Ode to a Beater Board

I have owned a few new surfboards. Shiny , glossy perfect and free of wax, dings and salt water. They are untested and like a new car you almost hate to wax them up or maybe you think twice of riding it because the surf is rough and closing out.

And then at some point it gets the first ding or scratch and another it maybe the newness is replaced by another. Maybe it gets traded in and becomes someone else's new board.

Surfboards should be ridden and though cared for and repaired , still taken out and enjoyed. So... The lowly beater board has found this place where , if you get over the fact that its not shiny and new. Or perhaps it's some old style and design... It's also carefree. It's ridden with gusto and chance is thrown to the waves. It's ridden and enjoyed just like the surf shop fresh off the rack beauty you saved up for but are afraid to ride s supposed to be...

A birthday near he ocean is as good of a way to get things rolling on the blog again as any. Surfed twice yesterday in small shorebreak. The cold water trickling in the wetsuit was a reminder of how removed I feel from the ocean when I'm in a wetsuit. On the way back up the boardwalk I talked to a group of women who were curious about the water temperature and wetsuit. They even got a group picture with me... Somewhere I suppose I am immortalized in a phone's memory...