Hi y'all. So this post is a little late since we went boogie boarding yesterday, but better late than never. So, we went to Chris' favorite beach, Kealia just north of Kappa'a. It has nice, big waves. Since I'm a beginner, Chris started us out in the smaller waves near the breakwater. I tried to start catching waves right away, but C had to slow me down (ed. note: "Patience, grasshopper.") and tried to teach me a thing or two about timing. All I knew was that when I saw a good one, I needed to start swimming like crazy to try to catch the wave.
C also taught me the little trick where you don't actually swim, so much as push off the bottom with your feet (this only works when the troughs were shallow enough so that I can touch the bottom since I'm not freaking 6'3" tall). So, I started "catching" waves. On my 3rd try, I felt like I was broken in half when the curl broke and hit me in the middle of my back. It pounded me into the sand and flipped me over a couple of times. (editor's note: that's called "going through the wash...with an extra spin cycle.") Ouch. I had to sit out for a little while.
When I got back in, I was more appreciative of the concept of timing, and getting out in front of the breaking wave instead of right in it, Danika got some really good pics of us out in the water. National Enquirer type spy photos. Luckily, my board shirt didn't hike up inadvertantly. Even though my technique "improved" it still wasn't all that great - and I was tumbled several more times, including my double backflip when I was trying to let a wave go past me, but was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm just glad boogie boards come with leashes and the water was deep enough so I didn't get a concussion.
Later in the morning, Swiss family wave-jammers came out and horned in on our waves. Not cool. The beach was as wide as their rear-ends but they chose to take our lanes. Oh well, we had enjoyed some great rides before they were even out of the McDonald's drive-thru.
Injury report: Very sore right arm. Very sore gluts. Slightly sore back.