Chilling on the Coast

This is how I came to have a black eye, it was Wednesday morning and having checked the surf cams the kids and I decided to go down for a surf before work/home schooling. We arrived to amazing blue skies, crystal clear water and magic little 1 – 2’ waves, perfect for practicing. I left the kids in close to do some body boarding and headed out back to try and bag a couple of rides. No sooner had I reached the back I was able to catch one magic wave that although not overly large went on forever, and that was about where my luck ran out. I paddled after a stack of other waves but to no avail, now this would have been fine had there not been another bloke out the back who would have been around 70 in the shade, was significantly over weight, riding a short board and getting ride after ride. Now I am used to having people more than twice my age race past me on their boards again and again, while I am fighting with the white wash just trying to get out the back, but at least those guys look like they have been surfing for their whole lives, this bloke looked like your typical retired accountant. Of course the more rides this bloke got and the more waves I missed was really starting to get to me and I was becoming increasingly reckless just trying to catch something. Now for the most part the waves were in the 1 – 2’ range, however every now and again a wave would come through that was significantly larger and inevitably in my reckless frustration I happened to paddle after just such a wave and of course by the time I realized this was the case I was already deeply committed. Needless to say things didn’t end well, there was one point in the ensuing washing machine where the ocean ripped the board out of my grip and smashed me in the face with it and now I find myself having to explain to our clients exactly how I ended up with a black eye and no it wasn’t because I picked a fight with the tax department.