Cowabunga, Dude! Surfing in Galveston

Before every hurricane, you always see the surfers catching some waves out in Galveston Bay. So with yet another storm taking aim at the Gulf, I figured, if you can't beat them, join them.

Yup...that's right. KHOU's Girl About Town is going surfing - but first she has to learn how.

Surfing is something I've always wanted to try, but I've backed off because: a) I didn't want to wipe out and be knocked unconscious by my board, and b) I didn't want be eaten by sharks.

Turns out, both of these fears are completely rational.

"Getting hit by your board is the most common surfing injury," said Brian, my surf instructor. "I knew this hula dancer when I living in Hawaii. She wiped out, and her board came around and knocked all her front teeth out."

Crap. That's just what I need.

LEARNING THE BASICS
Brian, who owns C-Sick Surfin on Galveston Island, has been surfing since 1962. He's caught waves all over the world including Africa, Hawaii, California and any place else you can think of. Plus, he still has all his teeth so he must know something.

I met up with him on Monday for my first lesson, and you'll be happy to hear that he didn't just hand me a board and throw me into the water (thank goodness). We spent at least the first 30 minutes of the two hour lesson learning the basics like how to spot the waves, the currents and rips, and what dangers to look out for. He also taught me how to properly carry the surf board and we practiced getting up on it on the sand.

Then we hit the water.

CATCHING THE WAVES
The first thing that surprised me about surfing is that you don't have to be in really deep water to catch a wave.

"You just need to be waist-deep and then you can climb on your board and start paddling," said Brian.

But you don't need to paddle for hours. You just need to go where the waves are. On the day I went, the water was below chest level and it was perfect height for getting the surf.

The second thing that surprised me was that it's much harder to stand up on a moving surfboard in water than it is to stand up on the sand.

I swear, I was doing excellent on the shore during the practice session. Didn't fall off the board once. But in the water, it was completely different.

There I was paddling, feeling the wave start pushing the board. And from behind me, I could hear Brian yelling, "Stand up now." The steps of how to do it were going through my head: grab the rails and push up, move your right foot to the center, and stand up straight with your weight in the middle and knees bent.

Sounds simple, but man, the board was moving fast.

But I paid $50 and drove all the way to Galveston, so I was going to do it.

I took a deep breath, pushed up, and amazingly, I was standing!!!! They worked. The steps really worked!!

Then, a second later, I wiped out.

You know that saying, if you fail, try again? That's the way it works in surfing. I got my board, paddled back out and tried it again. The second time, I didn't even make it a standing position, but plunged head first and sucked in a bunch of seawater. Yeah...I was really graceful.

But the third time, was the dream. I got up, caught the first wave and then stayed up long enough to catch the second bigger one coming in behind it. It was a complete rush. It was my best ride of the day and the reason I'll be going back again.

DO THEY HAVE SHARKS IN GALVESTON BAY?
Two hours later, I was getting pretty good at feeling when the wave was coming. And while I was able to stand up most of the time (at least for a few seconds), I was nowhere near being a professional surfer and will probably need a couple more lessons before I commit to buying my own surf board.

But here's what I did learn:

1) I'm a goofy foot and not a regular foot, which means I stand with my right foot forward on the board.

2) The sun will burn you - everywhere. I wore a t-shirt over my bikini top just because I didn't want anything coming loose in the waves, and I was glad I did. At least my chest and back didn't get burned. But I can't say the same about the back of my knees. Ouch.

3) If you fall off your board and don't know where it is, cover you head and face with your arms. Your board will come back and hit you. Remember the hula girl.

4) When paddling out, don't fight the waves. Paddle between sets or use the rips to get out. If you don't know what these are, find someone like Brian to teach you.

5) If you see lots of birds feeding or lots of fish jumping, don't surf there. Chances are there's a big fish feeding on the smaller fish below the waves.

6) Don't dangle your toes off your surfboard, wear red nail polish or shiny watches. All these things will make you attractive to big fish like sharks.

7) Invest in a surfer shirt (they call them rash guards). The material in the shirts has 50 UV protection, plus you won't get a rash from rubbing against your surfboard when paddling.

8) Don't wear bright colors like yellow and orange. Fish love them. "We used to call it Yum-Yum yellow," said Brian. Well, I don't know about you, but I don't want to be yum-yum for any fish.

9) If you can swim a couple of laps, do a couple of pushups and conquer your fear of falling off, you can surf.

Here's the one thing I didn't learn: Are there sharks in Galveston Bay? I don't know....and I don't want to know.