Tandem Mat Riding

I rode a surf mat up into my 8^th month, after which I stuck to swimming in calm water, day or night.  Little Kai Alana has arrived since I wrote this. Baby and Mama are doing great, and looking forward to the day when they can get into the waves again.  Here is what I wrote during my second trimester:

My mother told me that when she got pregnant, she noticed that she stopped running aground while sailing her boat.  Something in her had become more cautious, and she stopped putting herself in potentially sketchy situations until she noticed when we had grown up a bit that she had started running aground again.  While I wish I could be like Jericho Poppler and surf into my 8^th month, I’ve definitely become more nervous around hard surfcraft and their captains since the start of this gestation project.  My solution?  The surf mat! 

Thanks to fellow ape Justin Valdes for introducing me to this glorious wave vehicle at last year’s Mat Meet, I knew this magic wave carpet was just what I needed to provide my passenger Little Monkey and me a soft and safe ride in the salty brine, away from the fray of the peak.  The little girl inside me is pure aquatic ape, surfing up an amniotic stoke in my belly, while I immerse myself in the ocean, so similar to the blood whose expanded volumes are cruising around in my pregnant veins.  

My wetsuit stretches over my belly, cradling Little Monkey snugly.  The water provides sweet relief from gravity, the increasing enemy of my expanded girth.  A trimester of inactivity leaves me winded, and the new body requires negotiation, but I no longer have to walk the beach pining for the waves that all the board riders are gliding.  Thanks to my sweet partner ape Brian, for getting me this best birthday present early so I can enjoy the whole season until this bun in the oven is cooked.

What has two thumbs and is having the most fun?

This Guy:

SOFT TOP REVOLUTION from Jack Coleman.

Post Paipopolis

We had small nicely formed waves, fun for all and with these wooden english style boards we could put ourselves into little tubes. I won't lie it gave me goosebumps walking into the water that morning followed by a bunch of other people carrying wooden boards. I hope this becomes the habit not the exception.  I feel like these boards help everyone realize the stoke of wave riding within minutes of taking them out. New surfers you don't have to feel frustrated, these provide instant gratification.

Thanks Sally for coming out all the way from England and sharing your new line of 2012 boards. Everyone seemed to have a favorite. Mine was the striped "Ferrari." It rode like butter sliding across a hot griddle!

Thanks Matthew, Glenn and David for bringing their quivers and creations. Thanks Christian for filming and thanks to everyone who showed up and had fun!

Interesting.

I heart fins, on my feet and on boards. This fin system for dropknee looks pretty cool. Too bad I suck at it:

http://www.vektorfindesigns.com/

some dk minus the fins: