A day in Waco - A dream come true

It's not every day that you get invited to surf a day in Waco, Texas.  In fact, for me, this is the only day I've ever been invited to surf in Waco, Texas.  

A location notoriously land -locked and equally distant from either west or east coast shorelines, but arguably one of the funnest surf trips that you will ever have the chance to do.

For me, this trip is something that has been illusive as a white Sea Bass swimming in the kelp beds of California.  Because of a busy schedule chasing waves and events across the globe, I have never had the opportunity to enjoy these man - made Texas super wedges.  My brother Tanner had been invited to compete in the first ever Stab High event (which if you haven't watched it before, it's the sickest skate jam style event pushing some of the highest performance aerial surfing in the world at the moment).  Truly an honor to be included, and during that two or three day period, we all stayed glued to our computer screens watching air after air after air be exchanged by some of the most contemporary surfers in the world.

 

The closest thing I could compare it to, was like watching skaters like Tony Hawk, or Danny Way in the 90's, practicing innovative super moves on their own personalized skate parks.  Creativity flowing and rising with every attempt at a maneuver previously thought to be impossible.  That combined with the peer pressure (or peer pushing) energy surrounding the pool deck, and sure enough an enigmatic morpheus level of surfing emerged from this wave park in the middle of America.

Since that day I have yearned for the time and opportunity to visit this now infamous aerial surfing super hotspot.  And then one day, it happened.  A few years after the event had taken place, and after many dreams of boosting new airs never seen or attempted before, Yadin Nicol and his son Corona threw us a last second invitation to join them and their friend (and next generation super star) -Erin Brooke to hit the pool for a few private hours the next day.

 

 

Tanner and I, so excited to see the place, booked tickets within minutes, packed a board bag full of different sleds, and prepared to board a flight out of San Diego, headed to the motherland of aerial surfing - Waco, Texas.  

Having never been, I was nervous of what boards to pack, and what boards would work.  After all, some of the largest, most creative airs ever completed had gone down here, and I wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing out on any opportunity to lift into the humid hot skies of Waco.

Within minutes, Tanner and I dove through our collective quiver.  Obvious choices, like the Neck Beard 2 - By Dane Reynolds and Channel Islands, the Burner - an R and D board I've been working on with Mike Andrews from Channel Islands, the Flyer - an Original Al Merrick design by CI built to go fast and go huge.  But as we were packing we found that one thing was missing.  The possibility that we would be surfed out and needing of some fun in between the 150 attempts at the worlds largest airs.  Tanner saw me struggling to place the last few boards into the bag, and nervously trying to overthink my quiver, and he laughed and said, "Dude!  PVW boards are getting the call up 100 percent!"  He had spent many hours in the pool, and knew that one of the best things you can do, to do the air of your life, is to have as much fun as possible and don't put pressure on it.  He was right!

We threw in two of the 5'3'' Thrill and a Slide BB to round out the froth, and hit the road for the promised land in Texas.

What ensued was an all out surf fest.  Not with many people at the pool deck, in fact since it was off season it was just us and the two grommets going back to back, air for air.  They were pushing to new levels we couldn't even imagine with such an effortless approach that it truly made me feel happy to see the next generation of aerial surfing was in good hands.  Tanner and I pushed as high as we could go, wave after wave, and after all was said and done some rewarding makes were had.  Between all the ramps, we took the space to enjoy all that Waco had to offer, and the softies came in handy as the fun never stopped even for a moment.

Here is an 8 minute reel of all the waves surfed that day.  Huge shout out to BSR surf park, and Rob Henson for shooting all day!  Their hospitality was insane.

So remember, next time you get the call to surf one of your bucket-list waves, and your getting so excited that you might even feel a little nervous.  Make sure to include a PVW foamie in your quiver to keep the fun at the front of the priorities!!!  Hope you enjoy the edit!

-Patrick Gudauskas