Perhaps the worst feeling ever. You know it. Photo: YouTube//Screenshot
If you really think about it, surfing is mostly not surfing. The amount of time you spend actually riding a wave is minuscule compared to the amount of time you sit waiting for a wave. Minuscule to the amount of time you spend paddling for waves. Minuscule compared to the amount of time you’re moving around the lineup, trying to get in the right spot to paddle for those waves. And when you do get one, you, like everyone else, could very well blow it… or have it blown for you.
Maybe you were way too deep and found yourself suddenly in mid-air. Maybe you thought you were going to get barreled, only to find out that the lip was not over your head, but instead perfectly mid-chest, poised to detonate on your entire body. Maybe someone burns you. Maybe you burn someone. Or maybe you just bog rail in front of the whole lineup on the first turn on the best wave of the day. Those are shared experiences, from the surfer who sucks to Kelly Slater.
Here, in a little over two minutes, the YouTube channel Surf on Mars compiles clips of those moments on Australia’s Gold Coast, where the insane number of surfers makes many of those things far more likely. At least we’re all in good company, right?
