Sitting out in the surf today I thought to myself what a privileged life I have. No matter what the conditions, being able to surf makes you feel grateful. It was windy, the water was grey blue and the sun only occasionally emerged from behind the clouds. The weather is cooling and the south-westeries are a welcome change but it means I have to start wearing my wetsuit again. But it was great just being out there, especially as I had finished my 'paid' work for the week.
Sometimes out there when you are blissing out you suddenly see a fin. It doesn't matter how many times you have seen dolphins, you always freak out - for a nano-second anyway. When you see the fish arcing back under the water you are reassured that it really is a dolphin. But sometimes when they flash beneath you there is no way of immediately knowing what type of big fish it is. And they are big, even if they are dolphins. They have charged towards me and milled around so closely sometimes I am afraid they will bump into me but of course they have sonar so that's just not going to happen.
Today as I was paddling for a wave there were 2 dark shapes beneath me. I knew they were dolphins because they had been playing around us for a while. They were so close that I was afraid the fins of my board would hurt them and it put me off a bit, but as I paddled and stood up, they were right there, just under my board on the shoulder of the wave. They stayed with me down the line but I was so distracted by their presence I didn't pay enough attention to maintaining my balance and the wave chucked me off. Clumsy human.
note: images obviously not mine
Sometimes out there when you are blissing out you suddenly see a fin. It doesn't matter how many times you have seen dolphins, you always freak out - for a nano-second anyway. When you see the fish arcing back under the water you are reassured that it really is a dolphin. But sometimes when they flash beneath you there is no way of immediately knowing what type of big fish it is. And they are big, even if they are dolphins. They have charged towards me and milled around so closely sometimes I am afraid they will bump into me but of course they have sonar so that's just not going to happen.
Today as I was paddling for a wave there were 2 dark shapes beneath me. I knew they were dolphins because they had been playing around us for a while. They were so close that I was afraid the fins of my board would hurt them and it put me off a bit, but as I paddled and stood up, they were right there, just under my board on the shoulder of the wave. They stayed with me down the line but I was so distracted by their presence I didn't pay enough attention to maintaining my balance and the wave chucked me off. Clumsy human.note: images obviously not mine
