The waves down here in Santa Teresa have quite a bit of punch to them. The time in between waves (the period, as it's called) at the spots we have been surfing is fairly long (13-18 seconds), which, generally speaking, means that these waves have a little more oomph to them, as they have time to accumulate more energy and travel faster than smaller period waves. You know, y=mx+b stuff...

I've had more than a couple of waves really test out the strength of my leash lately, and was getting the nagging feeling that it was getting stretched out too much and might snap. The other day, Niko and I hopped in the water along with Niko's buddy, Sean, who is down here as well. As soon as we got to the beach, I set my board down, turned to look at the waves, and heard a soft 'plunk'. I looked down at my board and lo and behold, an almost perfectly intact lizard had been pooped onto my board from a nearby bird or howler monkey. As disgusted as a I was brushing off the poopy lizard, I had a weird feeling that it was an ominous sign. Nevertheless, I got in the water, given that it is kind of difficult to admit that you don't want to surf perfect waves at sunset because some animal pooped on your board. I got into the water, had an easy paddle out, caught a wave that ending up closing out on me and was coming up out of the white wash that had accumulated from the breaking wave when I pulled on my leash. My heart sank when I discovered that I was pulling on nothing and that my leash had in fact, snapped. Now, this is generally worse case scenario for a surfer. This means two things: 1) you have to swim to shore without the buoyancy of your surfboard. 2) your surfboard is now unattached to your leg and essentially acts as a heat-seeking missile, charging towards shore unattended where there are people swimming and playing in the shallow water. I had a moment of panic before I clumsily swam to shore (and I do mean clumsily, it was not a pretty swim) and retrieved my board. Thankfully, it was a pretty quick swim and no one was in the water where my board washed up. All things considered, it was the best situation I could have asked for, but still a good reminder about the very real perils of surfing.

In addition to my leash snapping, I have taken some pretty heavy wipeouts. Because the wave moves super quick here and have a lot of punch, you really have to pop up quickly and get down the line to avoid the lip of the wave breaking on you. The other day, I caught a really nice left when suddenly I felt the full force of the wave breaking on my back. Suddenly, I was knocked off balanced at the very top of the wave, falling into the flat water of the trough, which feels a lot like concrete when you hit it. Instead of balling up like you're supposed to, I fell flat onto my right ribcage, and immediately had the wind knocked out of me. I was worried that I had broken a rib or had been seriously hurt, but after a couple deep breaths, I was able to more clearly assess the situation, and realize that I just had the wind taken out of me. Thankfully, Niko was right next to me when it all happened so he was able to make sure I was okay and I was able to compose myself enough to get back on the horse.

But, it's not all leash snapping and wipeouts (don't worry mom and dad)! I've caught some of the best waves of my life, have learned and improved SO much, and have gotten infinitely stronger and more confident in the water. I'm loving every second of it, wipeouts included. There's something about surfing that has such a grip on me that I can't quite explain. It's not just the actual sport itself, which is also part of it, but it also feels so holistic and relevant to the rest of my life as well. I feel happier, more grateful, more confident, and more alive when I surf. In short, we are doing great and are incredibly happy.

Looking forward, we were originally going to stay in the Santa Teresa area for another week, but due to a clerical error on my part, we will now be heading north to Nosara on the 14th, which we are really excited about! From there we will head further north still, to Tamarindo to meet up with some friends. Unsure of our plans after Tamarindo, but will keep everyone posted!