After church Amanda and I went to Atlanta bread and ordered breakfast to go, which we took on out to Wrightsville Beach. Anna and Barry were sitting on their porch enjoying a nice morning and breakfast when we pulled up to their house. We grabbed our stuff, I grabbed a board and we went on out. It was maybe 10:30. We ate our bagels and I went ahead on out to enjoy the waves. I did a quick count and counted about 40-50 surfers between the Oceanic Pier and the end of the surf zone right near Public Access 39.
I was out for a bit and caught a few good waves. I came in to see how Amanda was doing and to walk back towards the access, as you tend to get pulled down towards the pier, and Amanda said she’d just talked to Kyle and Lorin, who were up the beach a little ways. She was about to go walking with Anna.
I surfed a little more and when I got out not only were Kyle and Lorin there, but they’d come with Dave and Kristen, and Mike and Kaitlyn had shown up too. We menfolk went back to Anna and Barry’s to grab some more boards. I pretty much always use the white Surf City one and Mike had already gotten the blue one on the way out. Dave asked which one a first timer should use, so I suggested the banana, which is what I learned on. That left the pink on for Kyle, although he was saying he’d just not use one at all until I said I’d use it and he could use the one I was using.
Michael had pulled up when we all got to the house too, so he was out on the beach when we all got back out. He wasn’t overly enthused about going out surfing anyway, but he did go later after a few people came back. I put my rash guard on as my ninnies were getting a bit raw. Those of us who had board all went out and had a blast. Kristen had brought one too and she was already out in the water. She’s been at it about as long as I have and, according to herself, knows and is about as good as I am.
It was Dave’s first time surfing and he not only caught a few but stood up as well, so good for him! Although once I was catching a wave and saw him right in front of me. Not having the time (or know how) to avoid him, I twisted off the board to avoid him and twisted my back a little in the process. I’m okay now though.
After one of the times I came out and reset my position, Amanda told me that Blake Konny was out there, so I bumped into him (not literally) a little later. Another time this small kid, eight years old, named Noah, gave me some advice for catching waves better. I appreciated it, actually. The kid has been surfing for much longer than I have and he and his twin brother have about grown up on the water. I talked to them a few weeks ago when I was out and I talked to them a little today when Anna was out there because she knows their mom.
I tell you, the thing that made surfing even more fun than usual today was not just that there were so many waves, but that there were so many friends out there with me. I had such a great time. Nick showed up eventually too. Made me glad that Amanda and I mentioned to everyone that we were going to the beach.
When I finally came out for good, pretty sore from all the paddling, everyone on shore except for Kaitlyn and Michael had gone for a walk. I put on some more sunscreen and, after asking Dave how secure in his manhood he was, got him to lotion up my back for me. We weren’t out much longer anyway though, although Kaitlyn went out on a board for a little bit and caught (although didn’t yet stand up on) a wave.. There were supposed to be scattered storms starting around 1:00 and Amanda said she’d felt a little rain a few times, but it started thundering a little and there was a dark cloud bank heading our way. On top of that our dogs hadn’t been out to pee in about seven hours at that point, so Amanda and I, then everyone else, decided to pack it in.
Mike ever so lightly bumped the rental car he and Kaitlyn have. It’s a Dodge… something. Cute little hatchback mini-SUV type of deal. They’re getting a used Land Rover tomorrow, so good for them, they’ll have transportation again shortly.
Traffic getting off the island wasn’t terrible, though it was heavier than usual, since a lot of people were trying to avoid the weather. Amanda and I stopped by Baskin Robbins to get some shakes on the way home, and after we did that it poured pretty heavily. The trouble with the rain around here, lately anyway, is that it seems to just open up wide without any pre-soak, so you get a lot of water that builds up real fast before the ground can soak it up. The weather was apparently pretty bad- there were limbs down all over the place and two trees down in our neighborhood.
Michael had come over, so the three of us played Settlers of Catan, as we are wont to do. Michael won a close one then Amanda won the second game pretty handily. He left after a bit and I took a shower while Amanda folded towels. We watched a bit of Dateline, but she was tired and went on to bed. I went ahead and took some aspirin because I’m pretty sure I’ll be a bit sore tomorrow (after about four hours of playing in the water and paddling my ass off) and I had a slight headache.
As I was about to get in the shower tonight Amanda told me I’d done good with the surfing today. That made me smile. You know, the first thing I do after I’ve caught a wave is to look in Amanda’s direction to make sure she saw me (even though I can’t really tell without my glasses). It feels good to get something like that from your lady.
Zach Dotsey