the water. A few good steps into the sprint, I drop the board in
front of me and leap on. I have only about a second to set up
my balance on the board before I hit the wave, and it flings me
10-12 feet in the air.
There were plenty of times that I was off balance as I
jumped on the skim board. It took all of my speed forward and
clashed with a thousand gallon wall of water going in the
opposite direction. The worst was at a beach called the
“Wedge,” which was notorious for people getting carted off in
an ambulance, by getting slammed on the beach by giant,
powerful waves. I thought I was getting pretty good, but the
Wedge is a humbling jetty break, with huge bouncing waves.
One day at the Wedge, I took off running to get on a giant
wave. I knew I was a second late taking off, but my greed got
the best of me and I was having too much fun. I dropped my
board, got on, and looked up, only to see drops of water the size
of softballs coming at me. The next thing I know is I’m on dry
sand next to the lifeguard stand, on my back, nuts wracked,
wind knocked out of me, and all I could say was “get my board”
to my friends.
Skim boarding taught me a lot about watching the waves,
how they react, and how they set up in groups. Some say they