Pohodo

The Surfing Days

I got a surfboard for my 10th birthday and I've pretty much been hooked ever since. Fortunately, my parents were building a house on the ocean at that time, so rides to the beach were never an issue. I surfed all the time - it was the only thing I really had any passion for at all. I would lie in bed at night listening to the surf for signs of a new swell arriving. Every morning at school, the surf group would gather for the report. Some of my friends would leave their boards at my house and ride my bus home after school. When the Sun would set, their parents would come pick them up. I really enjoyed those days.

Our house was right near the Stuart Rocks, one of the few actual reef breaks in Florida. Apparently, it has quite a reputation on a couple of fronts - good surf and the localized nature of the place. You can read more about the place at the following:

The point I really lost the ability to surf with any regularity was when I entered the Air Force in 1992. I wanted to travel and see the world. I was hoping for an assignment in Hawaii, Guam, Panama, Japan, any base that was near some good surfing. Instead, the government decided I'd be of more use in Valdosta, Georgia. While there are worse bases to land in to be sure, it really put the brakes on much surfing. I caught the occassional weekend for some surf in Florida, but not much.

After a couple of years, I actually got orders to Hawaii, but my boss had them canceled. His jackass actions forced me to put in for the dreaded World Wide Remote - basically telling them to send me anywhere in the World that nobody else wants to go. Cancelling orders to Hawaii is easy enough for most people with pull because they can easily replace the person, but a remote assignment is almost impossible because of the hardships placed on families. Fortunately, I dodged Thule, Greenland and ended up in South Korea for a year. After six months, I was able to take 30 days off and I "hopped" over the pacific toward Hawaii where I was finally able to surf some.

I was supposed to get priority placement coming off of a remote tour, but the best they could do for me was the middle of North Carolina. Again stuck on the occasional weekend trip to the coast. At least I wasn't there for too long. After a spot of time in the Middle East, I got the heck out and was glad to be done with my military sentence. It's odd how a single jackass encountered through the long journey of life can have such a dramatic impact. If only they would have let me go to Hawaii.

Now I've been living in Atlanta, Georgia since 1997 chasing the American dream. Although there were a couple of years I didn't find my way back to the Ocean, I've managed to surf once or twice a year on borrowed equipment.

The end of 2004 brought my first board in well over a decade. That inspired me to buy all of the other equipment and go on a trip to Panama with the sole purpose of surfing. Now that I'm equiped once again, I'm hoping to take some more solid surf adventures.

Pictures

Unfortunatley, I didn't get many photos taken of me during my surfing days. Everybody always wanted to surf instead of take pictures. Anyway, there aren't many, but here they are...

A few newer ones coming soon.