Good waves, better waves: Surfing at Mulki, Day 2 and 3

Day 1 Blog

Day 2: After having a solid 9 hours of sleep post day 1– I started the day with a quick short breakfast of fruits then geared up to head for a different beach today. The high light of the day were the photos we could finally take and the amazing waves courtesy of the full moon.The rash shirt and board shorts I bought at Decathlon have paid off well over their worth, despite the super tight shirt accentuating my paunch.

Reading the waves

We had Gautam and Shyam today teaching me which meant I had a dedicated photographer. Seriously I had 2 pros dedicate their time and attention at me. Today we headed to a different spot called as 'Baba's left'. We tied up the  small motor boat to a puny but strong tree branch on what I would describe was a big sand bar. The beach was ours. Not a soul in sight. I has almost white pillow soft sand. The wonderful view was jarred by large swathes of trash dumped back by the sea onto the beach. We had to tip toe around lots of bottles with the board on our heads to get to our spot. 

Shyam read the surf to be perfect for learning and I was to find out, how good it really was. It was goooood. I looked up to the heavens to thank for this amazing day. The waves were big, of perfect speed and were breaking regularly, for a beginner this was the perfect step up. There quite a few glugs to be had with some powerful waves wiping us out even before I could point my board towards the beach. This day had the best waves of the 3.

Gautam was my trainer today, he had brought along his own surf board, which meant I was going to be more on my own today. Waves were breaking 40 metres off the shore. Unlike yesterday my first wave was a dud, I stepped too wide instead of inline with the board. Spreading your weight side ways means you tip off real quick. But the second one and subsequent ones were brilliant quick rides to the shore. 

Coming straight for the camera

The sea changes its mood. There were changes in the pattern of the sea with bigger waves coming in intermittently and breaking closer to the shore. These were quicker too, so I had to be fast on my feet and paddle really hard. Paddling was a big thumbs down. Paddling lets you speed up, get some momentum and be ready when the wave reaches you. My arms weren’t letting me do that in time unfortunately so I missed out on a couple of waves. Homework for me – swim regularly. It was overcast, with fluffy clouds muffling the Sun's intensity. I rode quite a few waves for about 1.5 hours. Then called it quits. All those long surfs, means long treks and paddles back to the break point. 

We returned to a sumptuous brunch of Mangalore buns, chickpea subji, simple flavored rice and gulab jamun prepared by Kirtan. Then it was a long siesta time. I got up with the pangs for some seafood, so I headed out to the town to try some local oysters (Marwai) and boiled rice (a variety of brown rice). Once I headed back, I thought might as well take a second siesta. I love this vacation! After tea, I decided to hitch a ride with Rasik to the town to purchase some fresh cold pressed, organic coconut oil. I heard a lot of benefits from using cold pressed unrefined oil so am packing some for home. I noticed the town of Mulki is really clean and orderly in a certain way. Generally 5Pm is time for Kayaking or stand up paddling, but I skipped it given I had a little excess exertion today, which I am not used to yet. I had another tranquil sunset at the dock clicking picture, while Jaymo from ‘walking on water’ surf club joined in to click photos himself. The red sun dips into the far away tree line on the beach separated by the big backwater channel. Dinner was simple rice and lentil sambhar and pakoras. End of another amazing day

Day 3: Final day of the course hence I was psyched to give my best today. I spent some time doing yoga to prep. Having a relaxed mind is very important, being in tune with the waves is necessary and timing is the key. Waves were lazy and low and conditions were perfect for learning. I was able to ride some long rides, with multiple swells hitting my board. 

Dosa for Brunch

Parathas, Mexican hot sauce?! and Rice

A sumptuous brunch of Dosas, chutney, brinjal sambhar and apple juice. I slept hard for 4 straight hours. I skipped a planned SUP session and had a restful evening watching the sun go down while the gang relaxed in the backwaters, swimming SUP. Very idyllic. Had a 63 year old Kiwi guy share his stories. We ate a healthy dinner of parathas and rice.

Sittin on the Dock of the Bay

Time to leave to catch the bus (fingers crossed the bus doesn’t give me a miss! Back to Bedlam, back to Bangalore