I’ll be quick with this week’s blog because it is my birthday. It’s a big one too, the start of a new decade which hopefully won’t be my last but you never know. Life it unpredictable and I am officially old so I gotta make the most of every day. I sell real estate full time, and when I can, I get in the water. My very advanced age didn’t stop me from buying a new wetsuit today at 101 Surf Sports in San Rafael. It’s been three years since I got a new one and the old one has become fairly porous, as they all do eventually.
The people at 101 are really nice and I’ve been going there for years now. I’ve bought all my surfboards there in recent years, which naturally keep getting longer as I get older. Most recently I got a 9’1 Jimmy Lewis long board last year which has been a really fun board in all conditions, including double overhead Steamer Lane last year on my birthday. I also bought a 8’0 Jimmy Lewis fun board a few years back, which lives up to its name. The 9’1 is better in the softer breaks like Bolinas and Stinson Beach, and great for point breaks. Before the Jimmy Lewis boards I was riding 7’6 Modern surfboards, the Blackbird and Falcon, but I prefer the longer boards now which are easier to paddle. I gouged the Blackbird on the rocks at Fort Point, and I ride the Falcon occasionally at Ocean Beach during lower tides when the waves are steeper. At higher tides the waves aren’t as critical, which is ideal for the 9’1 and an old guy like me.
I might be old, but I’m still dialed into the ocean. I plan on surfing as long as my body with let me, whenever my real estate schedule allows and the waves are good. This next decade I’m going to keep doing what makes me happy. Selling real estate, writing, surfing, swimming, walking and regularly working out, that pretty much sums up how I see filling up this next decade. I wouldn’t want it any other way.