SURFERS LAMENT

By Birdie The Boardie

Bodyboarding:
Bodyboarding: The Forward Spin

We arrived on the Sunshine Coast back in ’93 and the main reason for selling up a successful business down south was for the health of our children suffering Asthma, in exchange for this relatively allergy free, beautiful Sunny Coast.

I spent a little time on my old 7’6” Shane Pintail trying to hot dog it after a fair few years lay off. I decided that my other Shane Round tail surfboard at the same length, but overall wider and thicker, which offered greater flotation was the one of choice, as I too had grown a bit wider and thicker, as it turned out.

The story hots up a few years later when my son was about 12 years old, and he was fairly accomplished at swimming, and with surfing his Body Board, as we had seen from time to time on small waves between the Groins.

My Son and I went down to the Noosa point and checked out T-Tree Bay together for the first time. It was a week day in School Holidays, and have got to say it was firing pretty well, all be it a tad crowded. So after a bit, we got a closer look and found our selves paddling out, he on his Body Board, me on my Shane “thicker wider” surfboard.

I suggested to my son that the waves were a bit big for him to go out to the Point. This is where as a parent I made my first mistake. I told him he should surf in the bay, and I then I proceeded to paddle out to get a point wave by myself. That was the next big mistake, and the third one was telling him to go in when I found him paddling up behind me. My last mistake was that I didn’t go in and surf the bay with him.

My son was a pretty good Body Boarder as it turns out, he later told me had surfed fairly big waves not known to me previously, but hey I didn’t know, what do kids tell you?                                                                                                                                                          I was afraid he would get hurt mixing it with the adults on the point that day and I really did think the surf was too big, and was afraid he would get hurt and spoil my session, there I said it. Spoil my session.

Didn’t see much of my son in the bay, and after about an hour or so I got one to the beach and found him sitting on a rock waiting to go home.

Didn’t speak much to each other, any conversation seemed strained.

SURFERS LAMENT

It’s 2011 and I now own a Surf Shop, but my son and I never surfed together again. He gave away Body Boarding for other things. It is now that I lament that whole day, and give myself an upper cut every time I think of it, for not staying with him…in the bay, enjoying good surf…together.

I now see Parent’s and their Kids having a beginner’s session between the Groins and at the Points interacting, and I’m really happy for them.

Today, I rue the day I behaved like a selfish idiot, and ignored my son, and putting all this aside, we are to this day best of mates, and that’s epic!
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