How To Surf Every Damn Day

You lie to yourself a lot when it comes to surfing.

You tell yourself the foamball chewed you when you were really just too slow. Or that your fins released on that turn when you just kind of bogged. Or that you charged that last swell when you just caught five shoulders.

These delusions are a joy to believe. Cherish them. One self-spun lie you could get rid of, though, is the idea that you can’t surf as much as you’d like to.

The truth is that you could spend way more time in the water if you decided to put a little more work in. That, and look at surfing a lot differently.

I know this because I surf (almost) every day. I take trips away from the ocean but, when I’m home, I surf every single day. It’s just good for you — both mentally and physically — and if you’re here, you probably already have an inherent understanding of that. Let’s not make it all fucking spiritual.

Instead, let’s make it realistic. Below, I’ve compiled the keys to surfing every day.

Now, there are obviously things that make surfing every day impossible. Do you have young children? Or live far away from an active slice of the ocean? Or work a job that somehow doesn’t allow you any free time that coincides with daylight? Then, no, you probably cannot can’t surf every day.

But you can find a new job. Or a new place to live. Or abandon your family and move to Indo. Or maybe don’t do that.

Instead, you could just use the following as motivation. Because if you can’t surf every damn day, you can still surf every damn chance you get.

Obey the golden rule

Three waves counts as a session — no whitewater, of course. This rule comes from Dale Webster, the lunatic who surfed every single day for over forty years straight. It’s the key to surfing every day. All you need to do is get three waves.

Destroy optimism

In Shawshank Redemption, Morgan Freeman’s character said, “Hope is a dangerous thing.” He was right. Hope is a very dangerous thing. Both on the WQS and in prison. When it comes to surfing every day, hope is for Gudauskas brothers. If you want to surf every day, you need to eradicate it from your life.

If you always expect the worst waves, you’ll never be let down.

This is Dale. Be like Dale.

Embrace desperation

There will be days when you have the luxury of time and can afford to hunt for good waves. The will be a lot more days when you don’t.

A lot of people have a mental block about this. Like, surfing is only surfing if they drive half an hour to a good wave then spend ninety minutes in the water. Well, I got news for them. Surfing is also pulling over on the side of the road to surf for fifteen minutes at some horrible wave.

Put convenience over quality. Not every day, just most of them.

Manipulate everything

Surfing every day isn’t about picking your windows, it’s about creating them. Remember that.

Have a good board

The definition of a good board is one that makes you excited to surf.

You’re going to need some spark under your feet if you want to surf every day. Changing boards helps with this too. There’s something in riding different boards to suit the conditions, sure. But I think there’s a lot more in experimenting with different boards in conditions that they wouldn’t traditionally be associated with. Try it. It’s addicting.

Oh, and if you live somewhere cold, you’re also going to probably want a wetsuit you don’t hate.

Embrace stupidity

Surfing every day requires stupidity.

Today, I surfed 1-foot waves that were breaking on rocks (the only option). Last week, I packed a few closeouts with a fever. Every year, without fail, I surf inappropriate conditions in the dark. All of these things are stupid.

Embrace your stupidity. Surf in jeans because you forgot boardshorts. Borrow a stranger’s haggard 6’4” with the grip six inches from the tail because you don’t have your board. Surf at night. Surd drunk. Surf hungover. Surf sick. Surf high. Surf low. Surf where you shouldn’t. Surf when you shouldn’t surf. Be dumb for surfing.

Reward yourself

There will be days when it’s cold. And rainy. And windy. And you’re alone. And the water’s dirty. And your wetsuit is wet. And you have other things to do. And the entire fabric of your reality seems to be telling you not to take a surfboard into the ocean.

This is the most important time to surf.

In those moments, riding a few horrendous waves won’t seem worth your efforts. So, decide to treat yourself. Promise yourself a cold beer or a hot meal after your surf. Whatever it takes to get you in the water.

Those three horrendous waves will always be worth it.