Making Nothing Out Of Nothing

North Hampton, New Hampshire, August 2011.  This was the first time I'd ever been filmed surfing.  I asked my girlfriend to capture some footage because I wanted to be able to see what I was doing wrong.  Pretty much everything, it turns out.  Arms too low.  Feet too close together.  Catching the waves too late.  Staring at my board instead of looking where I wanted to go.

     Not that I could have done anything special on the waves offered that day.  I was hoping to catch Hurricane Irene's leading edge, but as you can see, I'd jumped the gun.  Irene wasn't supposed to arrive until the next day, but I was wave starved and I had a new board that I was dying to try out; I was too anxious and excited not to give it a shot.  When I arrived at the beach, fingers crossed, and saw that Irene had yet to arrive, my disappointment was considerable.

     It's funny though, how the waves always look so much bigger in the water, on your board.  I didn't expect to get home, watch the videos, and be reminded of Jordy Smith surfing J-Bay.  But I wasn't expecting the waves to look that pathetic.  I wasn't expecting my surfing to look so pathetic, either.  My only consolation was that, even if I could surf like Jordy, there's not much I could have done on the waves that day.  At least that's what I keep telling myself.