tough, and some-what heavy, which made it easier to throw
down in a sprint.
My friends and I would go to the beach, we’d set up our stuff
and I would disappear with my skim board for hours. I would
spend hours going back and forth on the beach. I would return
around noon for a quick sandwich, and then off into the water
again.
One day at Zuma beach, I made a discovery that changed
everything. I was going down the beach, which was steeper
than most beaches on my skim board and the waves break
right on shore. I hit a tall shore break wave with good speed
and it flung me up in the air like a rag doll. It’s kind of like a
bicycle jump made of water. I did it again and again trying to
master my first attempt at flying. I landed on my head, my
back, and even on other people in the water. It’s not easy
trying to get the timing and position down, when the wave was
just right. As I hit the wave it would instantly flip me in the
air upside down, the trick was to do a complete flip and land
back on your feet. I would stand on the beach staring at the
waves, waiting for the perfect time to launch. When the wave
begins to peak and set up just right, in an instant, I pick up my
board and launch into a full sprint through the sand towards