What Surfing Is Actually Like

So that's what we're going to do today. I'm going to record the entire thing and you'll see The actual speed and flow of an actual surf because normally I just show the best parts and most like surf Films and little edits and stuff. It's just the best waves and stuff like this. You'll get to see what it's really like Okie dokie real quick. I'd like to give a shout out to victor agger for supporting me on patreon victor Thank you a ton really do appreciate the support right on Okay, so i'm going to be voicing over through the entire surf that way if maybe you've never surfed before or if you're a beginner You know what's going on and I can fill you in on like why i'm doing a certain thing at a certain point in the video Now normally my videos when I include surfing footage I just show the best the best waves and like the best parts of the session But for this particular video i'm going to be showing the entire session I normally don't record the entire surf because that uses a lot more battery I run out of storage much quicker, but for this particular video, I want to do this. Okay So right now i'm just making my way down and what I always do when I first get to the beach is Especially mostly if i'm going surfing is I try to look out to the ocean and figure out where I want to go because Sometimes the waves will look really good in one spot, but you'll realize there's a lot of people there So I could be like, you know, I could go there and maybe i'll get a better wave but i'm gonna have to fight like 15 20 people to get a wave and But then maybe right down the beach There's like a few people not as many and it's like maybe not not quite as good But I I there's still some good waves coming through So sometimes i'll go to the certain spot to because I figure you know, this spot will Maybe be better for this session And something else that I try to look out for is where there might be rip currents Now my home break there tends to be a rip current right next to these rocks down to the right And if you're a swimmer, you got to watch out because those can be dangerous But if you're surfing they can actually help you get out the back which is like out the back means you're past the waves sitting where the waves like are forming and Once you've progressed in surfing that is where you are trying to get because that's where you can catch the wave right as it's breaking Right now i'm just putting my leash on And a little trick to keep water droplets from staying on your lens is to just put a little bit of saliva Now this might sound really gross or disgusting to some But it means that water droplets don't stick to your lens I'm, not sure i'm pretty sure what it does is it basically creates a layer of like slime or something on your lens In the front of the gopro housing and then water droplets just don't really stick Not sure why it is exactly but it just works and you can buy like special solutions and stuff But that's not ideal to be taking that down to the beach and stuff. So, you know, yeah you do that's what you do Sometimes I forget and then I definitely regret it I just took a nice swig of water Stay nicely hydrated Okay, so next up in the session is to paddle out And if you see me going under the waves a lot in case you're unfamiliar That is referred that is called a duck dive and what you're basically doing in a duck dive If you're a surfer, you may be like, yeah, I do. I know what a duck dive is But for those of you who don't like to explain what it is You're basically doing a push-up But you are pushing the board underwater and then using your one of your knees to push the board under And then you pull your chest down To the board which is underwater and you're able to go under the wave this you can only really do this with a short board with a long board you do other things like a turtle roll or you Try to go over the wave depends on the board and the size of the wave But you see me doing that a lot especially when i'm paddling back out after catching a wave and this is something that I don't always show in my videos because Normally, i'm just showing maybe the wave and that brings me to a Topic that i'd like to talk about real quick and that is how In a lot of videos, especially like fast-paced edits or maybe travel films It can seem like stuff just goes too perfectly and too smoothly. So when you watch a travel film, that's like one or two minutes long most of the time it is just showing the best parts of a trip just the best parts And it could make it look like that trip was just totally perfect and i'm sure it was a very fun trip But you got to keep in mind. There's all that time where the camera wasn't rolling or stuff that happened that makes That person is that person is also a human and like real stuff happens like maybe they had delays or they had to catch a different flight or just like stuff like that, which You don't always see in like certain videos and like even in my videos sometimes in like i'm showing even like in an adventure video I will sometimes show the best parts and there's times like I try to document my best like how the adventure really is like if um have something that makes something not work out perfectly or if we have to turn back or something I try to show it as real as possible, but In any video you try to show like the best parts and try to leave out the more boring parts you got to remember that Everyone is human and like actual real stuff real. Um Maybe delays or stuff goes not as planned. Okay, so this is one wave and Today was definitely a tricky day because there was there was a lot of current pulling down the beach but also there was Some of the waves would kind of like go flat after a moment So they would break and then they would kind of fade away after a minute But that's no excuse you can still try to get a turn in or two Something that I didn't realize about like having a gopro in my mouth the entire surf session with the mouth mount is how it actually is fairly like straining on your neck and I never thought about this because I tend to take the gopro out of my mouth when i'm paddling back out and I Kind of just like cook it to the nose of my board but for this I try to keep the gopro in my mouth for the most part so that you see the first person view because If I were to just like hold the gopro and just like it's just bouncing around in the water. That's not as pleasing or as fun to watch one could say So making my way back out and as I mentioned I tried to eye out. Where's the best spot to go? So today I paddled straight out But then I realized that the waves were fairly tricky over here So I ended up deciding to move down the beach and there was also a lot of current pulling In the opposite direction that i'm paddling in So, okay. So this is what I was talking about right now. My gopro is hooked to the nose of my board and I do this I always do this when i'm surfing with the gopro to give my neck and my mouth a break because It can be quite exhausting like biting down on a mouth mount for like 20 minutes straight and like biting down on a mouth mount for a few minutes isn't That like exhausting or tiring but your jaw starts to get sore if you do it for a while So I take little breaks in between But like I said Try to keep the first person view going for the most part Lots of duck dives as you can see lots of duck dives And this this surf actually reminded me a lot of surfing in a competition because in most competitions Local ones and stuff is you basically have five minutes to paddle out So in this video you actually see the entire paddling out but in like a real competition You actually have five extra minutes to paddle out to give you They give you time to paddle back out to paddle out Because that can take a little while if there's a lot of waves or a lot of current and then you usually have 15 minutes to surf so this video is around 20 minutes or so and That's basically as much time as the heat is So you could say five minutes to paddle out and then usually you have 15 minutes to surf And I always remember this feeling in surf competitions when you catch a wave and you don't do that good on your first wave it just really sets like a bad start to I always forget how funny sunscreen looks but like I totally forget when i'm observing. So like just talk to people and wave people and Um forget anyways surf competition point um this brought back a lot of memories because I always remember when I if I don't get that great of a start on the 15 minutes like on my first wave I like fall It is just such a horrible feeling because you're like no this sets such a bad start Whereas if you like get a few turns in or surf your first wave, all right, then you're like Yeah, like i'm gonna do good in this competition And I no longer really do surf competitions Um, but I used to do them a lot. I We used to even have a surf team where we traveled all around costa rica for a year doing all the different. Um, national surf competitions and that was very fun, but it's also very exhausting and When you're it's it surf competitions can be fun but I found them to not always be the most fun because when you go out like at least from my personal experience the whole time i'm like Worried just worried about getting a wave or something because if you're paying To go into a surf competition and then like you don't don't surf very well And you're not like really like trying your hardest to get some good waves like that does not that does not look good There's another wave, um a lot of white water But kind of trying to make it around and this happens a lot when you're surfing You'll catch a wave that looks all right, but you'll kind of just get stuck behind the white water especially when you're once you're going down the line and that's when learning how to pump and try to Generate more speed can really make a big difference Um at this point there is a cut in the video and this is what I was talking about with like having technical issues with the gopro when you're recording for this long, so the gopro actually just froze and Just I had to totally turn it off and then turn it back on and that's why the video had a cut in it but This is why I don't I normally don't record for the entire session because the gopro also fogs up after a while So I did put like some little tablet-y things not tablet-y things like some toilet paper and stuff inside of the case to hopefully absorb water Um, you can buy these little foam pieces, but I used to use those but I ran out and I don't have any more At the moment, but it basically is to absorb the moisture But when you have your gopro on especially if you're recording, um, like in a higher frame rate or in a higher quality Since the gopro heats up so much for some reason the difference in temperature inside the case from outside of the case Makes it fog up inside So normally I actually will turn the gopro off for like a little while every every little while because it starts to fog up And I do have I have the gopro hero 4 I'm, not sure if you have the same issues with like the newer gopros, which don't even which are just Waterproof and you don't even need an external case like a separate housing so i'm not sure about that, but Yep, I caught another wave A little pumping action down the wave, but this is what i'm talking about Sometimes you'll get stuck behind the white water and at first it'll look like a really good wave but then you end up getting stuck behind and this is the type of stuff that you may not see in like a surf movie or a surf video or something a surf edit People act like getting stuck behind the white water and waves that don't just go perfectly Sometimes it just looks like every wave just goes so perfectly They just do a turn turn and then it lines up perfectly and then they pull into the barrel and it just works out but there's a lot of waves where Um It is just a wave and it's not necessarily the the ideal turn but no complaints And just more making my way out just paddling back out back out the back and There's um something that I Like to do. Oh, well, actually for those of you who maybe have a gopro and use it when out filming um some maybe everyone knows this and I just like just I Was late to find out about it But you can actually have the time and the date on your gopro and that just helps with like organization So that you know when the videos were recorded but also Instead of like you don't always if you I used to care have a watch But I no longer use a watch because I always have a gopro And on the inside the gopro if you go into the settings if you look at the date Then you can see what time it is and people sometimes are like, oh, you know what time it is And then I like take the gopro and i'm like going through you have to like press you have to like Press the top press the middle the mode button a few times then go to the bottom of the settings And then to get to the date and people like what they have the time on that little camera like wow, that thing is crazy But it's helpful for it's not it's not it's not the same as a watch because you can't have set timers and alarms But just like if you just need to check the time real quick If you have it set to the right time that just a little thing I figured i'd mention Just a little chilling out back sitting there and Something that I always do when i'm just sitting out there is i'll stand on my board and try to balance And the more you do it the better you get like with most most things but I feel it helps me with my balance and also like Feeling more comfortable when I catch my next wave because my legs are like kind of like Warming up a bit and balancing. I like to do this when I first get out and I don't remember where I saw this I feel like I saw like maybe like john john or just someone do it in like some like a Video or a competition or something? And what I also will do is rub my feet on the wax and many people do many surfers do this but it just helps kind of get your Feet nice and sticky so you have better traction when you catch the wave I've i've heard of some surfers what they do in like competitions Is if they have to walk out on like rocks or like on a reef to get before they can start paddling They'll actually put wax on the top of their feet So once they're on their board and they're paddling out they can rub their feet together on top of Like the bottom of their foot on on the top part of their other foot so that their feet get nice and sticky I don't do that, but I just rub my feet on my board to get them nice and grippy for the next wave I must say today the water was definitely really clear. It's a really amazing when the water is this clear sometimes it's really murky because of maybe it just depends on the currents and the tide sometimes there's a lot of sand in the water and Like this it is also if like if you wipe out and you can also open your eyes underwater people always say what like how do you open your eyes in the salt water like Um, I that that's crazy like i'm not sure how you I don't know how you do that and it's not comfortable nor can I see Very well, but it is just I like being able to see like have a general vision of what's in front of me Like even in a swimming pool, whether it's chlorine or salt water I still open my eyes underwater and if you do it too much, then your eyes my eyes get really irritated But like if I just am jumping in a pool real quick I will open my eyes underwater so I can like look around so I don't like swim into a wall or If somebody jumps in or something like, you know, I just like seeing of course if you have goggles that is ideal But you know, you don't always have goggles. Ah goggles That brings a funny story one moment So a while back I when I was um surfing years ago I had the brilliant idea to bring snorkeling goggles out surfing because you know the water's so clear right now You know, I want to snorkel around while while in between waves and you know in theory that sounds just like a brilliant idea So I did it brought my goggles out. It was really fun I was swimming around and then I had to catch a wave So I just like put the goggles on and then I ended I fell and then I lost my goggles Because I just they just like slipped off my face because I was paying attention to like falling and where my surfboard is And there was actually like somebody filming on the inside and they were helping me look around I I never ended up finding those goggles and then I like a year or two later or something I was like, oh, you know what? I want to take goggles out again Um, you know, I lost the last time but this time i'm definitely not going to lose them because i'm just gonna like, you know Pay really good attention to where my goggles are and i'm not going to lose them And of course I lost them again. So i'm not doing that again If I do it again I'll tie a string to the goggles and then tie them to like My shorts or like around my wrist or something so I don't lose them because that was that was very sad I remember because they were like my most favorite goggles, you know when you get something and even if it's something that isn't Extremely valuable or expensive, but it just works really good some goggles, they're not the most comfortable or The like air tends to like leak out and water leaks in well, those ones that I lost were like perfect So that was a little sad but you know You learn right? This was actually my best wave. I did one nice little cut back wrap And then I tried to do another one, but I kind of went out too far and the wave kind of fizzled away I ended up falling and um Losing the wave that is a wrap for this video. I hope you've enjoyed I probably won't do these too often But if they're fun for you, then maybe once in a while i'll do like a session like this Maybe at a new place today's positive quote is what you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become By achieving your goals and an example I could use for this is maybe you have a goal of getting a certain camera Well when you get to achieve that goal of getting that camera, that's awesome But that camera probably won't last forever one day it could break or you could lose it or you trade it in for a better camera So what's more valuable? In my opinion is also what you've learned maybe you had to work really hard or You had to learn a new skill or become better at something to be able to get that camera Remember to keep always doing awesome stuff and i'll see you in the next one