Surfing in Japan

Another really awesome thing that had the chance to do with Braddigan was surf. Nate kind of pulled a couple of strings for me to go surfing and I was really excited to go. Let me say that the waves were far from good (tiny) and I probably wouldn't have paddled out if I was in Ventura, but I was in Japan and who wouldn't want to say that they surfed in Japan.

Surfing in Japan is a little different than what I'm used to. First, let me say that boards are incredibly expensive. I mean really expensive. Geoff, the guy who took us, said that a decent longboard can be easily $2000 and even used boards go for over $1000. There is no way that I would have taken up surfing in Japan because I simply don't have that much money. Secondly, another thing that blew my mind was the amount of people that were surfing. If you take a look at the pictures you can easily tell that the waves are about the size of the bumps you get in a bathtub and there was roughly 500 people on this little stretch of beach. Geoff also mentioned and I witnessed that about 90% of them don't surf. They just sit out there on their boards, talk and hang out. I guess they don't know any difference, but sitting out in the ocean on a surfboard is really expensive. I think a beach towel goes a lot cheaper than a surfboard.

Even though the waves were small I thoroughly enjoyed myself. As a surfer, it was weird not being in the water for a while (only like 3 weeks, but when you're a lifeguard and in the water almost everyday its kind of weird not being in the ocean) and it felt so good to be back in it. I really enjoyed tasting the salt water, feeling the sand, and riding the waves. It brought back memories of all the times I have surfed, the epic days with Jake, and the time I spent with my little brother in the water. Of course it also made me miss the beach days with my family. It felt so good when I got out and the salt water dried on my skin and salt formed under my eyebrows.

Another thing that was way cool was surfing with Braddigan. These guys travel the world, reaching people with the Word of God through music. One of the guys hadn't surfed much and had never really stood up on a wave. This day he did and the stoke that he had in his eyes when he paddled back out was indescribable. It was super cool surfing with these guys and chatting in between sets, but by far the highlight of my day was watching Rey smile after he had caught that wave. I don't know what it was, but it was so amazing and so encouraging to see someone else so pumped on riding the waves.