Killer Dana Board Society

Apryl, on November 18th, 2009 at 7:37 pm

Honestly? I “drift off” every time I paddle out. While I am sitting there waiting for my set it doesn’t matter what else is going on or how busy I am with work. For that session, I’m on vacation…drifting in the Pacific.

Mike, on November 19th, 2009 at 12:17 am

For two years after college I worked a dreadful 9-5 job in downtown Boston. Life consisted of cheap suits, fake people pursuing meaningless goals, and shitty coffee. Money was good but there was never anytime to use it. One night I got a call from a friend who told me that he was packing his bags and moving to Nicaragua to start a Surf/volunteer program. After I got off the phone with him I really started to ask myself why? Not why he was doing it, but why was I not. I know it’s cliche but the truth is you only live once. Why was I working a miserable job? Why was I surrounding myself with uninteresting people? A transcending moment to say the least.

One month later I quit my job against everybody’s advice. Since then I’ve lived in four different countries and traveled to many more. I’ve worked jobs ranging from fishing guide to banana harvesting. I’ve met some of the most interesting and inspiring people in the world. And most importantly since I left my job I have never found myself asking why.

Vainui, on November 19th, 2009 at 1:10 am

I agree with Rob Machado when he says that no matter where you are and no matter what you’ve achieved, you always end up dreaming of something else. I’m lucky to live in a beautiful country that I love, but somehow, as perfect as it is, my mind often difts away, in unknown places, with unfamiliar faces.
I might be wrong, but I believe that taking action and drifting out of your comfort zone is what it takes to really get to know yourself. As TS Eliot puts it “we shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time”. Words to live by…
I’ll be home soon, just to pack my stuff again and go to another country.
PS: Mike, you’re on the right track

dana richardson, on November 19th, 2009 at 4:09 pm

drifting out to sea ~~~ and living the dream, the experiences of swimming with all kinds of sea creatures, wild dolphins, whales, sharks ~ sliding into the flow of life where everything just falls into place on it’s own time. the dance of travelling with an open ended ticket allowing situations to happen, meeting people and having adventures that randomly occur and glide into the next adventure ~ seeing how it all unfolds like magic. allowing different cultures and languages to permeate the soul. leaving the mind and fears behind and stepping out into the vast unknown ~ ~ ~ just livin’ life with an open heart and mind and enjoying the ride!!! *)

andrew jakubowski, on November 23rd, 2009 at 1:45 pm

after my freshman year of college, me and my bro took the ferry to block island and spent two weeks sleeping in the van and surfing every day. best winter surf ever

David B., on November 24th, 2009 at 8:27 pm

This just looked cool so I figured I would try for it. I don’t actually have any clue what it is though.

Robert Rickard, on November 25th, 2009 at 1:08 am

Last summer my friends’ and I celebrated my 40th birthday in Northern San Diego. Each day we were there my oldest and closest friend Craig and I would surf or attempt to at various breaks above and below Carlsbad. Not until the very last day did we manage to get lucky enough to revel in that which is Dana Point – Doheny State Beach. Even after having lived in San Clemente in my 20’s I had never had the chance to visit Doheny. I literally paddled out just beyond the breaks, sat on my board for no less than 30 minutes and drifted off into a amazing state of calm and self-reflection of the past 40 years, only to find that, that is exactly where I wanted and should be at that particular and exact moment!

Cory Patterson, on November 25th, 2009 at 11:26 am

Drifting to me is a reoccurring story. Something that happens every time I paddle out. It takes every thing in life and throws it under the rug. Can I make a car payment? When is work coming? Is change going to happen? But at the same point, every time, it all disappears. Paddle out, make that first turn and for the next few hours your soul feels like you’re 10 again. You don’t need an Island in a far away place, even though it would be pretty rad. Just the ocean, your board and Mother nature.

Rod C, on November 25th, 2009 at 11:43 am

4 years ago, I was just beginning a nasty divorce, my father had just died 1 year earlier on the operating room table and I found out my than girlfriend (now my wife) was pregnant! Also, it was time to bring my fathers ashes to his final resting place, the Phillippines. Since I was going back home, I figured it was time to surf one of my dream spots, Cloud 9. For 2 weeks I drifted in and out of reality, surfing uncrowded perfection, meeting cousins I never knew existed and getting sucked back into my mind of the normal day to day life that existed back home in the States. In the end, I needed that trip to put things into perspective in so many ways. For one, I thank God for the far flung places where you can lose yourself in culture, time, space and surf. Also, the ocean is where life begins and ends.

Joe H, on November 25th, 2009 at 9:28 pm

I was in Ghana about siz years ago(far away from any waves)and my suitcase never quite made the trip (when I returned to the airport to leave, I found it was waiting for me in customs and I could have it after I paid a “recovery” fee of $100, but that’s another story), so I spent the two weeks wearing what I came with, washing them out at night. There was one particualr village I visited that was desperatly poor, yet I was a guest and as such, they shared their food, their music, and a little bit of their daily lives with me as they showed me around the village and presented me o their elders. Their hospitality went so far as to give me a dashiki to wear when they learned I had no other clothes. It has long been my favortite item of clothing and it reminds me to show kindess to those who are drifting just as that kindness was once extended to me.