I recently had to go inland for some work and with that in mind, I never thought of how I would feel without getting wet or just going for a quick paddle.
It’s the closest to having withdrawals I’ve ever had. Itchy skin, dry scalp and swollen feet. Every bit of it sucked. But nothing was worse than my mind wondering about all the waves back at home I was missing. You can watch all the surf vids and insta surf feeds, but it’s not enough to quench the thirst of that “stoked” feeling.
We have all gone weeks to months without getting any waves, and on those super down times we can at least walk to our local beach and have a quick dip to feel mother earth at her best but with being over a thousand kilometres from the coast all I could think of was finding a local waterhole to get wet.
Your mind starts to think about all those waves you bailed on because it was not quite right, or those sessions you could have got that extra few peaks but you decided to go home because you were kinda tired and you just start to sink lower into that dark abyss of ocean longing.
Then your mind moves to that extra board you want for your quiver, or that surf trip you keep putting off, but you know what? Nothing beats those memories of your local Break………….
All you keep saying to yourself is, “when I get home and I’m back in that line-up I don’t care if my shoulders are burning, my back is roasted or my hamstrings are lit, the only thing that is finishing my surf session is that sunsetting”.
Its funny with us as a species, we are all drawn to water. It doesn’t matter if you’re a wax head, or a mother that loves watching her kids play at the beach, or that elderly couple that holds hands while walking along the beach, to even that farmer that is yarning for rain for his herd or his own sanity.
Nothing cannot be created without water, it is one of the master building blocks that makes us, us. Don’t just enjoy it respect it………..
