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Research, Technology, and Teamwork blog by Susie Wee

Blogging on the beach: Catching waves by mistake

Published 22 April 2007, 03:48 PM

I had one more chance to go surfing on my last day in Hawaii, and I made an important discovery-- You can catch waves by mistake!

When I was out on Friday evening, the waves were a bit bigger and rougher than the waves I faced on my previous surf attempts. They weren't necessarily that big, but since I'm still a beginner, some waves look really big to me.

I was paddling out into the ocean, and there was this HUGE crashing wave coming towards me. For some reason which I can't recall, I was stuck in a position that I wasn't supposed to be in, which is that my surfboard was sideways with respect to the oncoming wave. In general, as you paddle out into the ocean, you should squarely face the on-coming wave so that you can duck your surfboard under it and lift yourself over it as it passes, and then you hope it passes without pushing you back too far, and then you keep on paddling. But if you're sideways to the oncoming wave, then the wave can topple you over and get you into a little laundry spin cycle. (Yes, I know how laundry feels.)

So, the HUGE crashing wave was coming towards me and I was sideways, so I was all ready to be toppled over and start my spin cycle. The whitewater started to throw me and my board around, and I was hanging onto my board for dear life. But then something surprising happened... The wave caught my surfboard, straightened it out, and started pushing it along. Since I was hanging on tight, I was being dragged along, too. Then, I suddenly realized that my surfboard caught the wave! So I got myself situated and jumped up on the board and surfed the wave! Wow- I caught the wave by mistake!

It's neat how after a bit of tumbling and hanging on, this mistake of being in the wrong position miraculously turned into a great opportunity (in surfing every wave is an opportunity!). And, it's even more neat that I somehow managed to make the most of it!

While it is not my intention, some of my previous posts might have led you to believe that every aspect of your career should be planned strategically and that your best opportunities will come when you're doing all the right things. But the reality is that sometimes you are in the wrong position, sometimes great opportunities are unplanned, and sometimes great opportunities come along by mistake. When this happens, it's up to you to make the most of it!

Do you have any learnings from my little story? Or, do you think I've been on the beach a little too long? 

Did you ever catch a wave by mistake... at work, in the ocean, or elsewhere in life?


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Susie, if I am not over-sensitive, I thought this article is for me. :-). Thanks much for the encouragements. I am more confident in my future now....:-)...trying to catch the waves after the mistakes...I am still learning... Bloging on beach is a romantic thing....should do more....:-)at least to tell people that HP director is not just a working-horse, she also knows how to enjoy the life...and in a very romantic place...:-)
# Monday, April 23, 2007 10:59 PM by Heartfelt168
Heartfelt168: I'm very happy that this article touched you! Thank you very much for letting me know, as knowing this means a lot to me. As you say, I guess I am a work horse and I like to enjoy life. A term we use in the US is "work hard and play hard".

I agree that Hawaii certainly is a fun and romantic place! I have to admit, it is a bit odd to attend a conference there, as running by palm trees between meetings is a bit odd to me. :)

Best wishes for catching waves... whether planned or unplanned!

# Tuesday, April 24, 2007 11:12 PM by Susie Wee
A belated comment, permisso.

Hi Susie,

Just caught up with your blog for the first time, primarily as a consequence of doing backgrounders on HPL.

You wrote, in a post entitled "Catching waves by mistake", " .... But then something surprising happened ... The wave caught my surfboard, straightened it out, and started pushing it along. Since I was hanging on tight, I was being dragged along, too. Then, I suddenly realized that my surfboard caught the wave! So I got myself situated and jumped up on the board and surfed the wave! Wow- I caught the wave by mistake!"

Amiga, you've had a big revelation, one that the world of bodysurfers has known about for a very long time.

That is, gaining control of the moving wave, harnessing its power, and making graceful manoeuvres on the surface of the water doesn't necessarily require a hard-board or a bodyboard - fins (flippers), timing, wave selection and finesse are the tools needed for this exercise.

And these attributes also enable all forms of "waterpersonship" to be carried out with greater expertise, and of course, greater pleasure.

I've been a bodysurfer for many years, and also move in the online space of bodysurfing, a space that Kelly Slater also appears within, amongst many other "name" male and female surfers.

Here's a brief account of Slater bodysurfing under moonlight at Hawaii's infamous Banzai Pipeline, that I always find refreshing:

http://www.worldbodysurfing.org/html/4_21_1zerman-5_26_1.html#moonriding

Anyway, enough for now - I have a standard list of interesting and amusing online references if the idea of reading about bodysurfing appeals.

Regards,

Michael Zerman

Adelaide, AUSTRALIA

# Sunday, May 13, 2007 12:34 AM by publisher@zerman.net
Michael: Wow- Interesting! I body surfed a bit for fun when I was a kid, but I didn't know that it grew into a fully developed sport. You're quite brave for attacking the big waves without a board- just you, a pair of flippers, and the waves! I'd love to see the amusing online references, as it would be enjoyable and I'm sure there are lots of life's lessons to be learned from them!
# Wednesday, May 16, 2007 04:27 AM by Susie Wee
Geez Susie, please don't be under the misapprehension that it's me taking on those punishing 12 foot faces at Hawaii's Banzai Pipeline - this is the extreme performance, or Olympics, end of the sport, hobby and lifestyle.

I'm an average type, following Pareto's Law or Pareto's Principal regarding bodysurfing, ie the 80/20 rule. I'm one of the 80% of bodysurfers that catches waves when the conditions provide faces of less than 4'-6', as is the norm for all surfers, whether they be hardboard, bodyboard, or in my case, handboard, fins and body users.

Funnily enough Pareto applies in my other life as a search maven and publisher, which HP's Labs are also familiar with, at:

http://www.hpl.hp.com/research/idl/papers/ranking/ranking.html

As you requested, I enclose a list of interesting and possibly amusing online references if the idea of reading about bodysurfing appeals.

Regards,

Michael Zerman

Adelaide, AUSTRALIA

Bodysurfing References, May 2007

1. The longest extant contest is held annually at Oceanside in Southern California. This year's event is 25/26 August 2007, details at:

http://www.worldbodysurfing.org/

2. Bodysurfing in Australia has a formal organisation, Bodysurfing Australia Incorporated, details at:

http://www.bodysurfing.com.au

3. Bodysurf & Search is my blog interest, and a good account of the intersection appears at:

http://www.searchreturn.com/digest/116.shtml

My writings on Search & Bodysurf are at:

http://zerman.net/content.html

4. Body Art - Nick Carroll of Surfline on bodysurfing, June 2001.

Surfline was one of the online sport sites that survived the dotcomm purge, so their account of the world of bodysurfing exists at:

http://www.surfline.com/mag/pulse/2001/june/06_14_bodysurfers.cfm

5. Bodysurfing book - in French only.

The best (and only) print publication in 30 years is Laurent Masurel and Hugo Verlomme's BodySurf - the Origins of Surf. The pix are terrific, the book is 300 pages with full-colour throughout while the text is in French. Buying it online appears to be a chore but do persist, perhaps at Amazon France:

http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/2843944929/qid=1071721418/sr=1-18/ref=sr_1_1_18/402-3516665-4743309

Published by Atlantica, ISBN 2-84394-476-7.

6. They're Gnarlier Watermen Than Anyone

http://www.worldbodysurfing.org/html/4_21_1zerman5_26_1.html

Australia's Michael Zerman chats with Nick Carroll, surf journalist and author, about the perceptions of bodysurfing by the mainstream surfing community ... includes tales of Kelly Slater bodysurfing at Pipeline in Chris Robinson's Moon Riding at Pipeline anecdotes.

7. Australian academic Ed Jaggard wrote a very interesting paper on bodysurfing and beach culture, which was presented to a history of beach culture conference in Western Australia in 2004. He's th eofficial historian for the Surf Lifesaving Association of Australia, and author of Between the Flags: one hundred summers of Australian surf lifesaving.

Interview with him, including transcript at:

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/saturdayextra/stories/2006/1779370.htm

8. Finally (phew), a technical paper entitled, The Mathematics and Physics of Bodysurfing by Neville de Maistre of Bond University, Queensland, Australia.

Slightly weird physics (why would one try to test a bottle??), but he's sincere and knowledgeable, and cited.

http://www.bond.edu.au/it/research/The%20Mathematics%20and%20Physics%20of%20Body%20Surfing.pdf

ENDS

# Monday, May 21, 2007 03:17 AM by publisher@zerman.net
Hi Michael: Wow- these links are very interesting. You are modest- Throwing your body into 4-6 foot waves is plenty impressive to me! I'm sure some readers will find these links interesting too- Thanks for contributing them!
# Wednesday, May 23, 2007 04:52 AM by Susie Wee

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