Summer in South Africa: Just Another American that thinks they can teach themselves

I woke up today. It was a “moerse lekker” day. The sun was shining. The waves were the right size for a beginner. It was in the 70s. The weather was truly wonderful considering the past week had been filled with wind, rain, and cold weather. I looked out of the Beach Lodge window where my friend Rob and I were staying for the night in Muizenberg, South Africa. Muizenberg is the beach that all the surfers flock to around Cape Town. About a thirty minute drive outside city centre, this surfer escape is located in False Bay on the Indian Ocean.

I decided that I wanted to give surfing a go. I have never been surfing in my life. The closest thing I have done is boogey-boarding on the North Carolina beaches with my Dad when I was an early teen. How hard can it be right? I can surely teach myself... I can just rent a board and do it without a lesson or guidance!

As the morning started I was getting a bit nervous. I was telling Rob that people in the U.S. are often afraid of sharks. I have never feared sharks while being in North America, but here in South Africa… the horror scenes of Jaws can easily be reenacted. We grabbed a quick breakfast and then I was up. I got suited up in my wetsuit, got a few pointers from the surf shop, took my board and headed into the Indian Ocean.

I will say that when I was heading into the water I wasn’t afraid of sharks, I was afraid of failing, of not being able to ride a single wave. That was my goal, to stand up and ride at least one wave. As I starting heading out in the ocean, I sort of wondered what I got myself into. I am not the most graceful or agile individual (my family can vouch for me there). I start making my way out to where I thought I should be. “Okay,” I was thinking, “All I can do is try my best.”

Here comes a wave that just broke. I turn my gargantuan board around, hop on, and start paddling with my arms like my life depended on it. All of a sudden the wave has picked me up and I’m riding the wave. I’m actually perfectly balanced and the nose of my board isn’t starting to dip attempting to throw me overboard. I start getting up and realize that this board is a lot more unstable than I thought it was. I get to my knees, start to put a foot up when I roll over sideways getting a mouthful of water.

I continue undergoing variations of the previous story for about forty five minutes. Sometimes I would get a little over ambitious and completely eat it. Other times I would wimp out and not try my hardest to stand up. I will say that almost every single time that I wanted to catch a wave I was able to position my timing and paddling in order to catch it, probably thanks to all my boogey boarding at Wrightsville Beach when I was a kid haha. I honestly thought that part would be just as difficult as standing up, but not in my case. Standing up completely, keeping my balance, and riding the wave were my biggest hurdles.

Just as I was thinking “Gosh, I’m just another American who thinks they can teach themselves how to surf without any lessons” was when something clicked. I caught this massive 8 foot perfect barrel, popped up from my board and rode through the barrel. I heard someone call out “wow that girl might be as good as Kelly Slater.”

Hmmm… well that’s how I remember it going. The more accurate story probably goes like this: I paddled like hell, was riding the wave, got up on my knees, and slowly got to my feet. I remember thinking, “Holy crap I’m riding a wave!” I will say that the feeling of riding a way was amazing! I rode the wave for a solid ten seconds until I was in a shallow area and jumped off the board. Rob, who had been watching me eat it patiently from the shore, witnessed the massive wave I surfed and sprung to his feet in celebration. I might or might not have done a little celebration in the water J

Warning: surfing is addicting! After I stood up on my first wave ever, all I wanted to do was do it again! Catching one wave was no longer satisfactory. My goal had changed. I went for another forty minutes. Standing up a couple times. A few times I was too far forward on my board and I got tossed forward. I definitely got rocked a number of times but it didn’t seem to bother me at all.

Anyways, I had just rode a wave in and was contemplating trying to stand up one more time before going in, when all of a sudden I heard a siren go off. It took me a second to register what it was. The shark alarm! OMG… I started heading to shore, trying to not look back. The alarm only goes off is a shark has been spotted and these aren’t little baby sharks, these are man eating Great White Sharks. I feel like I’m moving in slow motion trying to escape the ocean. I slip in the water and then end up riding another wave a little bit in by holding on to my surf board for dear life. All of a sudden the water is just past my knees and I feel finally that I am safe. The panic exits my body as I look up and see the white shark flag being put up, indicating that a shark has been spotted. I carry the heavy board out of the water onto the beach... the sweet, sweet beach. I lay my board down and am finally able to breathe. Thankfully Rob had some leftover tea that I quickly drank while I was catching my breath.

Evidently, someone spotted a shark while in the ocean. The spotters that were up on the mountain didn’t see it, but hey if someone said they saw a shark I am going to go ahead and believe them. So maybe I wasn’t as close to death’s doorstep as I felt while the siren was going off, but what a story I collected today! I go surfing for the first time ever while in South Africa and the Great White Shark alarm goes off.

So the moral of this story is that maybe Americans are onto something. Or maybe some Americans are just too stubborn and competitive to give up. They try, try, try, try again until they get it. That is how I felt out there in the water. I actually yelled at myself in my head to "Pick it up Hadley! Catch a wave! You're better than this! You can do it!." Even though I drank a lot of sea water every time I ate it. I immediately turned around and headed back for another go. I felt so determined that sometimes I forgot about the amazing back drop. I had to force myself to look around and take in the experience, but when I did take a moment, the setting was spectacular. Mountains rose up all around me that were breathtaking. I truly believe that South Africa is the most beautiful place on this planet!