Little Pink Wave! Here's her gig..Thanks Pinky!

Here's the cool person I told you about, "Little Pink Wave." I can't wait for her embarrassing story;-) It can't be worse than being dubbed the "Phillipino Board Boy"!!

Thanks for the submission Pinky ;-)~

I've honestly loved surfing my whole life. But oddly enough since I was a girl my parents really didn't allow me to do any sports. Not to mention I live in Nevada. But when I was 19 I got into snowboarding which is fun of course. Then around 22 was the first time that I had ever tried it. I loved it. It was funny because the person teaching me didn't think I would catch the first one I attempt to catch. But i did lol and then I didn't really know what to do. Not mention it was by a bunch of cliffs and I didn't really know how to turn at that time. Yeah I know. It was pretty funny. I also have a really embarrassing story but we will leave that for another time for sure. Then finally last year I was able to get a used board actually a couple and have been going every month since then. So very new but loving every second of it.

As promised...

The "Surf Art" Link is now up and running. Special thanks to Steve and McKibben Studios for linking up and being the first to link.

Check out his sight, there is extremely nice art work on the sight and many links to surfers who appreciate expressing their interest/desire for surfing!

An excellent site!

Cook

Yet another cool peerson....

This is Bizzy. She's in my class at OSU and is pretty cool. Check out her blog!!

Cook

Met a cool person

I met a cool person on wannasurf.com tonight. Slowly but surely, starting to link up. :-) I'm trying to get surfers to tell a story on wannasurf and then post it on my blog. I can really only talk about my self so much.

Later onnnnnnn.

Cook

Still trying to get people connected

I think the funniest thing is that I have ONE post on wannasurf.com and that one post, with no additional effort has gotten (as of last night) 187 hits and no replies. I'm going to try and get a quick video on you tube to see if that generates some traffic.

Riveting stuff I know, but such is life talking about surfing in Columbus, Ohio. There has got be others in this big city that at least have an interest or have at least tried it.

Where......are........you...............................................?

I'm geographically challenged.

Maybe tomorrow I'll tell my shark story...it was pretty cool.


Laterz

Cook

Everyone Has a Story

Today is a Sunday, as you can see from the date above. I think everyone has a story to tell in life, whether or not it is a good story or a bad story. My one time surfing adventure to me, is a good story. To some it may be nothing more than something that happened to them, or never will happen. It may be something they can't relate to as there are things I can't and never will relate to. But that doesn't mean we can't try to understand their story's obvious or sometimes hidden meaning.

Life should never be one sided or closed minded. A guy when I first arrived in Guam, saw that I wasn't adjusting well to being so far from home and basically in a different culture. Frank Reyes must have seen the same thing in me, because he took me to see this guy. I never got the guy's name. I didn't ask and he didn't offer. I was looking off in the distant at the most spectacular view. It was on the north end of the island, on the base, and I was just zoning out. I must have had a stressed out look on my face as I was just dumped by my fiance at the time. So, broken heart, away from home, no friends, etc. I was just out of it.

The guy came near to me and said, " Come here. I want to show you something," in a thick Chamorral accent that was hard for me to understand. He walked me closer to the look out and said, "You see all that?" I replied with a nod of my head. He said, "No do you see ALL of that" with a sweeping hand gesture. I said yes. He glanced out in the distance for a few seconds, then back at me and said, "If you don't slow down, all of that doesn't mean anything. Slow down and that will mean everything."

It took a few months of getting off base and out into the island to understand what he meant. Once I figured it out, I kept it with me as a part of who I became in life. When I got married in '06, I forgot it. I was suddenly a husband, step father, and son-in-law. Until this class and choosing surfing as a topic I remembered what the man said. Now, with the past few weeks, I've been slowing down and I feel better for it.

PISSED OFF!

Today was a bad day at work, like I anticipated. I wanted to go to work and tell them about Corky. You know, just something unique and different outside of the superbowl. I don't get mainstream sports like they don't get surfing, rock climbing, scuba diving etc. Well, it didn't work out. I think something I would love to do with this sight is just get the average person to see the surfer mentality. THE VIBE!!!!!!!

I think I'm definitely getting back on a board and screw my poll. Just because the average person doesn't understand it does not mean I can't enjoy it. I'm sick of the norm, sick of the laughter, sick of being made fun of for wanting to build a board, because they don't understand.



SWELLS BIATCH!!!!!!!!!!

Added Build a Board

I must be manic. All it took for me to get out of my funk was to read an article by Daniel Crockett. This article is in the links and it goes into how a CUSTOM board is built. It put me at ease and I chilled out from my previous post. Work doesn't seem so bad now...the saying goes, "Surf is life. The rest is just details."


Night.

Unproductive

Today was a "blah" cold January day. about -9 for the high. I'm getting apprehensive about my job tomorrow. Just a new gig and everything is an adjustment. New people, new personalities, and nothing in common except for what we do for a living. So, not much of a post today.

But I'm still thinking about waves and what they were like. Few days go by that I don't think about that one surfing attempt. It was fun and near tragic all at the same time. It still gives me shivers and yet I still want to try it again. Once bitten I guess.

More tomorrow.

Cook

CORKY CARROLL

THIS GUY IS A SURFING LEGEND and I feel pretty humbled for him to have replied to my e-mail request himself to link up. I came across his sight while looking for links and found OC Register where he now writes for them. The article was about surfing nighmares on surf trips. I told him about my blog, what I'm intending to do and his reply was a simple "good luck on your sight...sure we can link." In a nutshell, this guy is g-o-d in the surfworld!

I hope having his link gives some credibility to my blog and what I'm doing. Rememeber, if your surfing, tried it, still doing it, or want to try it again...leave your comments. As long as everyone stays cool on their posts and the spamming doesn't start, anyone can post.

This just made my day! I was pretty frustrated with this last night because I had been sending request after request and no one answered. This dude just made up for all of that!

Go check out his sight and learn about him and some of his history. He's definitely a worth it!

Thanks Corky!

1/18/07

I actually got a guy from wannasurfer.com to touch base, so that was pretty cool. Just waiting to hear back from him. The link will be in my links section if anyone wants to check out the sight. Its for all levels but a lot of established surfers are on it as well. Right now I'm still cruising around surf sights and blogs trying to get people to connect. The east coast is going through winter right now, so I doubt there is a lot of chatter right now.

I'm not getting very much traffic right now, but what are you going to do except keep plugging away...

Right now I'm getting kind of frustrated with the sight. A lot of my fellow students are blazing by me on their blogs. Video clips, art, links, etc. Sometimes it sucks being older. You feel like you can't keep up with the younger crowd.

eh...more on Sunday. Tomorrow I'm going to work on all the stuff we've been doing in lab and maybe take a break with marketing for a day. I'm going to go work around the house and get some firewood for tonight. It's freaking cold here.

More later and remember, SEND SURF PICTURES AND VIDEO CLIPS.

Anything Surfing and Free Advertising until further notice

First off, feel free to post anything related to surfing. it doesn't have to be a "night marish " experience. I'd like to hear more stories about good waves and nice sets from either part of the country or the world. I'm going to add a Build-A-Board board section somewhere on the page too.

Secondly, if anyone wants to advertise for free until further notice, feel free! I'm not looking to make money off this blog, but if it grows and becomes necessary then we'll cross that bridge when and if we come to it.

I plan on making my own board soon, so I've been playing with scrap pieces of wood trying to just get a feel for shaping. I haven't been terribly successful yet, but I figure scrap wood is a lot cheaper than blanks right now. If anyone has tips feel free to post. Just put in the title "Board Tips"

Laterzzzzz.

Cook

Why I'm doing this sight

My trend is to try and re-connect
geographically dislocated surfers by sharing their
stories. I intend to contact as many surf blogs as I
can to promote the sight and gain traffic. As I go, I
want to get back into the community and see what is
going on almost 16 years later in the surf world.

I am also going to solicit photos and videos of
surfers and maybe even try to get an video of myself
getting back on a board.

Cook

Here's My Gig

I tried to learn how to surf while I was stationed in Guam back in '90. I have been facinated with it since I was a kid and living in Portsmouth, Ohio. Well the only thing to surf there was the wake from a passing barge. A good friend named Debbie gave me a used board she got from someone to learn on. The fun thing for me was that the nose was broke off so I learned how to repair it with some fiber glass. I was so excited that I was working on my board and getting ready to learn how to surf.

I had some good guys to learn with, one guys name was "Turtle." I Sware to God he looked like one but a little more excitable. We first went to a local spot down by "Hotel Row" and that's where they schooled me on respect for territory (I guess you could call it). Being a "howlie" on the island it wouldn't be smart to step on toes. One of the guys I was with went out (cant remember his name) and he surfed for about twenty minutes. The weather and surf was getting bad, we had a typhoon coming in a few days, so the surf was rough but good for the Island. It was too crowded so he came in and we went to a "secret" spot Turtle new about called Mugundas Bay on the south side of the Island. We got there, I saw the waves, and I was like in my mind, "...now that's what I'm talking about!" It looked like something out of a movie! Huge swells coming in sets of four. An absoloute wet dream for an experienced surfer.

Now here's the thing about this spot: You had to climb down about a 100 foot coral reef cliff to get to the water then swim out to the break. Everyone went out except for me and Turtle. His hesitation should have been my biggest warning sign. I think in the back of my head it was. But I started to inch forward and I remember he said, "Are you going out?" I knodded my head and he said, "All right, lets go" with a grin on his face knowing what I was getting myself into. We climbed down the reef and he went in like a fish. On his board and was half way ahead of me before I got my board in the water. I was petrified and even turned around to see if I could climb back up the reef. I couldn't because the re-entry point was about 100 yards left. I had no choice.

I put the board in and tried to paddle for the first time and got nowhere fast. I was getting thrown back towards the reef. I got about 15 or 20 feet from it and tried to swim out a little with board like a lifeguard. It got me about back to where the current caught me the first time and I don't know it happened, but I tried paddling and started to cruise out to the break. By the time I got there I just chilled on the board because I was exhausted. I sat and watched what everyone was doing studying as hard as I could, because let's face it I was pretty screwed at that point. I either had to learn how to do it so I could get back in or my ass was SCREWED!

Well, everyone tried to catch waves and no one was really successful a lot of attempts, but the Hawaiian caught a few, I think his name was Jimmey. Anyway, Turtle made an attempt and went in on his last one. Then Jimmy and the other guy went in too and I was left alone. I stayed because I though they were tired. Then they start waving me in and I tried to catch a couple of wave and they just went right underneath me. So, I paddle back for one more attempt. I caught the first wave on the first swell and I just FREAKED OUT! I remember trying to stand up for a minute or so and felt the power of that swell and man I was ELATED!! I did it! I got up!...then the second wave knocked me right off like a rag doll!

Here's my Surfnightmare: I started paddling in once I found my board and got back to what now became a "PFD". High tide was coming in early because of the storm. I kept trying to paddle left to get to the re-entry point but I was so far right I was doomed. The waves were crashing on that reef like glass bottles and I was just getting closer. I dont know how I kept my head. Somehow I used enough common sense to try and ride the waves up the reef and rock climb at the same time. I was getting smacked like I was a toy. Honest to God I thought I was dead. The swells were coming in sets of four and here is what I did to survive, at least that's the only thing I can call it: As the waves came in, I climbed with my board. I was getting cut to shreds from the reef. About a quarter of the way up I chucked the board and went into survival mode I guess. The waves hit me from behind and I remember screaming from the pain of the reef and that I was gargling the ocean. That was when I knew I was done, TOAST!

Somehow it happened. One more swell came in, another set of four, I kicked off the reef, and rode all four high enough that when they went out I would just power climbed to the top.

I made it to the top and walked forward at a fast pace to get away. I fell to the ground then saw the road. I was covered in blood from my chest down. I started walking down that road back towards the car and I saw my board floating out to sea. After that, everyone called me the "Phillipino Board Boy" since that's most likely where my board washed up, and I would have too if I had not climbed that reef and chucked the board into the sea.

I never tried to surf again after that. It became my white whale. Now, I might see what that whale is doing soon, but in a whole lot calmer surf ;-)

Have a surf nightmare? Post it!!!

Cook

Post your surfing stories here!

Welcome! If you have a surfing nightmare to tell, tell it here and let others know about it. I surfed once in Guam, Mugundas Bay, caught the wave and it was the most crazy experience. Going back wasn't so fun....more on that nightmare later.