No, you can’t just wish the swell to arrive. Photo: Unsplash
Before living in Southern California, I was accustomed to the lake life that ripples through the East Coast in the summers. However, after living on a West Coast diet of daily waves, then driving for 40 hours and still finding ourselves, somehow, in Kansas, I’m now back home for a hot, hazy, and horizontal summer. I can sense the first shaky signs of withdrawal creeping in as it becomes apparent how tightly my life is wound around waves.
My Cali friends confess that their summers are also “flat”— then they complain about being forced to ride their logs amid a smattering of sting rays, tourists from Arizona chugging Twisted Tea and hard chargers on hot pink Wavestorms.
Regardless of our different definitions of flatness, it’s clear that all surfers go a little nutty when they can’t paddle out and snag a few nuggets. Here’s a quick list of dependable diversions for those lonely days when the swells disappear.
Get Back in the Water
When waves are a constant, our decisions are simple: twin or thruster? Longboard or mid-length? But ditching your board and getting in the water can keep you in shape, help your surfing, and make you less angry that your team isn’t in the NBA playoffs.
Swimming is easier on the body than running and is a killer cardio workout. Skimboarding will help maintain that surf balance as long as you’re cool with getting in a wrestling match with a gaggle of groms and breaking an ankle. All you need to kitesurf is some gusty wind. Maybe take a lesson?
Why not drag that SUP or kayak out of your garage and paddle around your local break? You can zero in on the takeoff point and practice stealing waves from everyone else in the lineup. Go windsurfing, get your snorkel on, spearfish, or go quahogging if you’re able. Yes, that’s a thing here in New England, they’re delicious, and no, I won’t send you some.
One of my favorite summer gigs is paddling an old longboard or a SUP up the river near our house. I get to work on my balance when the current kicks up, I get a paddling workout. Plus, I’m out in nature for a couple of hours, checking out the wildlife and listening to tunes.
Get Back in the Gym
One look in my garage tells the sordid story: the surfboards are either recovering from their journey on my roof — thanks, ripping wind and dive-bombing cicadas — or collecting dust. Skateboards and balance boards sit next to benches, bikes, and assorted workout equipment from the COVID gym we pieced together years back.
It’s not a stand-in for a euphoric left at a point break, but there’s a lot of satisfaction in hefting rusty weights while sweating through your eyeballs in a dusty garage. Throw on one of many surf podcasts and get your leg day on or jump back on your skateboard and work on those tre-flips you could never land. Dial in those carves on a longboard or surfskate the hills near your house and pretend to take it seriously. Lately, I’ve been combining balance boards with free weights, hiking the hills near our house and doing all the fun manual labor that owning a house provides while dreaming of windless winter swells.
Get Your Boards Dialed
Face it: your boards are full of dings from when you slammed into that cannonballing paddleboarder. Memories of epic days will seep into your brain as you get back to basics and squirt clear resin directly into your eye. You can always improve at board repair, and if you’re already an expert…want to come hang out at my house? I’ve got a stack of dinged-up boards and a garage fridge full of warm Bud Light.
While I’m still a novice when it comes to repairs, fixing your boards is satisfying and will save you a ton of scratch. Otherwise, dewax, rewax and get ready for the incoming monster swell. Tomorrow. No, the next day. Someday.
Get Out of Dodge
Let’s face it, you’ve been hitting the same break for way too long. Get out of town, people. There’s more to life than praying to the Surf Gods while someone at the town beach calmly calls the authorities about the dude in a changing poncho who’s chanting to the seagulls and won’t leave the parking lot.
If you’ve got the means, hop a plane to where the waves run like salmon; or, if it’s possible, go truckin’ down the road to paradise. For many of us these options are pricey and time consuming, so why not find a local scene that alters your perspective? Go on a hike, take a long drive, go camping or rafting. Do something unique, challenge yourself. Years back, I survived a landlocked spell by stand-up paddling the Colorado River with badass waterman, Charlie MacArthur, and I’ll never forget it. Pick a place you’ve never been before that speaks to you, and you’ll forget about the ocean’s dry spell. Maybe.
Get Centered
Surfing is our release, our workout, our Zen, our sanity. An early surf doesn’t just release dopamine, it makes it possible for people like myself to settle the overactive brain down, curb any anxiety, and get work done for the rest of the day. My fiancé always says that I’m happier and more grounded after I surf, which is awesome; but I know I can’t rely on surfing to make me feel focused and content.
If you typically spend a few hours surfing every morning, try spending that time with friends and family you don’t see as much. If that’s not possible, write them a letter — yes, I said letter, not TikTok — or email. Surprise someone at work with a coffee. Bring the good vibes to strangers and friends and start up the karma train.
Think outside the box, too. Dust off the instrument you gave up years ago and bring it on the next surf trip. Learn a language that will help you in your travels. Write a song or book, paint something besides the house, go to a museum, take a class about meteorology and climate science to both understand waves more and help save the world from its impending fiery doom.
If you can’t detach from the ocean, I get it. Our dark master keeps a tight hold on us all. Why not teach someone to surf — or at least, to paddle and get comfortable on a board — with no fear of being clocked by an outside set? Why not clean up the beach, something we should all be doing more?
Lastly: stay vigilant. Check in on the long-range forecasts, with or without the online degree in surf forecasting you paid $14.99 for. As I write this, a small swell is headed my way, so if you’ll excuse me, I have to finish fixing my dings and do a gnarly set of pull-ups before the two-foot wind swell comes to rain sick tubes down upon us all.
Enjoy the summer, stay sane, and if you’re lucky, maybe I’ll FedEx you some quahogs.
