Rail To Rail Body Surfing Extravaganza

My alarm clock met its doom this morning. At seven thirty it started weeeeee weeeeeeing on the bedside table with abnormal intensity. “Silence, you monster!” I screamed, hurling it into the bookshelf across the room. After I’d slain the clock, I realized it woke me for a reason- it was the day of Rail To Rail’s Body Surfing Extravaganza. I gassed up on coffee and did my best to rally the troops in time for the planned start at nine AM.



The gods sent us magnificent weather for the tournament. Sunlight danced across the smooth waves like a crystal parade. The beach sand was hot under our feet and the water warm enough to bath in. Beach goers were less enthusiastic about taking part than I’d hoped— it was pretty much my friends and family, with a few late entrees. But that was fine. There were enough of us to have a Body Surfing Extravaganza. Maxi just wagged his tail and told me to get a move on. At around ten o clock the chaps were ready to give it hell.





The rules worked like this: competitors all ride the same wave for as far as they can manage. I stood as a marker in the shallows. Those failing to reach me were eliminated from the competition. There were some outrageous performances and a few upsets during the early rounds. One of the big surprises came when crowd favorite, Jeff ‘Anker’ Tanner, made an early exit. The waves were a bit small for someone of Anker’s caliber. Bradly Ballentine put in a noteworthy effort, as did Dieter Khun. Big Mase, Anker’s brother in law, kept form throughout the competition, making it to the final round, along with Ross Lahana, Gene Ritchie and Zok Truscott.
Lahana, who’d been on fire in the early rounds, came in close second to Zok. They pushed each other so much through the morning, it was agreed that they share first prize; excellent sportsmanship from the two standouts of the day. Ultimately though, it was Body Surfing and Save A Pet that took first prize (jusssie, that’s a shocking cliché). A special thanks goes to Gita and Robyn for waking up in time and supporting the event, Meri Ke’ for taking photos, Cindles, Jess and Faye, and everyone who took part. Also to my mom and dad for kindly sponsoring the beers. Thanks guys. The money and food collected for the animals at Save A Pet is great.