The Reading Room on NYNJSurf.com

by SeaCliff, as originally published in “The Aloha Room and Stories of Stoke” on NYNJSurf.com

Golf and surfing share at least some core characteristics - The learning curve for each is endless. And in their own unique way, each sport can yield great satisfaction one moment, and be completely humbling the next.

Yet there is something mystical about our sport that defies easy explanation.

I played a lot of golf along the way, and while it was fine, I don’t think I ever once had a passion for golf that I’ve seen in some friends. But then again, I don’t think I ever saw in my friends the pure joy in my soul that paddling out and then into a wave brings me. Perhaps it’s there, and I hope it is there for them. Everyone should feel this.

I’m on the water. In the distance I see the set draw closer. My heart rate begins to pick up as my eyes look for the subtleties - the size and shape, building and changing as they approach. The second wave…that’s the one….get out a bit….a few extra feet out and east…line it up…..heart rate racing now…in position…start paddling…get some speed to get out in front of her, remembering everything I’ve ever tried to learn…..anticipation building…I can hear voices and see images in my head…Alex Karinsky talking about pulling in, Kui Nakamura smoothly popping up - graceful and relaxed, Jeff Anthony and Ryan McNeil generating speed….

……and suddenly I feel it. That moment. That instant when the wave takes over and lifts the tail of the board - that fraction of a second - it’s at that moment - when the wave is in control - that I feel closest to god or whatever it is that put us all here.

And in an flash, that instant is gone and suddenly it becomes all about taking control back and taking this incredible gift and doing the best I can with it with whatever meager talents I’ve been able to acquire. Down…bottom turn…see the face, react….anticipate the next section…react….draw from her energy and react again….and then……she’s gone.

My heart still pounding, my body back on the board, I turn and begin paddling again. My eyes instantly go back to the horizon, looking for more….hungry for more, never satisfied. Because I want that moment. Again.

Golf is a fine sport, but I never felt that way lining up a 12 foot putt.