SURF CAMP #2 SUMMER SOLSTICE JUNE 20 2008

Leisure Learning Unlimited and my 15th year in business together. This trip though I had cancelled, after sinking the "Sea Cow" this past winter, I lost all of my accumulated equipment of 18 years, but Ted the owner at LLU encouraged me to keep at it. So this surf camp has made a large enough booking to run. First days of summer with the solstice friday nite. And my birthday, I am 9, nine years without any booze or illegal substances. I celebrated with my summer home AA group on the island thursday nite before my surf camp began. I got 3 surf sessions in Thursday, the day i arrived down here, waves were tiny. Friday set up camp and surf 3 sessions, waves are tiny, but good for practice, I am having problems with right shoulder. Later in the morning Carol Blackwell arrives with her birtday boy, her son Chris, he is 20, I help Chris with his first surf session, Carol is going to organized a Women's Club surf camp, so she is inspecting and learing about Tide Guide"s surf camp. Shawn Shultze and a business client of his Chris Gurecky arrive about sundown friday nite. Shawn's 4th season, and he had me build him his own custom Tide Guide surfboard, identical to the one i use, it's beautiful. Later in the nite Jean calls and she and Ted where not able to leave the office early enough to begin the drive down and are tired, so they will arrive tomorrow morning. Real comfortable evening, nice breeze, sounds of the surf. Shawn and Chris stay up late under the stars, sitting in the beach chairs. In the Morning Jean and Ted arrive, but no hurry's here, we occupy the beach chairs and i let this drag on for a long time before surf lessons. Nothing like island time, course i talk the surf lingo, no politics or religion,barf barf barf. We find out important things like, are you a "goofy foot or regular foot", i teach them how to wax the boards i got down for them. Ted is a flight engineer at NASA, and Jean will be entering a hospital in houston as a Surgeon. Chris Gurecky operates a family owned machine shop and is a major supplier for Haliburton, Shawn operates his family owned Airconditioning business. Me I'm retarded, I mean retired, I mean i am the professor of surfing. Yesterday I walked down to Morgan Faulkners surf camp. He operates monday thru friday, and he mostly teaches the young crowd 8 - 16 year olds, Morgan and I get along and its good for the profession that guys like he and i know and respect each other, also i signed another contract with Nueces County this being my ninth year running a surf camp. The gulf is kinda glassy, but some little peaks are consistently rolling in, this is actually fantastic for the beginners, water is ssssoooooo warm and refreshing I love it, during the second session i lead all of us across the glassy surface and we make our way to the outside, probably 500 yards offshore. On a gentle day like this I'll take beginners out here just to sit. It is quite an experience for them, but as a group it makes you feel more confident. It is quiet, I suggest they get off their boards, dangle their legs, put their arms across the deck of the board, rest their chin on the deck, and as a famous surf term states "hang out". Now i do this all the time, but remember, Ted sits all day long in a flight control center and Jean, well she "heals" people, so this jumping off their board at my suggestion must be quite an experience. Out here is where i'll ride big surf i hope this season, this is where the 10 - 15 foot bombs peak up and roar thru. We can see Shawn and Chris 200 yards away, hanging out and its so quiet we can hear them talk. Back Ashore and after watermelon Ted is napping in the shade, on his cot, in the breeze, Jean is next to him studying human anatomy i suppose. Ya know i really could just guide napping camps, Carols son napped for 3 hours yesterday. Waves are nothing to brag about, except for a beginner, so before dinner we all get in another session, I believe everyone has stood up, Chris Gurecky has shared with us that over the past year he has lost a wopping 95 lbs. He is now up and riding in pretty good form, the famous surfboard of mine, I aptly named years ago, the "U.S.S. COUCH POTATO" i built this board especially for waves like today it is 11 feet in lenght, so Chris now is a surfer.
Dinner is new this season, Shiskabobs, i have a butcher friend cut up the meat for me, And guest Chris Gurecky is a home gardener and he has brought this years harvest of red potatoes, okra, onion, tomato. Dinner is great and we all stay up for awhile, but not to late.
Saturday is glassy and beautiful, the eleven foot "U.S.S COUCH POTATO" board is shared by all of us and from camp it appears that the surfer is walking on water, the small waves are just great and easy to catch. This was a GGGRRREEEAAATTT camp............