Cape Cod Diary 3: I Which Ian Learns That Big Red Is Not a Good Board To Surf

We took the family yesterday back to Head of the Meadow beach. What fun to have a beach with such dramatic differences between the tides. That channel between the beach and massive sandbar was almost empty, maybe ankle deep at the most, yet by the time we left it was chest deep. What a great place for kids to play!

I brought Big Red to the beach and tried to surf it. Not a great plan. First thing is that the board is too short and wide to easily get up to speed for a wave. It's fine for casual or family paddling, but it just turns too readily for those short bursts to get on a wave.

While I was paddling, a lifeguard on a 404 board joined me for a while. She was quite good and was obviously an experienced surfer. We both had a little trouble reading the water because the offshore winds (15-20) were flattening the water. I as in the same spot as that morning, but oh what a difference. Waves that broke nicely on the sandbar looked like tiny ripples just a dozen yards out. Plus the sandbar was completely out of the water, so you didn't get that nice break as before.

Gabriel has mastered basic boogie-boarding. He's catching waves and often riding them all the way to shore. He even caught a few bigger waves that I was sure would have out him through the rinse cycle. I'll try to get some good pics of him today -- not that I can post them or anything.