Junior Year Box Set

Because the waves were higher, Fritz showed me how to tip the board down and dive through the bigger ones. He taught me the etiquette when there were a group of surfers all wanting to catch a wave. The etiquette isn’t so much ‘rules,’ but more a proper code of conduct designed to keep everyone in the water safe and happy. He told me if I consistently violated them, there might be a beating in my future.

The first rule was the right-of-way. With a wave, there’s a crest, and the person closest to the crest had the right of way. Fritz explained that when a wave begins, you could spot the crest by seeing where the whitecap first appears. Two surfers could take a wave if they were on either side of the whitecap and surfed in different directions.

The biggest no-no was to drop in on another surfer. That was when they had the right-of-way, and you surfed out in front of them. He also told me that when I was done and paddled back, not to go straight through the heart of the lineup where people are surfing. He also told me not to ditch my board. They’re big and heavy and could hurt someone. Finally, accidents happen, of course, and I should just be courteous to others.

I wasn’t too shy to introduce myself and explained I was learning. Some younger guys acted a bit like jerks, but for the most part, everyone just wanted to enjoy themselves.

I did have one misadventure. I’d tried to keep to the smaller waves and somehow misjudged a bigger one. You can pick up a lot of speed on a bigger wave. When you crash, you can get rolled. The wave’s curling action pushes you towards the bottom, and it’s like you’re in the spin cycle of a front-loading washing machine. I later found out Rita bought her house in this location because there weren’t any rocks. This was important because as you’re spinning, if you hit the bottom, it’s much better to be pounded into the sand than rocks. I learned that little lesson the hard way.

The scary thing about being rolled is that it’s hard to figure out which way is up. When I finally surfaced, my lungs were burning. I was grateful when one of the young bucks slid his board to me so I could catch my breath.

“You didn’t happen to see where my board went?” I asked.

“It shot towards shore.”

“Good. I think I’m done for today.”

“You okay? That was a bad one,” he said.

“I’m good.”

“Will I see you again?” he asked.

“Yeah, this is fun.”

“Later,” he said and paddled back out to go again.

When I got to shore, I found my board. It was broken, and I would have to replace it. I decided that while I was at it, I’d get one of my own. I held the damaged board up so the paparazzi could get the shot and then walked back to the house. After a quick shower on the porch, I stripped off my salty suit and wrapped my waist with a towel.

I looked towards the surf and realized I’d just shown my butt to a group of paparazzi. It seemed today would be a learning experience all day long. I should have wrapped the towel around me before the suit came off. This wasn’t the first time my butt had been on display, though. I sent Frank a text to warn him and went inside to change.

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The hot tub felt great. I now understood why the girls had worn spring suits. The high was only in the low 70s, and most of the other surfers had worn something similar.While I soaked, Rosy was on the roof with me, making dinner. I watched as she shucked fresh scallops and cleaned prawns.

When everyone came back, I climbed out of the hot tub and changed into jeans and a sweatshirt. I’d found where Halle had hidden my jeans. Fritz started a fire, and we all sat down and enjoyed a wonderful seafood feast. I fell in love with seared tuna.

After dinner, we sat around the fireplace and watched as the sun set. I was content to watch the riot of oranges and reds flashing through the waves as the sun sank into the Pacific Ocean. I couldn’t imagine a better way to end a day.

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After the sun set, we all went inside. I called my mom and dad and another handful of friends. When I called Cassidy, she handed the phone to her dad. He wanted to congratulate me on the awards I’d garnered. I also called John Phillips at the University of Kentucky. He had good news: he’d been cleared for full participation in football activities. The rehab of his Achilles injury had been long and hard, but he would compete to start at quarterback in spring ball.

Rita had plans to go to a friend’s house, so that left Halle and me alone. I had no idea what we could do. It was a good thing she was there, or it would never have occurred to me we should get naked. Once she had my clothes off, I was all for what she planned. It was much more fun than watching a movie or playing a board game.

◊◊◊ Saturday December 5