Surf debut in typhoon swell

My first surfing experience didn't start in the ocean but on the TV screen. I was watching Big Wednesday and a video laser disk known as Big Waves which featured footage of Cheyne Horan, Mark Richards, Shaun Thomson and Mickael Ho riding the North Shore of Hawaii. I was immediately attracted to these images of beautiful blue waves, of surfers riding the tube, and the simplicity of it all: Just you, one board, and the ocean. How exciting!

Not long after this visual introduction to surfing, a relative took me to a beautiful white sand beach in the south of Japan. While swimming and playing in the little waves, I saw a surfer next to us standing on his orange board and riding the waves. It looked so fun I wanted to try!

Back in the city, as I was walking past a windsurfing shop, I noticed they had a surfboard for sale with a price tag of only 30,000 yen, the equivalent of roughly 300 dollars. Though I realised later the board was made in China and had a terrible fiberglass job, at the time I was so excited I asked my grand father if he could buy it for me. In retrospect, had I not seen that board, I may never had become a surfer and travelled to all these fantastic surf destinations.

A few days later the surfboard was mine. I was a happy boy! All I needed now was someone to take me to the beach again... My summer vacations were coming to a close soon, and my grand father took me to one of my favorite beach: Takahama. This is the beach where as a kid I used to enjoy playing in the waves. It was also the beach where I had my first near drowning experience. I wasn't a good swimmer and I couldn't hold my breath for very long so I was a little apprehensive.

However on this day, I was so excited about my first day of surf I didn't care about drowning! I was asking for waves! I wanted to see waves big enough to make it exciting for my first day surfing! When we arrived on the coast, looking from above, it didn't look very promising. My favorite distant cousin, Atsushi, was there too. Just a year before, he had saved me from drowning at the same beach . As we got closer to the beach, coming down the cliff, we couldn't see any wave breaking in the bay. Atsushi almost seemed amused when he said to me: "The are no waves...haha... bummer for you!!". But as we got closer and saw the shoreline, my excitement would rise to an all time high: The waves were there!! They looked more powerful than we had ever seen. The water was blue and the white water was rushing up the beach with fury. I didn't know how to call it then. Now I would say it was a big shore break looking a bit like la Graviere in Hossegor. Apparently there was a typhoon on its way and this was a typhoon swell.

So my first day of surf would take place alone without any other surfer. It was a fast, violent and overhead shore break generated by an incoming typhoon. I was equipped with a board that didn't have any wax and a leash that was dangerously short. If any surfer had been there they would have known it was a recipe for disaster and maybe warned me about it. My only warning was the punishment I would take on that day!

First, it took me a while to get past the shore break. I was probably trying all day and only made it out once as far as as I can remember. But catching a wave was still on my mind in spite of the repeated beating I would take. On my last attempt I finally made it out. I could hardly paddle but I was in perfect position when a good set wave arrived. Atsushi was swimming in the shore break, yelling at me to go! Had he not yelled to go, maybe I would have backed off. I can't remember what I was thinking and whether I thought I would be riding the tube by the end of the day. Whatever I was thinking this wave would teach me the importance of timing.

As I was paddling for the wave, it took only a second before I nosed dived and was catapulted over the falls with my board. The violence of it all was shocking! Now I was under water in the washing machine realising the consequences of mistiming a wave. Before I could get back to the surface and breath, my board speared me right in the rib cage. I could hardly breath when I came out of the water. The thing had almost punctured my lungs I thought. I was pretty upset as I had a huge gash on my elbow from a skateboarding accident and now this terrible pain in my rib cage.

Though I called it quit for the day, luckily I wasn't too affected. I wanted to stand on the board no matter what. Next time I knew I would have to leave the leash behind.

Two days later, a day before I was to embark on a flight back to Paris and start junior high school, I was back to Takahama beach. This time I was accompanied by my grandpa and grandma. The typhoon had passed, the water was green instead of blue, and lots of seaweed was floating around. The waves were only waist high and breaking slowly but I was still having a difficult time. My goal was to catch a wave from its crest, before it breaks, as any surfer would.

Soon a surfer would join me in the water. He probably had been watching me and asked if I had any wax on my board. I didn't know what he was talking about so he offered to put some for me. This nice gesture made a world of difference: Until then my board had literally felt like a big bar of soap. No wonder I couldn't keep my balance while paddling. After waxing my board, he gave me the greatest tip I could ever ask for! He said I should try to position myself in front of the breaking waves and catch the white water. Then it would push me and with enough speed I would be able to stand. To make it easier he showed me how to do it. All I had to do now is try for myself.

Now with wax on my board and one of the best tip a beginner could receive, I was ready to catch my first wave. To my amazement, my first attempt was successful: I had stood on the board for 2 seconds. Though only an instant, at that very moment, I felt on top of the world! That was it. From this day on I would be a surfer!! My second attempt was also successful and I stayed a few more seconds standing in the white water. I could hardly believe it!

Content I came back to the shore where my grand father had immortalised this moment with his camera. After the film were developed, I noticed I was standing backward from my normal stance. As a skateboarder, I was a regular foot _ my right foot goes in the back of the board _ but as a surfer, I had stood as a goofy footer!! Unfortunately it would be a year before I got back in the ocean, this time to take-off from the crest of the wave.

If a beginner can learn anything from my example, it's to be a little more prepared: Have your equipment ready and don't push yourself into violent waves breaking over shallow sandbars or sketchy rock bottoms. Had I not been young and hell bent on learning how to surf, I would have followed the path of some of my friends. Many gave up for good after their first try. Luckily these days, it's possible to get some good guidance and learn to surf without risking a trip to the hospital.

Hope you enjoyed,

JM