Respecting the waves
I have tried out wave surfing just a handful of times and only one got a bit eventful. That was on a Sunday, the only free day of the week while volunteer working in Madagascar. That story is worth telling, as it can act as a lesson for somebody else.
Get up and stand on the board and thus actually get some surfing done is the challenge. But it can get even more challenging if you haven’t done enough of the most important preparation of all. We were in a bit of a hurry to get going, so we didn’t bring much more than swimwear before we hit the waves. The weather was sunny and hot and the Indian ocean was wavy. That is perfect, but also a part of the equation behind my little ordeal.
When you are a novice and haven’t learned the proper technique, just getting up and handling the waves requires some physical work, which in turn requires your muscles to be functional. Hot weather and not enough hydration during the day can tip the balance to the ocean currents advantage. After some 20 minutes of getting to know the board and negotiating the waves, I fell of and had to use quite a lot of power to get up on the board again. Then while I was getting back up, a combination of factors caused both my calfs to cramp simultaneously. Both my legs were rendered useless, but I got up on the board and knew that I had to get back on to dry land. That turned out to be easier said than done though, I could only use my arms and the currents draging me in the opposite direction was quite strong. I decided to shout for assistance, but the roaring ocean drowned my voice out. It wasn’t supposed to drown me though and didn’t, but I was almost exhausted when I finally crawled back up on the beach. Even before that, I knew very well what had caused the whole situation. Physical work in combination with insufficient hydration can cause muscles to cramp. I even thought when we entered the ocean that I hadn’t had enough water to drink. It is fun to challenge the waves, but challenging your own judgement is another matter.
