TIDE GUIDE "SURF CAMP" # 2

ieJune 22, 23, 24. We missed the rain by one day, this has perhaps been one of the wettest summers in texas for a long long time. Also heavy winds unti today friday, so when i arrived this afternoon there where 8 to 10 foot peaks out there, pretty tough to get out and the line up was 300 yards offshore, but i went out and caught some bombs. But got a little nervous, I made a decision couple of years ago that i wouldnt surf alone when its big, since i now support a 7 year old daughter. So i was nervous because the leash i had on was old. So i rode a big one in, and drove over to the Board House and boght a new one. All guests arrived, some after dark, but all is well. Saturday morn still overcast but no rain. Shawn Shultz, this is year 4, and he had me build him a "Cane" 10 foot 2 inch just like mine. wind has dropped from yesterday, the waves are pouring in, so i get all my new guests, acquainted on shore with the etiquette of surfing and then take the new ones out on the second sand bar and watch and help them. We do 3 forty minute sessions, then take a walk together down to the fishing pier to watch other surfers from up on the deck of the pier, and to have some ice cream from the snack bar. Back for session #4. Conditions have really cleaned up, and i get, Minh Phan, Derek and Shannon Englert set up again on the 2nd bar, Shawn Girl friend Laeni is staying ashore, and Shawn and I are going out to the outside lineup. OOOOOHHHH man, this turns out to be my best session this year, clean 8 some 10 foot peaks and clean drops, i had a blast, and Shawn is picking up a couple and he is getting it. Now what is the deal with these turtles, with my head down on the deck and paddling about as hard as possible to get back out thru the impact zone, I get Konked on the head by a turtle, about as big as a Stetson, I screamed, and the monster flapped its flippers on my bald head. This happened to Davie McGaughey last month. Surf camp # 2 was excellent.

TIDE GUIDE "SURF CAMP" # 1 2007

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This is Tide Guides 8th season running bonafide surf camps. 2 nights and 2 days on the beach, and surfing the shore break at Port Aransas, Texas. Very pleased to have some return surfers in camp, Jeff Mason, must be year number 4 now, he is a Hewlett Packard man during the week in Houston or somewhere on the globe, and is becoming a promising surfer. On Saturday both he and I rode a wave side by side, and in control enough to talk, so this is what makes these safari's so much fun. One of Jeff's colleages, Davie McGaughey whom hails from Scotland, was learning with us and had a sea turtle jump out of the water and land on the deck of his longboard, bumping into him. Davies girlfriend had a thick Scottish accent and a couple times i had to ask her "Could you please say that agian". We had a father, Daughter Toby and Kara Meyers with us. Kara surfed a little bit with her father Saturday, and then she became a little uncomfortable with the Sargassam Seaweed we had this trip. It was quite thick 50 feet out from shore, and she couldn't stand having it in her long pretty hair, she said, "i had to wash my hair 4 times". But she got up on the board and her father was proud of her. Troy Donovan, graduated class and rode his longboard over the 30 feet. Any one who can do this gets to sign their name on the awning in camp. So he is now in the 30 foot club. I had a chance to talk with Morgan Faulkner, we've known each other for a few years now, he runs a surf camp, and gets lots of the young kids, so he and i talk and have a good relationship. Also met Ted, the owner of the new surf shop in town. Surf camp #1 was great.