This weeks guest post by Mary Mills (Surfsister) is all about the horror of horrors of forgetting your wetsuit when it’s going off. Read her every move here each Tuesday in her weekly column.
How’s that for coincidence?
This was not one of my better days. Being the “epitome of efficiency” that I am (or at least that I think I am), I efficiently forgot to put my wetsuit in the car.
Imagine my horror when I arrived at the break, took down my board, opened the back of the car, saw my surf bag, fins and surf mat, and my bottle of hot water, but did not see anything resembling a bodysuit made out of neoprene. The horror, the horror.
That’s when the stupid stuff starts. You start looking at the water and wondering how long you can last without a wetsuit. Why was that so stupid? I am always cold in the water, even during the summer. Part of me wanted to go home and stew.
I was looking at waves that weren’t closing out. The wind seemed to have bypassed this break. What I was seeing was as good as I was going to get today. Suffice it to say, I was pissed. If I’d forgotten my board, which is something I have nightmares about and yet have never done, I probably could have found someone I knew and borrowed a board.
A forgotten wetsuit? Kiss your session goodbye. So I drove home, got two wetsuits (one to wear during that session and an extra to leave in the car for the next time I forgot my wetsuit) and came right back to the break.
I don’t like to leave wetsuits in a hot car. However, being without a wetsuit was not an option. Since I am often forgetful, I decided my rule about not leaving wetsuits in a hot car was no longer a useful one. As of that session, it was crossed off my imaginary list of things not to do.
Anyway, I threw two wetsuits in the car and drove back to the break. On the way there, a friend called to check in. She mentioned she was about to stop for a session. It turned out we were both headed to the same spot and were both about 15 minutes away from said spot, but coming from opposite directions.
Guess what we discovered when we met? She’d forgotten her wetsuit! Even though I probably outweigh her by 20 pounds, she was more than happy to borrow one of my wetsuits. I’m happy to report it wasn’t hanging off of her; it was simply a little big.
Now? I always have at least two wetsuits in the car at all times. Since it’s now summer here in Southern California, I’ve got a shorty john, a long-sleeved springsuit and a full suit all at the ready. I won’t be caught off-guard again!
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