Every vacation we try one new experience from our "have to" list. This year it was surfing. Since the Outrageous Adventures Surf School comes to Papakea every Monday morning, we decided to take them up on their generous offer of a free ground school lesson. Monica, our instructor, broke down the art of surfing into easy-to-understand steps. She promised us that we would be successful. My son Mario (age 11) and I (age 51) were hooked. We signed up for a 2-hour lesson on Wednesday morning at 8:00. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.
We learned the basics... How the wave lifts
you... How to turn... What to do if you start to
fall... And a quick review of
skills... Review of skills at the beach with
Christian, our instructor... Final tips... Paddling out... Catching a wave... Standing... Hey, this is fun:-) Mario makes it look
easy... Ride the wave all the
way... Resting between sets... "This was the best!" (2000) Wow, what fun. The
instructors at Outrageous Adventures were great. They taught
and reviewed all necessary skills before you went into the
water, stressed safety, and were right with you in the water
to give you encouragement. They wanted to make sure that you
had a successful experience. They succeeded:-) (2001) Went back this
year for a second lesson. This experience was even better
than the first. I spent more time on the board and less time
in the water:-) Later that week, I rented a board and went
out again. The little waves are getting easier. Next year I
hope to move up to the 2-3 foot waves. It's never too late
to begin surfing:-)