When did you start surfing?

[Weasels wake]

Surf mat in 1958 (8 years old)
Home made plywood belly board 1962 (12 years old), man that thing hurt the ribs, but fun and fast.
First real surfboard of my own 1966 (16 years old), a beat up South Point 9' 4".
All while growing up in San Diego, never quit, just evolved, I no longer prone.

I need to add something, because this might be a scientific thing after all, ocean comfort and all that.

I actually have to go back to when I was about 3 (1953), my mom used to hang out with her girlfriends at Wind n' Sea in La Jolla, we just lived up the street, there were a bunch of new mothers back then in the neighborhood.  They would all gather down at the beach at the end of Nautilus, and bring their kids to play.  We'd run down the steep sand into shore break that was over our less than 3' tall heads, and get creamed, the mothers would just laugh at us.  So I'd have to say that's when it really started for me.

[lucabrasi]

Even though I have been coming to Santa Cruz intermittently since my teens, it was mostly for atmospheric walks or just hanging out at the beach areas.  I can honestly say I never saw, or at any rate noticed,  anybody surfing in Santa Cruz until I bought my place a couple of years ago and spent more time at the surf spots lurking. I saw the 'groms and gomers' crash-o-rama at 41st street, and saw there were actually older guys out there and they were doing all right.


Let me put it this way, I never paid attention enough to notice.  I came to Santa Cruz for different reasons, and surf culture wasn't one of them.  I knew it was here, I just didn't make a point of seeking it out or noticing it.  I liked the ocean, walks, and the atmosphere.  It is possible to go to areas and beaches around SC area at large without necessarily seeing surfers depending where and when. We would come over when it was raining and during winter quite a bit. We would go to the boardwalk, or down to the cement ship area. Never went to areas like Steamer Lane, Pleasure Point, or 41st Street until we lived here.

But if you think it's odd, knock yourself out.

I was one of the rats who went to SC from over the hill from the late 60's to the mid 80's and was always going over there. Drive past Lost World and Santas Village, parties at Bonnie Dune, 4 mile, others, boardwalk, downtown, rabble rouzin and all that good stuff. Like an oblivious dummy, never grabbed a board or anything. Played around with body surfing and had a friend that would go to one of the numbered streets and surf but for the life of me can't think of why I didn't rent a board when I went with him. Probably broke but.....Drove to Tahoe 4 hours away to try and ski but never grabbed a board at the ocean over the hill.  Here I am landlocked years later wishing I had done so.......
My kids could all ride chairlifts solo before they were allowed to cross the street.

[supthecreek]

ha ha... I figure that DailyBreads "point" is:
were a bunch of old bastards 

Don't tell anyone else... ok?

[surf4food]

But if you think it's odd, knock yourself out.

Well again I didn't mean any of this as a put down.  Just an observation.  I live in San Diego and at this stage of my life most people I know don't surf or care much about it either. 

[Bean]

I think I know what DB is getting at, but I don't want to ruin it.  Plus what if I'm wrong I'll look like a jackass...

[bts]

Don't recall, but I clearly remember buying my first board. 1971-ish. 6-8 plastic fantastic diamond tail single fin. Bought it from surfline Hawaii for 90 bucks, or about 2 months pay from my paper route.

[TallDude]

The most vivid memory I have of learning to surf was an ill attempted turtle roll right in the impact zone. I had the rails ripped from my hands and a board slammed into my face. Pressure ding!

[feet]

Been around the ocean my whole life...spent my 20s in sea kayaks, didnt surf until 2010 when I bought my first sup. So much fun to be standing on water, havent been in a kayak in years.

[EatCrow]

I started in 1980 and I still remember the feeling of the first, open faced wave I ever caught like it was yesterday.  At the end of the wave I'm sure I said something to myself like, 'I will never stop doing this.'  And I was right.  I get the same feeling every time I drop in to a wave 35 years later.

This in the same year as well

[supnorte]

I started bodyboarding in 1990 when I was 13. I was a swimming athlete and used to bodysurf in real waves so it was a natural move for me. I did some contests for a few years and sometimes I surfed with a shortboard. Around 2002 I started surfing more (shortboard) and around 5 five years ago I bought a big and heavy SUP for paddling around and catching small waves. I loved it so much that I sold all my surfboards! I only have one surfboard now (a Starboard 5'8 AMP in Active Carbon) that I rarely use.

[eastbound]

don't think i'm some sort of mystical whack job, pls. In fact i tend to ridicule anything that smacks of mumbo jumbo. But i have found redemption, comfort and healing in places where i connect with both nature and whatever athleticism i am capable of.

much as i love the ride in skiing, climbing and surfing--the connection is key. sitting outside at dawn feeling the swell and the rhythm come in from the depths of the ocean seems purifying and cleansing. even if i dont get the waves i want or ride well, i always feel better paddling in, if only for that connection.

there are ski-climbs i have made repeatedly over the last 35 years which always leave me the same way--excellent snow or not, when i summit superior across from alta utah, or the boot up to the tippy top of devil's castle apron, i feel a positive energy which always leaves me in a better state. sometimes there's even an emotional release, where i find myself inexplicably near tears. then i drop in, ski down, and feel better than before.

same thing after a surf sesh.

now, quickly, back to my normal cynical self!

[TallDude]

don't think i'm some sort of mystical whack job, pls. In fact i tend to ridicule anything that smacks of mumbo jumbo.
........................................../..............

now, quickly, back to my normal cynical self!

East! I think this thread went South. You and I need to have a beer dude:)

Isn't this thread about the first time we stuck a needle in our arm?

[mrbig]

So DailySurf Photo,  what's the point of this thread ? Inquiring minds want to know!

[Tom]

I   grew  up in Iowa  and  didn't  see  the  ocean  until  I  was  over  20. Moved  to San  Diego  and wind surfed mid  30s . I  took  up  surfing  so  I   would  have  some  thing  to do in Baja when  there  wasn't  any wind. That was  when  I  was  50.

[eastbound]

TD--i'll be west in august--triple ipa, pls--no injecting!