Surf Lesson in Crete- Take off and Turns
Early morning call for the participants of our surf lesson today. As it is slowly getting fall, the mornings are a bit chillier and the sun comes up later. But all were highly motivated and ready to go. The conditions was glassy in the beginning with hardly no wind and human friendly waves - just perfect to practice without the hassle of fighting against currents. Throughout the course the wave size and the wind picked up, sometimes the set was head high! In the first half of the course the left hander was working nicely and in the second half we switched to the steep right hander in the middle of the bay.
Our surf lesson today started with the recap of safety and communication, followed by a warm up. Then we practiced on the beach the pop-up, paddling as well as stalling & trimming, a technique to prolong the ride. Then the participants headed out together with surf coach Andy in the water where he assisted with timing and choice of wave. After everyone understood how and where to catch the wave, Andy went to the beach to look at the participants head on in order to be able to give individual feedback and corrections. Bastian and Lisa where ready to learn how to turn the surfboard, first on the beach and then in the water. So their and Laurens' goal today was to feel and perform the movement of the turn with as many repetitions as possible. The goal of the other participants was to be able to catch the wave and take off on their own while trying to prolong their ride by keeping the surfboard as flat as possible on the ocean surface. This is achieved by shifting the weight when necessary. To much weight in the back and the board will stall, too much weight in the front and the board will nose dive. The progress today was great. Everybody made a step forward in their surfing skills!
