This is my site dedicated to surfing of a different kind -- the wet  kind.  As I mentioned in my home page, surfing became  important to me around the age of 15.   My friend & I rented  boards at South Beach in Miami and after 2 hours we were both  hooked.

 

My first  real board was a Rick 9’ 6 longboard which cost $145.   I knew I was   BOSS  riding my Rick  Custom Surfboard during the winter of 1965.   One of my best boards was shaped by a guy called   ‘Murph the Surf’  who was well known in Miami as a great surfer but was having some well  publicized problems with the law.

 

All of a sudden the Australians were showing the rest of the world that size DID matter with their  new short boards which, at that time, were 8’3  with a deep V bottom in the tail.    We all followed  suit using these more maneuverable boards to go places on a wave which we had never dreamed  of before.  Personally my shortest board was a 6’ fun shape.

 

I shifted to riding ‘WaveSkis’ when I was in my 30’s due to a  chronic back problem.   This is an Australian / South African  sport where you use a  kayak paddle & sit up on the ski.  You  drop in, cut back & work the wave as in surfing but you are  strapped into this ski with a seat belt & foot straps.   I was in the  best shape of my life while I was on that waveski.

 

From there I began windsurfing & collected  lots of  gear for all the different conditions;   3 boards, 9 sails, 2 masts, 2 booms & on &  on.   I really enjoyed the sport but after a while the simplicity of a surfboard & a  bar of wax began to look pretty good.  I returned from Hawaii fifteen years ago because although the surf,  weather & sights were really great,  most of the well known spots are very  crowded.

 

I’m  back in Indialantic where you can always find an area with few  surfers.  I’ll see ya at the boardwalk,  Paradise, Pelican, Seagull, 3rd Avenue  (Mel Beach), 13th or 16th (Cocoa), O Club or at 2nd Light.

 

Well I’ve finally hung up my surfboards.  After removing any number of skin cancers... the last five  have been melanoma.  No problem since we caught them early but it just doesn’t seem smart to  bake myself any longer.  Surfing and watersports in general have been my joy to have participated in for many decades.  As  is the case with life, this is simply a new chapter.