Sunday, August 06, 2006

Meet the Skimboarder

Wave Action
Water temp: 70. Air temp: 70. Surf: choppy and surging. A shore break develops as high tide approaches. Two kids are romping in the shallow soup and I'm watching a lone skimboarder who looks like he's training for the X-Games. I'm thinking of speed-dialing my chiropractor in sympathetic pain.

The skimboarder has a routine, timed with the cyclic wave action. He stands on the beach and times his run as the wave recedes, throwing down the skimboard in front and chasing after it in a short sprint. He jumps on the board as it skims in what seems like a quarter-inch of water, just enough to hydroplane the board.

The real drama unfolds at the end of the ride. The ebbing water and skimboarder collide with the incoming wave as the shore break shoots the board skyward. Board and boarder fly up; arms, legs, and torso contort in an effort to survive. He crashes into a foot of swirling foam, but like a cat with nine lives, somehow lands on his feet. And then he does it again. Sunday at the beach.
Next Entry: Killer Combo

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