Comeback

I’ve tried to make my comeback into the water this weekend. Well, kind of… After ‘the drop in’, I’ve been out of the water for 24 days (for new readers, I’ve been taken out by a car while riding my scooter and injured my knee(s) amongst other bits…so land-bound for a while). Saturday, I’ve decided it’s time to try to get back into the ocean. I figured it would be smart to try first without out board and just go for a little dip and body bash in the surf. I felt straight at home, although I was a bit surprised how freezing cold the water still was.  My knee seemed to be fine too. I could almost bend it all the way and I’ve tried a pop up on the floor at home and it seemed fine too. So nothing to hold me back to get back on the board, right?

Sunday should be the day. I got up early all excited and went to check the surf like in the good old days and what did I see? Massive swell lines wrapping around the Bronte headland, looked perfect but big and lots of whitewash…My surf spies telling me Bondi was just one big close-out. I figured it might not be the best day for my comeback after all.

I was expecting it to be quite big today too but the swell had dropped heaps and there were only some fairly lame 2 footers left. Perfect to ease myself back into the water. It was strange to get back into the wettie after four weeks  (hot tip: rinse your wettie if you are not using it for a while. Mine was a bit stiff and could stand up by itself with the help of some crusty sea salt). I took Ranga, my fav short board with me. I was a tad bit wobbly on it paddling out for the first time….I also gathered bruised knee caps are not cool when you need to duck dive. I caught a few average waves but I could not quite enjoy them yet as I was a bit anxious about any impact I guess. Even though it was not that busy, I was also worried about people bumping into me….

I find it fascinating how the body remembers things. It remembers the paddling and the popping up and I was ok with the timing.  Unfortunately, both knees are still quite tender and some of the movements and falling did remind my body of the accident. In general, I felt a bit fragile out there, which did make my first surf less enjoyable than expected.

But it also made me realise that it’s more than just the physical injuries that need to heal. Once more the ocean has been a good teacher for me. Patience has never been a strength of mine – it’s a bit much to expect to come back all guns blazing…comebacks take a while I guess and sometimes it means baby steps. Lucky, for me there are plenty of small practice waves around this week. And on the upside, someone said to me today, the experience will probably make a better surf coach…

Have a great week gidgets and friends of gidgets. Enjoy the sunshine.

x Clauds