Getting off with a slap on the wrist
Events on the second day of surfing
“Volver al agua me cargaba de energía cada día. Las olas en la isla no eran fáciles. Se surfeaba casi siempre sobre el arrecife creado por la lava volcánica negra de contornos irregulares, a veces lisos y cubiertos por una capa de algas y a veces con afiladas puntas. Las olas provenían de tormentas creadas por fuertes vientos en el Atlántico Norte que llegaban agrupadas en series, como las ondas que se forman cuando tiras una piedra en un estanque, pero a lo bestia. Las olas se precipitan al encontrar determinados contornos regulares que se forman en el fondo de la isla y que los surfistas llaman “picos”. El peligro se hacía evidente en cuanto te asomabas a la costa y veías la potencia con la que rompían las olas.”
(“Solo”, Álvaro Vizcaíno, page 41)
“To return to the water was my daily motivation. The waves on this island were no easy ones. You always surfed over the reef of volcanic lava with irregular formations. At times those rocks are flat and covered in algae, sometimes it’s sharp peaks. The waves are formed by storms and strong winds in the North Atlantic. They arrive in sets. You can compare it to what happens when you throw a stone in water, just at a very much larger scale. The waves are breaking as they reach certain parts of the ground that surfers call “picos” (peaks). The danger becomes obvious as you turn towards the sea to realize the power with which the waves are smashing.”
Charlie and the others realized that day what Álvaro Vizcaíno describes in his book “Solo”.* Surfing is one of the best hobbies one can have but as so many things that are fun to do, there are some risks involved. The sea occasionally reminds you of its power just in that moment when you’re about to underestimate it.
Beach break for a change
As every morning at the best surfcamp in the Canary Islands, they went surfing at 10 a.m. Charlie and the others were in the group with Fede that day. He was the third surf instructor at the Billabong Surfcamp. They passed the dunes and arrived at the Flag Beach. Patrick was more than happy that they were about to go to a beach break. That way, they didn’t have to walk for miles over the reef. The soles of his feet were probably happy too.
At first, some funny exercises at the beach warmed the muscles up. The surfboards were lined up next to each other in the sand so that they could jump from one to the next by turning backward and forward until they reached the other side. The final touch gave a jump onto the last board that was pulled away by Fede just to make it a bit harder. For some, it was a good opportunity to show their best Tarzan performance. Before they got into the water, they got a refresher on surf theory and Fede explained something that was special about the waves that day that the group hadn’t been aware of yet: Due to the low tide and the water movement, it was hard to predict the size a wave would build up to and the point where it would break. The wave would build up very quickly and very steeply. They all seemed to understand that, or maybe not.
The water becomes the instructor
As Charlie and the others had already had some surf experience, they went a bit further out in the sea. Although, it was still quite rocky and shallow. (The bruises all over her legs afterward served as proof.)
Charlie tried to catch the first wave and immediately saw what Fede had been talking about. Like a giant wall and with a roar built the wave up behind Charlie. She had never heard such a roar before. She kept on paddling while looking over her left shoulder to see the wave that reached up towards the sky. She immediately realized that this wave was too big for her level of surfing. Like a giant palm closed the wave above Charlie and the next thing she noticed was being in the so-called washing machine.
In this situation, the power of the water is whirling you around and you’re completely disoriented below the water. All you can and must do in this situation is hold your breath and protect your head with both arms in case you meet the reef. It only takes a few seconds but seems like an eternity when you finally reach the surface of the water to catch a breath.
One thing was sure at that moment: Charlie would only take the smaller, white waves closer to the shore that day. It was a choice for safety that turned out to be the perfect opportunity to keep on practicing the pop-up repeatedly. Grace seemed to have the same idea and joined Charlie in the whitewash.
That was close
They watched how the boys were doing in the water from afar. They seemed to be a bit more courageous. Although it didn’t take long and they could see Patrick being eaten by a wave. Omg, that didn’t look good. The first thing they saw was the surfboard coming up in two pieces.
The next thing they saw were Daniel and Matthias carrying Patrick to the shore. Charlie, Grace, and Fede could see the worries in each other’s eyes and ran toward the guys at the beach. Patrick was conscious but disoriented and he was bleeding at the temple. Another surfer came to help – he was a doctor – and checked the reaction in Patrick’s eyes. Everything seemed to be ok. That took a load of everybody’s mind. They returned into the water – but they all stayed in the small waves this time!
After a sip of water and a cigarette, Patrick felt better and he joined the others in the water. Even he stayed now closer to the shore. Only Daniel stayed at the beach for the rest of the day. Even he – and he was the most experienced surfer in the group – had been whirled up in the washing machine and had met the reef backward. He took a break for the rest of the day.
In the end, it had been a great surf day for Charlie and Grace with lots of small wins, but it was for all of them mostly a lesson. They had been reminded to not underestimate the power of the water. Those are important experiences as well, as long as nobody gets seriously hurt. They all got off with a slap on the wrist that day and had another surf experience to learn from. If you’d like to know what else happened that day (hint: there were sharks on the beach), read the next post in the series.
Charlie had bought the book „Solo” in Corralejo. It tells the story of the author who after a surf accident had been lost for a few days on the island of Fuerteventura.
