When it rains all the filth and muck that’s accumlated on land gets washed into the ocean. If you think about all the crap that you see on the streets in your town, it’s pretty nasty. Paddling out after a rain puts you at risk of getting sick. Exactly how and when you get sick depends on how polluted the water is. The truth of the matter is that most beachgoers don’t really know exactly how dirty the water is.
You can check the water quality of your beach online. These websites don’t offer up-to-date information and also they typically only test the levels of bacteria in the water, ignoring other harmful things like toxic chemicals and heavy metals that can potentially lead to serious long-term illnesses like cancer. The more we can learn about the quality of the water near our beaches, the better equipped we can be to control the quality.
If you care about being able to play in clean water, then it’s important to spread the word and do what you can to support initiatives like the Blue Water Task Force in their efforts to gather more information about water conditions near our beaches.
Any surfer will tell you that it’s a jungle out there in the water. It’s an incredibly dynamic environment, and you must be in constant command of yourself and your board as you navigate through rip currents, oncoming waves, other surfers, flotsam & jetsam and all the natural flora & fauna.
The more I reflect on my experience learning to surf, the more I think that the first lesson a surfer has to learn is to respect the ocean and everything else that’s out there in the water. The ocean is far more powerful than any living thing and it’s foolish to think that you can overpower it, outsmart it, or outdo it in any way.
Though it may seem like it at times, the ocean isn’t an evil monster that’s out to get you. It abides by the basic laws of physics, so it’s fairly easy to pattern and even predict it’s behavior. The key is to learn how to harness the ocean’s energy and move with it. It may sound corny, but there’s a rhythm to it all. Spending time in the water, paddling on your board, is the best way to familiarize yourself with the ocean’s behavior. The more comfortable you are in the water, the more you’ll be able to focus on learning how to catch waves, instead of worrying about them catching you.
If you’re interested in learning to surf, prepare yourself for a long, humbling journey. At times it can be so frustrating that you’ll want to quit. Stick with it, though, and study everything that’s happening in the water. As you start to get the hang of things, you’ll be rewarded.
Native Hawaiians use the term "kulana nalu" for the place where a surfer paddles to catch a wave; usually the most distant line of breakers. Learn this and some other Hawaiian surf speak at this site.