July 5th 2013: Learning to Surf in Narragansett RI

Today I had an appointment to learn surfing at the Narragansett Beach in Narragansett RI with Narragansett Surf and Skate. When I finally arrived, I was told that the shop itself was far from the beach, and that I was to meet my instructor at the beach instead. I was a little early, so after finding a free parking spot, I walked around the beach area for a bit to take pictures of the beautiful beach,

the Narragansett Towers

and other monuments in the area.

Canonchet Memorial Park,

Ocean Road and Beach Street

Village Inn Hotel

Memorial Square

Casino Courtyard,

Kingstown Road and Ocean Road

Lila Delman Real Estate

Coast Guard House

I did not step onto the beach itself, however, as there is a fee to use it.

Finally, it was time for my lesson. After putting on my wetsuit, I carried my board somewhat awkwardly down to the beach as it was the largest my instructor provided to give me extra stability, and my hands were not long enough to stretch out and hold its entire width. I apparently could choose not to pay the beach fee as I was taking surfing lessons, which I did happily. 

While still on the beach, I learned how to lay face down on the board in the correct position for maximum balance, and to paddle to go forward or change directions, much like doing so in a kayak, except with hands instead of oars. Here I also learned how to get to a standing position to ride the waves that came along.

Finally it was time to head into the water to put what I had learnt into practice. The water was freezing, although after a while of surfing, I did not feel it as much any more. It was also good that the water was shallow here, although it was rocky at some parts and hurt the soles of my feet when I accidentally trudged upon them. Paddling in the water wasn't too bad an ordeal, although in order to see the waves coming, I had to be parallel to the beach and the waves, and once I saw a wave coming in the distance, I was to change directions quickly to face the beach, and paddle forward to match my speed to that of the wave, and when the wave finally caught me and sent me forward, I was to stand up and ride the wave back to the beach. 

The last and most important part, was something I found really hard to do.

I kept falling off my board at first (thank goodness for the shallow water), but after getting the hang of it, I managed to balance myself while standing, but had a hard time letting go of the board with my hands. By the end of the lesson, I managed to stand up completely, but my feet were still too close together.

Oh well, next time then. After a fun time of learning how to surf, I headed all the way back to Boston for lunch. Feel free to continue reading about the rest of my day here.