Before even getting in the water, he has me practice lying on the ground and then getting up and standing. He draws an outline of a surfboard in the sand and I practice standing in the middle of it. I feel foolish, and he laughs when I say so. “Yeah, you look kind of stupid, but trust me, you’ll be glad you did this at least a couple of times when we get out there.”
Feeling ready to get in the water, we wrap on our ankle straps, pick up our boards, and head out. We march into the surf with our boards held vertically in front of us, the cold waves splashing against our legs, forcing us back.
“The tide is coming in,” Finn yells over his shoulder to me. “Wait until you are waist deep, and then get on top of it.”
Then he takes two large steps, drops his board on the water, and jumps on top
