Surf Lessons
“Boketto” (A Japanese term): To gaze vacantly into the distance without thinking anything specific.
You never forget the first time you “catch a wave”. Squinting into the sun, looking backwards, waiting for the rising swell, capped by a white foam. Paddling as fast as you can to keep up. And then the feeling of being carried by something infinitely more powerful than yourself. This becomes a paradigm that you could spend a life-time chasing. It justifies those times when the wave advances too quickly and wipes you out; when the foam almost dissolves you, leaving behind flailing limbs, mouth and ears flooded with saltwater, a sense of only being a passenger on this powerful ride.
Early Explorers were once amazed by the lithe forms of the Polynesian islanders. How did they have the time to farm successfully and still devote time to surf? You cannot divorce surfing from subculture and the idea of outsiders looking in. Back in early 60’s California, the allure of surfing culture drew in the Beach Boys. Apart from Dennis, none of them actually surfed. For Brian and his cousin Mike, the attraction was the “other”, from the special radio stations and secret surfer gatherings to the iconic “Pendleton” shirts. The bandmembers would speak to real surfers about surfing spots and then include them in songs such as “Surfin Safari”. Their aim was not only to give their songs an air of authenticity but also to secure their place within the surfing community. Being authentic is a universal human desire. We are all scared of not fitting in, of not knowing the things that we are supposed to know…This is something I have also experienced in my own interactions with surfing culture.
The allure of surfing culture drew in the Beach Boys
The board itself does not lie. Your first impression of a surfer usually comes from the kind of board they ride. With boards the rule of thumb is that bigger is not usually better. Since long boards catch most waves, there is a sense of smaller boards having more authenticity, because they make you work harder to catch the wave and are also more difficult to control.
The complete novice tends to ride what is known as a “Foamie”, a long soft board. A Foamie prevents injury when being thrashed by the swell. Novices are also referred to as “Kooks”. Even when starting out there is a desire not to come across as a Kook, from the moment you step into the surf shop to being out there on the water. On my part there was a lot of smiling and nodding so as not to allow my lack of familiarity with the surfing language betray my inexperience.
In finding the wave, never mind harnessing it, there is a strong sense of humankind versus nature and whether that pursuit is productive. There are whole websites devoted to crunching the variables, covering conditions such as wave height and wind speed. However, all the science goes out the window when the initiated whisper among themselves like old superstitious sailors:
“There might be a wave at one o’clock.”
Messages are passed along the network. But don’t tell the “Kooks”.
Like the sailors praying to an icon for protection and good fortune, the chase can feel all consuming: a far cry from the feeling of emptiness that you are trying to achieve in the first place. Maybe you just need to let the wave find you rather than chase it from shore to shore.
On the approach to the beach, you may see a group of surfers congregating like an army of ants on an anthill. This is both reassuring and vexing in equal measure. Yes, your hope of finding something is not unfounded. But you’ve also lost that infinite solitude we all sometime seek. Once in the water, you wait. The moment of solitude comes, unless another surfer paddles directly in front of you. Thoughts come and go, though all mental noise and anxiety is unproductive now. When the wave comes, you learn to block all thinking out and be as one, in a perfect state of emptiness. Too much mental noise and the wave rejects your ride. Wait, look, paddle. Nothing more.
People tend to say that lockdown has meant not being able to go where you wanted to or do what you wanted to do. It has been a period of taking stock. Hopefully we can all re-emerge into a world that is more conscious and considered. Surfing and in the larger sense “Boketto” can help us achieve this.