Thankfully, my term this semester allows for Wednesdays to be a free day from classes. Since it’s my brother’s birthday this weekend, as well as one of my first shifts at my new job, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to surf this weekend. Since I knew this, and the conditions looked good for Wednesday, I decided to use my day off to surf! There was a 6 foot swell in the forecast, which turned to 7 the day of. Me and my friend Meagan set out at 2 pm, and arrived at Jordan River at 3:30. Once we were changed and our boards had been waxed, we were able to get in the water at 3:45, meaning we had an hour and a half of daylight. From afar the waves were looking small, but as soon as a set rolled in, I was excited to see they were looking to be the perfect size for us. 

When we got out to the spot I usually surf at (“River Mouth”) the two other people out in the water who were surfing at “The Point”, decided to make their way closer to us, but at least they were far enough out that we weren’t having to avoid them the whole session. As soon as we started surfing, I became increasingly excited about the conditions. Right away, I caught a non-crasher! I was having such a blast, until a set rolled in. We were creeping further and further out as our confidence grew (mine at about an 8/10 at this point), until I realized we were over estimating our strength. I could barely touch the rocks underneath me, which had me struggling to get on and off my board, which meant I was also unable to jump over waves. Being able to surf without touching the bottom is a milestone I’m striving to achieve, but this day was not the day for that milestone to be reached. Just as my confidence had peaked, I was humbled by a wave that crashed on my head and sent me spinning underwater. Unfortunately, I haven’t learned how to hold onto my board and “turtle spin” when a wave hits me, so instead I panicked and threw my board to the side, sending it up and almost landing on my head. Just as I tried to go further into shore to get away from the set, another wave came down on my head as my heart beat faster. These were some of the biggest waves to crash on me, and it made me realize I may need to work on my swimming skills at the pool, since it’s been awhile since I was actually good at swimming. My confidence went way down after being hit by the waves, since I was spooked as well as frustrated. I decided to head a bit further in and catch smaller non-crashers the rest of the day, while still testing my confidence with a few bigger waves throughout the session. After a little while I was having lots of fun again, and caught my best wave (maybe ever?) near the end. I rode the wave to the right, and went almost completely back to shore since the ride lasted a good amount of time. 

Aside from a jet skier ripping it towards my head, and being hit by those two waves, it was a very successful session, as I faced some fears and caught the most non-crashers I have ever caught in one session. Even though it wasn’t perfect, the day ended well with Cheezies and overall good vibes. I’m more excited than ever to get back in the water and improve!

Overall Confidence : 7/10 (majority)

Conditions: 6.5 foot swell

Busy: No 

Best Wave of Session: small non-crasher 

Length of Best Wave: 15 seconds

Session Duration: 1.5 hours