WAX Magazine

Back in March, someone forwarded me a link to a new magazine about surfing, art and culture in New York City that was development. I was excited to check out WAX Magazine and see what they were all about.

As some of you may know, one of the reasons that I started this blog was because I had a hard time finding surf-related resources, blogs, websites, and magazines that I could relate too both in terms of my experience level as well as location and community. I didn't surf those pristine waves in California, Hawaii, Indonesia, Central America, Fiji, etc. so I loved the idea that WAX was focused on the surfing community in New York City.

Each issue is organized around a specific theme. The theme for Issue #1 is Dialogues which sums up what the Editors aim to achieve with their publication - to start and create an on-going conversation about and between surfers and artists and ultimately New York City at large. Yes, surfing is becoming more and more popular both here in NYC and elsewhere. But there is a sense that there's something special going on too, something more than just surfing.

Last night, WAX hosted a launch party at The Wooly to celebrate its first issue. I was curious to see what kind of crowd would show up. And boy, did a crowd show up. It was jam packed. Who knew there were that many surfers or people interested in surfing in NYC?

They've put together a pretty good looking publication and I am looking forward to digging into it. You should check it out too.

Last surf session of the season

I have been meaning to post this for a few weeks now but the weather here on the East Coast has been so unseasonably warm that I kept thinking that there would be a chance that I could make it out to surf again.  But, looking back, I am kind of glad that my session in the water a couple of weeks ago was my last for the season. I had a lot of fun. It was a good way end to my first few months of surfing.

A week or so before Thanksgiving, Ed and I went out to Rockaway with a friend - someone we met while in Costa Rica and who we have since become friends with. That morning, I was a bit reluctant to go out.  It had been a little while since I last surfed and I think that I was anxious and nervous and excited all rolled into one. You know that feeling you get sometimes when you don't do something for a while? You begin to think that you can't do it? That's what I was feeling and I was starting to get into my head too much.

It was a beautiful day. Crisp blue skies. Low 60s. Light wind. And there were waves. Nothing huge but some decent waves coming in with some regular frequency and shape. The waves weren't crumbling or breaking too fast. The only problem was the water temperature. It was probably in the mid-50 degree range - not freezing and comfortable with my wetsuit on. But, since I don't own gloves or booties, my hands and feet got cold quickly so that when I caught a wave, I had a hard time gripping my board and adjusting my stance. As much as I tried and stared at my foot to will it to move, I couldn't square off my stance.

I had a lot of fun out in the water. My goal for the day was just to work on my positioning out the back - not too deep and not to shallow - and just catch some waves. If I stood up and rode the wave, great but I really wanted to deal with the issue I had been having the last couple of times that I had been out surfing. Namely, my constant nosedives and inability to catch any waves. During our morning out in the water, I felt like I was finally starting to get a feel for surfing at Rockaway, a better sense of where I needed to sit and what the waves needed to look like when I try to catch it. There were no nosedives!! Not only that, but I felt like I caught four to five decent waves - which is a lot for me!

I think that by tempering my expectations, I was able to have more fun. There was just one thing that I wanted to work on that morning but, in the end, the rest kind of just fell together by itself. I wasn't expecting to catch a ton of waves and to pop up and ride them all beautifully. I think that by removing that pressure, I was able to relax more and just enjoy being out there. I think that that's something that I often forget about. I can get so focused on how I perform and what I can or cannot do that I often don't take the time to appreciate the moment before me - the beauty of being out on the ocean, the gorgeous day, the time with family and friends.

There was this one surfer out that day who I couldn't stop watching. He moved so smoothly, paddling and catching a wave, standing up and riding across its face. It looked almost like he was moving in slow motion, making everything look so effortless. There were a couple of times when I was sitting off the shoulder of a wave.  I would watch him as he caught the wave and start to move towards me. The lip of the wave would just start to curl over and it almost looks like he's in a barrel, albeit a minuscule one where he's literally squatting down on his board to get as compact as possible. But it was beautiful. I want to be able to surf with such grace and effortlessness.

Surfing in the Rockaways - Part 2

Like I said, the first couple of times I went out to surf at Rockaway, I was super anxious. I was anxious to get back in the water. I was anxious to see if I was really able to do this surfing thing on my own or if my experience at surf camp was just a fluke. I was anxious to apply some of my lessons I learned - on my own surf board and beach. I was anxious because I was some place new and wasn't familiar with the territory. 

The hardest thing for me was and still is getting my timing right and figuring out exactly where I need to sit in order to catch the wave in the right spot. That's a big part of what surfing is all about, right? Being able to read the ocean and catch your own waves? If you can't catch any waves, how can you surf?

When we went out in September and October, the waves at Rockaway were small, broke close to shore and crumbled fast. There weren't quite the nice, consistently breaking waves and off-shore winds at Playa Guiones. These waves felt less forgiving. I often found that I was either sitting too far out the back, thinking in my head that I couldn't possibly sit closer to shore, or I overcompensated and sat too far inside. In the first case, I would paddle hard for a wave but wouldn't be able to catch it. In the second case, I would paddle for a wave but because I was too far in front of the wave as it started to bump up and break, the tail of my board would get picked up and flip me right on over. See for yourself.

I'm too late to catch this wave. I think that my board needs to be about half a length further back than where it is in this picture. I think...

Nose of my board starts to dig into the water while my hands instinctively plant themselves out in front of me to try to stop the inevitable.

Oh no!!

Oops. Oh well. Paddle out and try again.

Those first few sessions were so very frustrating and discouraging. But I tried to keep paddling out and trying again. With each wave and its attendant nose dive, I became a little more familiar with the waves at Rockaway, how they behaved and how I needed to behave in concert with them. I figured out that I do have to sit closer in than I think and, as I paddle for a wave and look over my shoulder, the waves tend to look a little steeper than I would think they would. To set myself up in the right place (or close to it), it's usually a two step process. I start off by sitting a little too far out the back. A wave comes towards me, I paddle for it and I don't catch it. While a little annoying, it helps me learn where the wave breaks and where I need to be to be able to actually catch  the wave. Then, I have a better sense of how far I need to be from that spot, based on my paddle speed and how long it takes me to spot the wave, spin around and get myself down on my board. It's a start, right? A work in progress? 

Surfing in the Rockaways

You know that giddy feeling you get when you fall in love with something new - a book that you can't put down, a new pair of shoes, an amazing new running route, a new food that makes your taste buds tingle - and you can't wait to experience it again? That was the feeling that I couldn't shake when we returned home from Costa Rica. I knew that surfing in New York City wouldn't exactly be the same thing but I was anxious to see what it was all about. I knew that there was a growing surfing community in NYC. Several of my friends and neighbors even surfed.

Birthday surf with a huge red board!

The first time Ed and I went out to the Rockaways was on my birthday in June. Since we weren't familiar with the beach, break or anything really, we decided to take a lesson from the local surf school. It was more of a chance to get our feet wet and to become familiar with the surf conditions. It was a wee bit different than what we were used to. For one, the water was cold! I hadn't fully appreciated the luxury of surfing in just a bikini and rash guard.

The next time we went out by ourselves and I felt like I was the new kid on the playground. In Costa Rica, it was like we were in this nice, little protected bubble. Everyone was friendly out in the water and looking out for each other, hooting and hollering every time anyone caught a wave. Now, I didn't have the comfort of my surf coaches flanking me, showing me the ropes, helping me figure out which waves to go for and which ones to pull back on (and sometimes literally pulling me back by my leash), and making sure I didn't drop in on anyone.

Paddling out into the line-up the first time was probably one of the most intimidating things I've done. Thank goodness the line-up only consisted of two or three other people. But still, I had to watch and observe the rules and culture of this new "playground." When it was finally my turn to paddle for a wave, I didn't want to be that kid who face plants off the monkey bars. I wanted to show the world that I could hold my own, catch a wave, stand up and ride it somewhere - anywhere! Needless to say, that just meant more nervous and anxious energy for me, resulting in lots of fun nose dives. Yes.