The Surf Diaries

# 10 Fishbait

Haven't got my shit together. Woke up from a nightmare and that muddy mood maelstrom has infected the days palette. Did a 20 minute run on stiff-as-wood legs.  Waves look decent but I'm whacked from the run.  But I go out anyway.  There are three sections for surfers of various skill levels.  Good.  Worse.  Shit.  I fall into the final category.  There's one dude next to me in the not too good section, and there are a bunch of youngsters whooping it up down the drift.

It's gnarly out here.  The waves are moving in very random patterns, not just advancing patterns, but diagonally.  It's weird because today there is an onshore breeze, and it's gathering strength.  The speed that waves double up, triple up or worse is incredible.  It means I have to virtually treble the speed of my pop - I fail at this for most of the afternoon.  In fact I'm tempted to move out of the shit category and start a new one, dogshit.

Beside me is a little brown cormorant, its head snaking out of the water every so often before it dives and disappears into the churning water.

Yes it ain't pretty but I do manage to stand on the board and break my record.  Every time is an improvement on the last.  I read somewhere that the number one success factor is grit - you simply have to stick it out for as long as you can - longer than your colleagues is even better - in order to start becoming very good at it.  Simple, right?