Ron Jon decided to have a photo shoot for a couple of their team members that same week at pelican park in Melbourne. We were lucky to score some waves which was a plus as well and it ended up being a fun 6 to 8 ft. on some of the sets and glassy! Every now and then a little barrel would come through that a few of the guys were catching.
The next day or so after the Ron Jon photo shoot my team mates, Amy Nichole, Hannah Claunch, and I had a little shoot for Florida Today that made the paper, so I was pretty stoked about this also.
The third weekend in March, the ESA All Star team coach, Kai, came down from the Carolina's to coach some of the All Stars for the weekend to get us prepared for the upcoming ESA regionals contest at Sebastian Inlet. The first day of practice was held at the inlet and the waves were absolutely out of control! I think it is safe to say some of the waves had easily 8 ft. faces and were just munching everyone who dared take off on one. I have to admit I took my share of going over the falls that day. The next day we decided to move practice to the Cocoa Beach pier where it was much more controlled and you could actually take off without having to worry about the bottom of the wave disappearing all of the sudden from beneath you. I caught some better waves that day than at the inlet the day before and overall just got some good heat practice in so it turned out to be a very productive weekend and I was satisfied in the end. (Thanks, Kai, for taking your time to come to Florida to coach us and give us some great encouragement!)
ESA Regionals was this past weekend of March the 28-30, 2009. Everyone I know seemed to be on the beach. My surf board sponsor Christian Wolthers, Owner of Viking Surfboards, was there with his daughter and good friend of mine. Viking had a tent set up on the beach to get us all out of the blazing sun. It was a good time being with my Viking family and seeing Christian there to cheer me on. Kai came down again to coach some of us for our heats and many of my friends were there as well.
The first day of the contest the waves were a good 4 ft. with an occasional bigger set and semi glassy. I had a Jr. women's quarter final to make it through around noon and the waves were definitely not at their peek. I was lucky to get hold of two decent waves and a couple groveley ones and come out with first place advancing straight on to the finals. I was so happy and relieved and ready to get off the hot beach. My final wasn't until Monday so I had a day of rest between contest days, so I took the advantage to get some school work done and rest up for the next day. On Monday my family and I left early in the morning to head to the inlet. My heat was around 10:30 so I had some time to get used to the waves. I was a little sketchy about a new board I just got and it was throwing me off a bit, so I decided to ride my old trusty board as I like to call it. By now the swell had almost completely died and it was getting hard to even find a wave to stand up on. I got out in the heat and it was very sloshy and weird. It was super hard to just get a solid wave and ride it all the way through. I got a wave or two that were okay but they just didn't cut it and I ended up with third place. I was bummed when I got out of the water but I realized it was a pretty junky day and at least I had qualified for Eastern's at Cape Hatteras and that is where it really counts.
I did my first tag team event which was great. Kai told me to get a few girls together and form a tag team. We were the only gals going against a whole bunch of guys so we had nothing to loose. We gave it our all and cheered each other on and just had a great time. We didn't place very well but we did give them all a run for their money. It was a great weekend and I got lots of sun, a day off of school, and some fun surf as always. I love ESA contests, they are always so positive.
Well, for now I'm just gonna go have some more fun surfing and prepare for the next contest coming up. Hope everyone gets some of these great waves we are having and see you out there! |
