We’ve started a Sunday morning tradition of walking down to the bay  as a family for a surf session. Ok, so it doesn’t happen every Sunday. Some sundays call for just chilling on the porch and dreaming up a big breakfast to make. But if the surf conditions are reasonable, we gather the family (at this point consisting of my husband and I and our two dogs) and take a leisurely 15 min walk along the beach to the bay.

Last year we finished building our beach house at the bay – which right now mostly just serves as surfboard storage. As of today there is still no power and fresh water must be delivered by tractor. But after several years of false promises, the municipality has finally installed power lines! We’re just waiting for them to finally be connected. The timing is perfect since we’ll be using the beach house more fully as a base camp once the baby comes along. 

The waves weren’t amazing this morning and there were about a dozen people in the water, so we took our time and just hung out at the house until the crowd dispersed one by one.

At 27 weeks pregnant, my belly is big enough that it’s getting uncomfortable to lie on a surfboard normally. I have to make my body into a peak, putting pressure on my knees so that my butt is up in the air and the belly has some room, which makes it tricky to paddle into waves that are weak and small. It’s totally doable on a shortboard since the board sinks into the water which also helps to remove pressure. In fact a few days ago I had an incredible session on a big fat (but short) 5’8″ fish and even managed a few tube rides! I can’t wait to teach our daughter how to surf on that board and tell her that she’s already been tubed on it!

The waves were pretty small so I tried paddling out this morning on a big 7’10” but I felt like I was squishing the baby and after just one wave I cruised back to the beach.

The solution: grab the boogie board and fins! Just as I tell all our guests at Surf With Amigas, surfing is about feeling the joy that comes from getting pushed by the ocean. Paddling out on the boogie took the pressure off my belly and allowed me to kick around and feel good in the water. It was an awesome morning!