groups of 3-4 (I was in the green group with Phil and Wills, led by Mark), and hit the waves.
It was a cold, pretty windy day and it was threatening to rain all morning, and when the water first hit my feet, legs, and body I felt a jolt run through me, and wasn't sure I'd be able to stay in the water for 5 minutes let alone the 1.5 hour session we had planned. Luckily, as we were running into the water Mark must have seen our facial expressions show the cold shock, and he explained to us that wetsuits need to get wet before they start providing warmth. He was right of course, and we surfed for the next hour and a half. It was a blast! I didn't fully catch a wave, but I was able to stand up a few times. The acceleration you experience when the wave catches up to and launches you forward is way more powerful than I expected, and even wiping out was fun. Probably my best run was when I decided to just get up to my knees and ride the wave all the way to the shore kneeling on the board. It was funny getting out of the water and looking back on the ocean, because the waves look so much smaller than they do when you're in them.
We took a quick break with hot chocolate and toasties (grilled cheese), and then moved onto the second part of the day, helping disabled people learn to surf. We met Patrick, a man in his 40s who suffered a stab wound in his spine about 10 years ago that took away most of his control of his legs, helped him down to the beach and onto his surfboard, and then carried him like a Roman emperor to the water. It was his first time ever in water, and he did a couple runs laying on his stomach, but soon decided he had had enough. I was totally fine with that since the cold had gotten to me by that point and I was shivering uncontrollably, I couldn't feel my feet, and my knuckles had turned purple. So, we went back up to the surf shop, showered, changed, and made our way to lunch at Oven Baked.
The sky's had finally opened up by the time we got to the restaurant, so we sat under the overhang and enjoyed pizzas while getting our "Professional Surfer Certificates."
I of course got the Surf's Up pizza, a bacon and pineapple combo, that was even more special today because it was in memory of Sam Panopoulos, the inventor of pineapple on pizza, who died today at 83. We heard a little bit about Oven Baked from the owner, and it turns out that proceeds from the restaurant go to running a school and surfing program for kids from harsh backgrounds.
Finally, around 2:30 we boarded the shuttles back to Camp Bay. Despite a poor day for the beach, my first surfing experience was amazing, and I definitely want to try it again under the warm California sun.
Anyway, we grabbed a quick breakfast at a cool place on the beach called Kned that had chandeliers and $3 breakfast sandwiches (only in Cape Town), and then we were on to Surf Emporium where we got dressed up in our wetsuits and headed down to our 9' long boards on the beach. After a quick safety instruction (people are the most dangerous animals in the ocean, sharks are 25th) and a warmup run/stretch (it was freezing!) we split up into groups of 3-4 (I was in the green group with Phil and Wills, led by Mark), and hit the waves.
It was a cold, pretty windy day and it was threatening to rain all morning, and when the water first hit my feet, legs, and body I felt a jolt run through me, and wasn't sure I'd be able to stay in the water for 5 minutes let alone the 1.5 hour session we had planned. Luckily, as we were running into the water Mark must have seen our facial expressions show the cold shock, and he explained to us that wetsuits need to get wet before they start providing warmth. He was right of course, and we surfed for the next hour and a half. It was a blast! I didn't fully catch a wave, but I was able to stand up a few times. The acceleration you experience when the wave catches up to and launches you forward is way more powerful than I expected, and even wiping out was fun. Probably my best run was when I decided to just get up to my knees and ride the wave all the way to the shore kneeling on the board. It was funny getting out of the water and looking back on the ocean, because the waves look so much smaller than they do when you're in them.
We took a quick break with hot chocolate and toasties (grilled cheese), and then moved onto the second part of the day, helping disabled people learn to surf. We met Patrick, a man in his 40s who suffered a stab wound in his spine about 10 years ago that took away most of his control of his legs, helped him down to the beach and onto his surfboard, and then carried him like a Roman emperor to the water. It was his first time ever in water, and he did a couple runs laying on his stomach, but soon decided he had had enough. I was totally fine with that since the cold had gotten to me by that point and I was shivering uncontrollably, I couldn't feel my feet, and my knuckles had turned purple. So, we went back up to the surf shop, showered, changed, and made our way to lunch at Oven Baked.
The sky's had finally opened up by the time we got to the restaurant, so we sat under the overhang and enjoyed pizzas while getting our "Professional Surfer Certificates."
I of course got the Surf's Up pizza, a bacon and pineapple combo, that was even more special today because it was in memory of Sam Panopoulos, the inventor of pineapple on pizza, who died today at 83. We heard a little bit about Oven Baked from the owner, and it turns out that proceeds from the restaurant go to running a school and surfing program for kids from harsh backgrounds.
Finally, around 2:30 we boarded the shuttles back to Camp Bay. Despite a poor day for the beach, my first surfing experience was amazing, and I definitely want to try it again under the warm California sun.
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