If you live anywhere in Canada and watch TV you know that Molson’s puts out beer commercials that have a strange twist to them. They are the “I Am Canadian” spots. Yesterday afternoon Linda and I went for a drive… yep, around the harbour… and as we crossed over the canal lift bridge we saw on the lake side what I thought a strange site that displays a bit of the Canadian heart.
There they were, three men in the water. Only five degrees air temperature. I can only guess at how cold the winter water was. The wind was a brisk 50-60kph. The waves were only two feet high… OK, maybe a few were two and half feet high. The waves were about eight feet apart. If you have been to the beach you know that the waves rise fast and crash fast. Three, perhaps four seconds, is the total life expectancy of each wave. What were those three men doing in the water?
Surfing the waves. They would paddle their boards out about seventy feet from the beach where the waves started to build. Then they would sit on their boards until they saw a good size wave begin to build (remember only two and half feet at its best) and begin to paddle with their hands. Quick powerful strokes. Oops, the wave passed them. They try again… and again… sigh!
If you would have waited long enough you saw the coming wave, the early paddle, quick responses and a quicker jump to their feet… and they are up and riding the wave curl as it begins to crest. Then five feet closer to the beach and the wave finishes crashing. They rode their boards for a good second… maybe a second and a half. That was it. Start to finish the whole thing was over in less than five frantic seconds.
California Dreaming? Doing the surf scene? Plenty of girls? Beach parties? No Way… They Are Canadian!
There are Canadians and then there are Newfie Canadians. Does what you saw sound like the latter ? If so, we have to make allowances—don’t you think ???
My apologies to Linda. We love the Newfies–just enjoy teasing them.
OH YEAH!!! I LOVE Canadians like that!