Ocean Surfing, by Hannah

The past few days we spent at the beach in a beautiful cabana in the town of Buchupureo. While there, I got the chance to try out ocean surfing in my kayak for the second time, this time in actual waves of 6 feet or more. I was a bit nervous when we got on the beach and then began to be hit by wave after wave as we paddled out, but when we reached the calm part beyond the breaking it was worth it. I waited about 30 seconds, and then Sean instructed me to begin paddling in to catch my first wave. I caught it just as it broke and rode it all the way into shore, it felt amazing.

This continued for about two hours with Sean, Matt, and I as we caught more of these huge waves, and yes, there were some wipe outs. But even when my entire helmet and dry top was filled with sand, I kept going. When my boat flipped in the shallow part and I pulled a muscle in my neck I still managed to have fun. Overall, I am so glad I got out there and did not allow myself to be too afraid to try, because who knows when I’ll have the opportunity to surf Chilean waves like these again!