So this time, I find myself surfing during a 2 week trip to the Philippines for climbing, surfing, diving, and kayaking. I was traveling with my gal Daisy and we had quite an incredible trip. A few days into the trip, we hopped on a bus and headed to San Juan, La Union in Luzon so we could brush up on our surfing skills and see what the Philippines had to offer.
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| Daisy and I on the back of a Jeepney in La Union |
So after surfing a couple of days in San Juan, La Union in the Philippines, I had improved my surfing ability tenfold. I'd surfed all morning and a few hours into it, I decided I was ready for a challenge and after a severe battle thrashing through the inside breaks, I paddled outside to the overheads. These were clearly above my ability but I still wanted to give it a whack.
While I was out there, a local asked me in plain, perfect English, “if you wipe out and your leash breaks, are you going to be able to swim in?” “yeah, I think so. I’ve been swimming my whole life so I think I’ll be alright,” I meekly responded. “Because if your leash breaks you’re going to have to go in. A lot of people wouldn’t be able to make the swim and if you can’t, you shouldn’t really be out here.” He reissued the warning. I reassured him thanking him for his advice. He apologized for bothering me and swam off to catch the next behemoth.
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| The first day's waves |
These waves were ripping- hard. But I had fought tooth and nail to get outside the break and make it here. I heeded the guy’s warning carefully and realized he was probably right. I’d never given thought to a wave being strong enough to break my leash. That was quite a daunting thought. But nevertheless I paddled with all my might for the next break when I was ready. It rose and rose and rose and I paddled ever the harder and faster despite my exhaustion. I prepped to stand up and waited for the wave to carry me. But something wasn’t right. I wasn’t being pushed forward. Then I heard the thunderous crashing of the barrels breaking behind me and realized I was in the wrong spot. Too late to do anything about it now. The wave had already broken and I was soon to be at its mercy. I gripped my board with what I thought was the appropriate force and made a meager attempt to standup. But it was a wasted effort. WHAM! I was slammed with the full, unadultered, yet beautiful force of mother nature as the wave slammed into my board and body tossing me into a washing machine on spin cycle. Surfboard-totally out of my hands. Leash-not broken so far. Head- underwater. Feet-not touching bottom. Feet-now in the air. Hands- trashing wildly trying to stay above water. Brain-AHHHH! DON’T PANIC! DON’T PANIC! DON’T PANIC! Head-above water a split second. TAKE A BREATH! Breath taken- too late., Mouth full of water as I plunge back into the turbulence. This went on for about 7 seconds which is a lifetime in near-drowning adrenaline induced seconds. I fortunately made it out of the first break and jumped on my board as fast as I could when WHAM! I got slammed again, surfboard zipped right out of my hand. Wash, rinse, repeat. There was no swimming out of this maelstrom.
Third time around I was determined to make it out this madness. Mounted the board again and committed a death grip to the rails. I was barely able to hang on as I got slammed a 3
rd time, then a 4
th,then a 5
th. This went on over and over until the waves took me in close enough that I could walk (on the reef filled with sea urchins which I fortunately dodged) back to the shore. That was it, no more going back out. Were it not for sleep deprivation and sheer exhaustion from fighting for my life, I might’ve stuck to the small waves for a while, but I conceded to return the board and call it a day on the surfing. Too rough for now. Live another day.
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