Learning to surf

A while ago in my introductory Steemit post I mentioned surfing as one of my hobbies.

So, I decided to write about how I got into surfing and how I learnt to surf.

A few years ago we went to visit my father in Cape Town and for about a week we had done nothing much, we stayed at the house and played video games.
My brother playing Diablo on the pc and me playing destiny on the console.

Now my father at the time stayed right on top of the beach so all you really had to do was go downstairs and walk a few meters and you’re at the beach.
So, for a week we were basically wasting the days away sitting inside eating, sleeping and playing games.

And so, my father said we were going to learn to surf.

Now I'm sure you would know what our first response was. We complained and we didn't want to leave the house and we just wanted to stay inside and play games.

But in the end, we lost the argument as it was either go downstairs have a surf lesson and go for lunch or stay inside and play games and have to go shopping but still end up going for a surf lesson and so obviously, we chose option one because who doesn’t like eating at a restaurant? So, we went downstairs to rent a wetsuit and surfboard and get someone to teach us to surf.

So, once we had our wetsuits on we went down to beach to find my father and the person teaching us to surf waiting for us with a look of amusement clearly visible on their faces.

I was standing directly in front of them when one pointed out that my wetsuit was on backwards.
I was so embarrassed I think I probably looked like I'd been in the Sun for way to long. So I changed again this time wearing the wetsuit properly I walked down to the beach wondering what we had just gotten ourselves into and more importantly when I could go back to my game.

When I got back we went over some basic rules and techniques for a beginner to catch their first wave. It was like I was in school again listening to the teacher drone on about some topic repeating the same thing over and over again, like a stuck record.

So, I did exactly like what I did to my teachers when they start droning on and on, I zoned out and didn't listen to or hear a word he said.

Anyway, when we got into the water I realized I probably should've listened to the seemingly endless droning.
Every time I wanted to catch a wave I either nosedived or fell of the back of the surf board.
By the end of the lesson both my brother and I were exhausted and had caught one wave even though we only stood for like a second of that.
As promised we went for lunch after the lesson and we went to my favorite restaurant the restaurants name is saints. So that was a plus.

By the end of that first lesson I was determined to prove myself and everyone else who didn’t think I could do It wrong.

So, day after day we went down to the beach and practice sometimes with and sometimes without an instructor.

So, the following year we came back and we wanted to continue surf lessons.

But this time we had a completely different instructor who was in my opinion way more competent to be teaching surf than the our previous one, we got better and better the more we practiced and we can now surf without and instructor.

On the left is my cousin, my brother is on the right and I am in the middle.

We have our own surfboards as you can tell from the picture above. In this picture you can also see that my cousin is using a rented surf board and is having difficulty carrying it as he hasn't got one of his own and he still needs to learn.

I think the most amazing experience when surfing though is when you ride down a wave and continue going.

I love surfing, it gives you a feeling of freedom and peace and when you catch your first wave you have a feeling of excitement, joy and accomplishment.