I grew up minutes from the ocean and my summers were spent at its edge. I was no stranger to bodysurfing -- even grabbing someone’s $30-version of a Morey Boogie Board as a kid and recklessly riding in whatever chop the Atlantic had to offer on hot summer days. As I grew older, I was curious aboutsurfing, but I respectfully feared jumping in with a board, and was reluctant to ask for a lesson. I watched my friends surf instead. (Usually I was in a raincoat on,with teeth chattering, because those are the conditions we need to get a wave up there!)

Once last year I finally took up a friend’s offer to paddle out. He took me out to Old Man’s in San Onofre. I was stoked to be able to paddle and catch every wave I tried, but I never quite got a chance to stand and take it all the way in. An electrical storm shortened my lesson and they made me get out of the water.

My boyfriend Matt is much like my friends who surfed back home when the good stuff came (aka blizzards, hurricanes, nor’easters), including for the 5 mil hooded wetsuit, gloves and booties. Currently residing in his home state of Oregon, he lives to surf no matter where he lives and will drive 6 hours in one day just to catch a few.

Matt shares my respectful fear of the ocean, and I know he’s a killer teacher. I was definitely stoked to get out in the surf on a board. But I was also looking forward to sharing a passion like we do with our love for the snow.

Ultimately I wanted to prove to myself that I could surf. That if I wanted to, it could become as important to me as the ocean itself is to me. I knew I’d been missing something great.

So, now to my big lesson. Who knew it would start with "How To Put On a 5-mil Wetsuit?" But it did. I felt like Randy in A Christmas Story (“I can’t put my arms down!”). And who wears SHOES in the ocean? But I put on the booties. Got over the fact that numeous renters had urinated in the rented Xcel suit I squeezed into. As Matt reminded me, “It’s sterile.”

The costume was weird at first. I was shocked that the water wasn’t more of a shock! Years ago I went coasteering in Wales (think rock climbing + crevacing + cliff diving) and thought I might implode in a beat-up wetsuit in 42-degree water. With that memory in mind,  10-degree-warmer water proved to be a breeze. I will say Oregon was in the midst of an anomalous 90-degree heat-wave in mid-May, and I’m sure the air temp eased the freeze for me. But getting into the water was fine.

The conditions that day were awful -- even by my standards (remember we’re not talking the North Shore or either Surf City). The waves were choppy and sloppy. The side shore current made me run in place like a cartoon character. But with Matt’s help I got up a bunch of times on the board and I’m looking forward to spending more time up there. Mostly I was relieved that it was something I’d be able to continue to learn. The feeling is addictive. I need to go again soon. This time we’re hitting my coast, just have to keep checking the swells!