For a few seconds, floating a little more than a foot over the sandy ocean floor felt like being on top of the world.
It took about 10 tries and numerous wicked wipeouts, but I finally stood up on a surfboard for the first time ever, a moment of Zen in the shadow of the Pismo Pier.
“Never turn your back to the ocean,” my teacher, New Times ad designer and avid surfer Christy Serpa, had advised me earlier. “Don’t try to surf the biggest wave when you’ve really got no business being out there, because it can hurt you, and it can hurt other people.”
Following her lead, we stayed close to shore in the whitewash, and I spent the afternoon getting comfortable with the feeling of the wave lifting the board and prodding me toward the shore. Soon, it was time to try standing up; first on one knee, then gradually, the feet followed. What began as an awkward exercise in futility became increasingly easier with each repetition.
As it so happened, my initial experience “popping up” occurred alongside a group of 48 high school seniors from a private Los Angeles-area high school, guests of Van Curaza and the surfing school bearing his name in Pismo Beach.
For the students, the experience was part of a senior trip they’d waited four years to attend, and for most of them, it was their first time on a surfboard as well.
“I’ve never been surfing before. I’ve been snowboarding, and I’m really excited,” said student Zev Forrest. “I’m hoping I get the hang of it. I’m commando in my wetsuit, and it’s extremely comfortable. I just want to dive in the water and be like a merman.”
As the afternoon progressed, some students got the hang of it, while others were content to just hang loose.
“If anything, they were just having fun,” said Eric Soderquist, a surfing pro, artist, and school instructor. “By the end, this one kid was just swimming, he didn’t care. When they’re back on the bus, it will kick in how stoked they are.”
Born and raised in Santa Maria, Curaza has taught literally thousands of beginners—ranging in age from 3 to 83—for the past 26 years. Earlier that morning, he was busy hustling around to various surf shops, collecting enough boards and wetsuits for the largest group he’d ever instructed at any one time.
He got “the stoke” himself at the age of 12, hitchhiking to the beach after school to surf. What’s kept him going, he said, is the feeling of pure freedom and peace he gets from being in the ocean.
“There’s a certain thing about surfing that once you experience it, it’s almost like a drug. It’s addicting,” he said. “Once you catch your first wave, you’re hooked.”
Having the desire to surf is the easy part, Curaza said, but it’s only half the battle.
“A lot of people dream about surfing. You just have to pull the trigger and go,” he said. “If you go without any guidance, you usually have an experience that’s not too pleasant so you get turned off to it right away. If you have a little bit of direction, you have success.”
With help from his eight instructors, Curaza starts his beginning students off with lessons in water safety, ocean awareness, and basic mechanics. In all his years as an instructor, only three students haven’t been able to stand up during their first lesson.
For “gremmies” like myself—novices to the sport, in surfer parlance—the fundamental equipment is simple: a wetsuit, preferably of a 4/3 thickness, a 9- or 10-foot longboard for easier handling and balance, and a leash.
Basics aside, surfing is without a doubt one of the more intimidating sports to jump into. If it’s not the fear of ridicule from more experienced surfers, it’s the cold Central Coast water and the threat of sharks—a fear surfers say is greatly exaggerated.
Advances in wetsuits have made even the most frigid water a non-issue. During my experience, the temperature hovered around 50 degrees, but the cold was virtually unnoticeable.
According to school instructor Soderquist, after the obvious physical trepidations, the biggest hurdle for many beginners to overcome is the fear of the unknown.
And Soderquist’s advice for beginners? Stay positive and learn to conserve your energy out on the water.
As I quickly found out, once a “sweet spot” is established on the board, the trick is hitting it, again and again, until it becomes effortless.
The only way to accomplish the feat is to practice, practice, practice, said Serpa, my surfing guru for the afternoon. Additionally, she said, one must recognize the nature of swells and the movement of the ocean itself.
“Realize it’s ever changing, it’s not consistent,” she said. “You’re vulnerable, you’re at its mercy. It can do whatever it decides to, and you have to respect that and just gain that knowledge. It takes years and years just to even feel like you know what to anticipate, and the more you go out there, the more you feel in sync with it.”
Ultimately, surfers say, each person is endowed with his or her own strengths and weaknesses, and having the proper instruction creates less room for error and the potential for more fun.
“There’s an intimidation factor that happens,” said Curaza school instructor Justin Hodges. “It takes trusting in oneself, the ability to go out and take instruction from somebody. Don’t expect that you’re going to go out and be Kelly Slater on your first lesson.”
For Hodges, imparting the surfing experience to others is a top priority.
“I have the most fun that I’ve ever had doing anything in my life,” he said. “I’m one with the water, one with nature. All the energy’s already there. To harness that energy and do something with it in a creative way is mind-blowing.”
If Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas can harness the energy of the ocean, anyone can. Contact him at jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 17-24, 2010.