Shirihama Beach... Gorgeous... a beach south of
Hachinohe... only about 50 min. total driving away... we are technically not allowed to swim in the ocean right by us because the tide and current are so strong, (a group and special forces died doing ocean exercises a few years ago) anywho... its still pretty strong down south but legal... (I went back a couple weekends after this and it was warm enough not to need a wet suit and I was body surfing... I am pretty sure I almost died... I got pounded pretty good a couple of times against the bottom... thank goodness its sand break not reef break or I would be really destroyed... I came out with huge rash burns on my back and bum from the sand... and when we tried to surf dawn patrol the next morning... we were camping on the beach... the waves were so strong that after I caught my first wave I spent forever just trying to get back out past the surf, and eventually had to give up cause my arms were so shot from paddling... oh and Derick went swimming in the ocean for the first time in his life and got hit by his first wave... remember these are really strong waves... had no idea what to do, go beat up, face full of saltwater and when he resurfaced he threw up... ha ha.. poor kid... and then another wave got him and same thing happened... I dont think he has the same love for the ocean as I do... I feel a connection with the earth while I am out in the water, the raw, dangerous, pure energy of the earth... I would go surfing and body surfing everyday if I could... ) anyway back to surf camp...
We drove down the coast to different beaches looking for the best surf, this is one spot we scouted... It blows my mind... huge coastline, gorgeous surf... not a soul in sight... score for us! Geoff (my boss and surfing guide) said had this been down south there would be hundreds of surfers out there even on weekdays... so what if we have to wear wetsuits...
Is this really surf camp appropriate... I dont know but it smelled great, and we would be dead without it!
I had a 9 foot plus board... way to long for my with the type of waves we had... but as the adult you have to make sacrifices and the kids were even shorter then me so it was all good... the waves broke in a tunnel you know like in the movies... so with a board this long you had to stay way back, my entire legs were hanging off the back or else the board would do a nose dive off the front of the straight drop down of the wave, that was pretty scary, I nose dived about 5 times probably before I figured out how far back I needed to be and I am pretty sure I almost died about 5 times. I would fall forward into the crashing wave with my board crashing on top of me... and so I had to just curl up into a ball protecting my head until the wave decided to spit me out... one time when we were just learning how to paddle out and huge... huge... wave was coming and I knew I could not go over it, I looked over at Geoff with what I am sure was a panicked look on my face... and he just said "hold your breath"... so I did... it was pretty scary... after that he taught us how to "turn turtle" if I big wave is coming that you know you cant go over (and you have a longboard) you have to roll over on your back underwater the board over you upside down... it is way more effective then just holding your breath...
The whole gang practicing "popping up"... I guess it payed off becuase everyone of us caught a wave the first day! IT WAS AWESOME! You can see how thick the sea fog can be here... sometimes its crazy thick
Pumped after our first round of surfing!
Body surfing after we all tired our arms out... these were our learning waves... the waves the next day (the ones at that beach I was talking about earlier) were two to three times this size... like if I was standing they would be probably six feet over my head!
HA HA... this makes me feel safe...
Snorkeling... we had to find stuff to do while waiting for the surf to get good! we also went sea kayaking!
Just to prove I was there!
We stayed at this little Japanese bead and breakfast... we had traditional tatami mat rooms to sleep in with futon mattresses in the closet that folded out... it was super cool and surprisingly comfortable... and we got dinner, choice of ramen or curry... the ramen was AMAZING! I LOVE RAMEN!
the last night we had a fire on the beach with smores and everything... it was great! We even star tripped... Becca you would be jealous! Star tripping is where you look up, pick a star, stare at is and spin in a circle as fast as you can for 15-20 seconds and then somebody turns on a flashlight and you have to run to the light... most people take one step and fall flat on their face... its the best game ever... best played before you eat 10 smores... ugh
And the last day the sun finally made an appearance... and even though we basically forced sunscreen on the kids... we had some major burnage... I guess maybe it was a good thing it was cloudy the first two days!
Shirihama Beach... Gorgeous... a beach south of Hachinohe... only about 50 min. total driving away... we are technically not allowed to swim in the ocean right by us because the tide and current are so strong, (a group and special forces died doing ocean exercises a few years ago) anywho... its still pretty strong down south but legal... (I went back a couple weekends after this and it was warm enough not to need a wet suit and I was body surfing... I am pretty sure I almost died... I got pounded pretty good a couple of times against the bottom... thank goodness its sand break not reef break or I would be really destroyed... I came out with huge rash burns on my back and bum from the sand... and when we tried to surf dawn patrol the next morning... we were camping on the beach... the waves were so strong that after I caught my first wave I spent forever just trying to get back out past the surf, and eventually had to give up cause my arms were so shot from paddling... oh and Derick went swimming in the ocean for the first time in his life and got hit by his first wave... remember these are really strong waves... had no idea what to do, go beat up, face full of saltwater and when he resurfaced he threw up... ha ha.. poor kid... and then another wave got him and same thing happened... I dont think he has the same love for the ocean as I do... I feel a connection with the earth while I am out in the water, the raw, dangerous, pure energy of the earth... I would go surfing and body surfing everyday if I could... ) anyway back to surf camp...
We drove down the coast to different beaches looking for the best surf, this is one spot we scouted... It blows my mind... huge coastline, gorgeous surf... not a soul in sight... score for us! Geoff (my boss and surfing guide) said had this been down south there would be hundreds of surfers out there even on weekdays... so what if we have to wear wetsuits...
Is this really surf camp appropriate... I dont know but it smelled great, and we would be dead without it!
I had a 9 foot plus board... way to long for my with the type of waves we had... but as the adult you have to make sacrifices and the kids were even shorter then me so it was all good... the waves broke in a tunnel you know like in the movies... so with a board this long you had to stay way back, my entire legs were hanging off the back or else the board would do a nose dive off the front of the straight drop down of the wave, that was pretty scary, I nose dived about 5 times probably before I figured out how far back I needed to be and I am pretty sure I almost died about 5 times. I would fall forward into the crashing wave with my board crashing on top of me... and so I had to just curl up into a ball protecting my head until the wave decided to spit me out... one time when we were just learning how to paddle out and huge... huge... wave was coming and I knew I could not go over it, I looked over at Geoff with what I am sure was a panicked look on my face... and he just said "hold your breath"... so I did... it was pretty scary... after that he taught us how to "turn turtle" if I big wave is coming that you know you cant go over (and you have a longboard) you have to roll over on your back underwater the board over you upside down... it is way more effective then just holding your breath...
The whole gang practicing "popping up"... I guess it payed off becuase everyone of us caught a wave the first day! IT WAS AWESOME! You can see how thick the sea fog can be here... sometimes its crazy thick
Pumped after our first round of surfing!
Body surfing after we all tired our arms out... these were our learning waves... the waves the next day (the ones at that beach I was talking about earlier) were two to three times this size... like if I was standing they would be probably six feet over my head!
HA HA... this makes me feel safe...
Snorkeling... we had to find stuff to do while waiting for the surf to get good! we also went sea kayaking!
Just to prove I was there!
We stayed at this little Japanese bead and breakfast... we had traditional tatami mat rooms to sleep in with futon mattresses in the closet that folded out... it was super cool and surprisingly comfortable... and we got dinner, choice of ramen or curry... the ramen was AMAZING! I LOVE RAMEN!
the last night we had a fire on the beach with smores and everything... it was great! We even star tripped... Becca you would be jealous! Star tripping is where you look up, pick a star, stare at is and spin in a circle as fast as you can for 15-20 seconds and then somebody turns on a flashlight and you have to run to the light... most people take one step and fall flat on their face... its the best game ever... best played before you eat 10 smores... ugh
And the last day the sun finally made an appearance... and even though we basically forced sunscreen on the kids... we had some major burnage... I guess maybe it was a good thing it was cloudy the first two days!
2 comments:
That looks like so much fun! you are so hard core lisa!!
Mmmm, now I'm going to go have some ramen.
I love you and I miss you! The surfing looks awesome...
BUT, and here's the important question--where did you go? I had to set up a different facebook account, and now I can't find either of you. And 7-8pm has proved the HARDEST time in the world to remember to call you. I look up and all of a sudden it's 9:30... and it happens EVERY day.
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