Bound by the Leash

Miss Sis's post got me to thinking more about what I'd already been thinking. Going leashless improved my surfing exponentially. I've learned how to control my board and kick-out and I have a greater comfort in crowds because going leashless has made me more confident in my abilities.

I have another girlfriend who went leashless this year and you can see the difference in how she relates to the wave -- she looks comfortable and in trim. She's finishing her waves instead of hopping off the board. She is leaps and bounds better than some of the other people who have been surfing alongside her for the same amount of time.

As for me, it doesn't even occur to me to put on a leash if it's waist-high (chest-high if there is shape). It's a little weird when surf buddies greet me on the way down to the water with, "No leash?" I take a look at the easy waves and wonder if they even see the same thing I do.

Put me firmly in the "leashes suck" camp. I mean, how could I even consider doing a coffin-reverse coffin if I was tied down with a leash?

I like surfing

Go figure.

Small waves, big board, some shape. Home break this weekend. Kinda stupid fun. Evidenced by my coffin-reverse coffin move on one knee-boarded wave.

I knee-boarded because the wave was too small for me to get into otherwise. I ended up kneeling too far up on the board, and being leashless, I will hold onto the board with anything, even my ass. I somehow found myself lying ass-down on the board with my head at the tail. Through the white-water, I saw Bart laughing at me so I waved. Somehow, as the white-water got more turbulent the closer to shore I got, and I found myself having done a full 180 turn, still ass-down, with my head at the nose of the board. I was in hysterics all the way back into the line-up.

That was the stupid fun. The serious fun was cross-stepping to the nose, carving on some shoulder, kicking-out, and calling a dude off a wave. That last one is important to me. Being mellow and non-confrontational about people taking off in front of me, I'm starting to take heed of the regular guys who want us girls who can surf to take on some of the burden and to start calling out the newbies and kooks when they breach etiquette.

I was up and setting up for a nice backside topturn when I saw a guy on a little fishy windmilling his arms for the shoulder in front of me. His chin was touching the board and he was looking straight down the stringer, so I called out, "Hey! I'm up!" He backed off and I was able to turn and carve to the end of the wave. And, yeah, my ego threw in some extra style as I rode past just to let him know that I surfed WAY better than he did. :)