Sunrise & Shine: The fear of missing out
FOMO: there can be a lot of it in surfing if you’re not careful.
It can be easy to see pictures of people scoring on social media and realize, “I missed that wave, that session, that swell. And it’s gone forever.”
It’s a lot different than most other sports or hobbies for its fleeting nature.
If your passion is tennis, and you see your country-club mates shreddin a doubles match on Instagram, it’s not the end of the world. You could do the exact same thing with them, on the exact same court, under largely exact conditions the very next day.
Sure you missed a little of the moment, but that’s nothing like missing out on these living, energy-packed entities we call waves.
Swells travel, waves break, and then they’re gone for good. You either tap into it, or you don’t. They don’t come back and ask if you want to hop on.
And if you miss that one-and-only offer, it can be a tough pill to swallow, especially for a couple of land-locked surfers who don’t get out that often.
We’ve got fewer reserves in the bank to keep us placated and soften the blow of missing out on probably the run of the year.
Unfortunately, that’s what happened to us this past week, though. Boohoo, right?
We got some scraps out of it, but we missed the mainstream fun for the week. The fun that was plastered all over social media, that high-fiving, lifelong-memory-making fun that so many got in on. Good for them. (For real though, happy for everyone who got to enjoy it).
We probably would’ve gotten pounded on the bigger days anyway, and our time in the water was still better than most time out of it.
So, for now, it’s until next time. It’ll be different of course, but that’s what makes chasing waves special. You never know what you’re gonna get.
Mind if I join?
Don’t forget to take a break from whatever swell Hurricane Lee delivers to get down on an International Coastal Cleanup next weekend. Happening Saturday Sep. 16th—find a patch of sand to tidy up.
Congrats to Florida’s own Caroline Marks for becoming a world champion over the weekend, winning the WSL Rip Curl Finals and proving yet again that the best surfers in the world come from the worst waves in the world. Right on Caroline! Melbourne Beach (not the one down under) is proud of ya.
Worth a watch
If it starts with YETI Presents, it’s gonna be good. YETI Presents: Beyond Sunset with Emi Erickson. Enough said.
Pre-shredded
To avoid perpetuating the FOMO, we’ll leave you to your own devices to see what this past week was like in Florida. But if you must know, just go to Gulfster’s page and you can regret all your life decisions.
Pray for surf
Fear not. If Hurricane Lee stays on track, whoever missed out will have another chance to cash in this week. Let’s hope it stays on track over open water for safety’s sake too, that thing is a beast.
“You guys really missed it. You should’ve been here yesterday.”
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