Super 60 Surfer

  There should be a calorie chart for putting on a wetsuit, or, at least, a new wetsuit. The more effort required, the higher the calorie count.   I live in the Northeast, and there are only 2 months a year that I can go without a wetsuit. I’m also a complete wimp when it comes to being cold, I’m the first one with a wetsuit and other paraphernalia (booties, gloves, hoods, you name it) designed to maintain body heat while in the ocean.    I’ve decided to surf through the winter and need to buy more substantial wetsuits. Great! What size?   This is the size chart taken off an actual wetsuit website:   SIZE HEIGHT WEIGHT BUST WAIST HIPS 4 5'4" - 5'6" 105-125 31.5" - 33.5" 24" - 26" 34" - 36" 6 5'5" - 5'7" 110-130 32.5" - 34.5" 25"- 27" 35" - 37" 6T 5'6" - 5'8" 115-135 32.5" - 34.5" 25"- 27" 35" - 37" 8 5'6" - 5'8" 120-140 34...

Belmar Jetty Brian is one of the guys I know from surfing. Some of my friends and I were out, at the end of the jetty (pictured above) when he came paddling around it and announced, "Just so you know, the reason I'm on this side, is because there are sharks on the other side of the jetty." I wondered if the sharks got the memo that,  THAT was THEIR side of the jetty. We all have rationalizations. Some of us rationalize about the calories in food, the level of danger, or our impact on our loved ones.  I rationalized that, even if the sharks migrated the one minute it would take for them to get from the other side of the jetty to our side,  I'd be safe. I reasoned that the sharks would attack the people on smaller boards, like Brian's board, not my 9' vessel. This is because the sharks don't see people on surfboards,   neither of which they consider edible. They see the silhouette of something that looks like a seal , which they cons...

We all have a calling, be it to a person , a place, or activity. A calling seems to satisfy something that makes us feel... like ourselves... at peace. My calling is to surf in Costa Rica. In November 2019, I saw an opening and took it. I made a quick plan and boarded the airplane. (Thanks,  Edwin Rojas )  Crocodiles: The trip from the airport to Jaco would be incomplete without a stop at Crocodile Bridge. We stopped and looked down the ravine to see bunch of long logs. Oh, wait! They weren't logs! It was thrilling to see crocodiles so far away. I later learned they are not alway in the rivers. We arrived at Sandpiper Inn, a little piece of heaven, just outside Jaco and on the beach. I had a room on the second floor with a little balcony with a great view of the Ocean.  Looking Down Into the Room on the Open-Air S pace Open Air Restaurant The View From My Room Balcony  #Hikes: You don't have to go very far to be on a high elevation ...

Surf Camp The day finally came! After saving money and vacation time from work, it was time to go to the airport. I stepped on the plane from chilly NJ to Costa Rica.  My surfing adventures to date had left me with 2 boards, 1 wetsuit and a lot of wipeouts. I'd wanted to go to a place where I could go surfing every day with good instructors. A friend told me about a surf camp in Jaco, Puntarenas Province, Costa Rica, so I made my plans and went.  OK, I'll let you in on a secret. I wanted to compete as a surfer, as unlikely as that sounds. I wasn't going to be stopped. I'm not talking about the "World Tour." The annual local beach clam bake and surf contest would be fine. That's still a stretch and there was work to do. I was picked up at the airport by Edwin, a friend to this day, who drove me to the camp in Jaco. I felt like I'd stepped into a postcard. Costa Rica has a topography caused by one huge tectonic plate slipping under ...

I had been excited to learn to surf, but now I was facing the realities of the learning curve: fear and frustration.  Unsurprisingly, I had subconsciously taken on a sport that would challenge all of my greatest concerns. I'm sure I'm not alone: for some people, it's golf, for some, they have their kids to raise as a challenge. I'd decided to take on surfing and now I had to make a new decision: deal with the fear and frustration or succumb to them and give up.  And I wasn't giving up. First things first: Fear. There were days when the waves were well behaved and the right height for me. On these days the wind was blowing off-shore and keeping the surface smooth or "glassy." Then there were days when the water was untamed and the waves were bumpy and unpredictable. Or better yet, the waves were big ugly ogres coming from every direction. The surfing term is “gnarly.” If you're an Aussie, it's pronounced, "Nah-ly." On those da...

"How hard could it be?" Ha! Turns out, it's pretty hard. Soon enough, I had discovered that negotiating the waves with a big board is nothing like floating or swimming through them mermaid-style. It reminded me of when I was learning to ski: I'd been so excited until the first tumble down the mountain. At 10 years old, I was both frightened and excited. Fast-forward 40+ years and I was in for some new tumbles - and still super excited. Unlike skiing or any other sport, surfing is connecting with a moving power source: the wave. This power is both frightening and exhilarating. The optimal power-point of the wave is right where it's breaking.  Here, every molecule from the top of the wave to the sand is a big, turning, horizontal column of water.  If it remains open, it's called a “barrel”. The waves I surf aren't big enough to create barrels, which means: all water & no air. Getting caught up in the churn is called being in the "...