Dispatch From Foreign Correspondent Jim B

 

 My sunrise swim spot out front. 

Photo: Main Street, Thulusdhoo Atoll, Cokes surf spot down at the end of the road.

 Whatalife!

Our choices involve: surf or snorkel in the morning?

Where to do either or both of the above? 

How long to nap? 

Do we hire a boat at 2pm or 3pm, to surf until near the quick tropical sunset? Don’t want to be in the water and sun for too long. 

And where to surf? So far I’ve slid some fun, like really fun waves at Chickens and Ninjas. 

 

Four Italians, two guys two women, yes, surfing Italians from Palermo, two Spaniards from Bilbao, and me. Where’s your board? They ask. As we cruise the five minute crossing from Thulusdhoo to whatever atoll that is where Chickens is, I show them the mat and inflate it. Italians don’t do it often, but they were kind of quiet. Okaaaay….

 

1.5 hours later they gave me standing ovation when I paddled back to the boat (the last one out). Yesterday, after a similar session at Ninja’s, one of the Italian women laughed and said, “You’re crazy.” I believe it was a compliment. 

 

So, that’s a summary of our first few days here, more or less. 

Oh: Lotus absolutely flying down the line and holding an edge really well on the bottom turn and cutback. Haven’t taken it out on any super steep reef ledge wave yet like Cokes. Not sure I will. 

 

Just finished another late afternoon/evening session at Ninja’s. Super fun and nothin’ serious. I got some pretty good zippers, and one way down the line, far past where others were making it to. Paddling back out, one guy asked me how the food was in India…took me a little while to figure it out. Pretty funny. 

And an Austrian woman surfer, when I got back into the boat, asked me how old I am. Classic.

We’ll be joining our four Australian boat mates next week and surf the southern atolls. 

Jimbo