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SATURDAY, AUG. 6, 1938 SPORTS By David Stick Here it is Wednesday afternoon and this column’s due tomorrow morning. Fifteen minutes ago I was worried over what to write; now I’m content in the realization that I have a subject. Fifteen minutes ago I was sitting here at my desk, looking out of the east window and trying to think of some idea for a sports column that would be both interesting and in formative. While still in this re flective mood my eyes wandered out to the water’s edge and like a shooting star the idea flashed through my mind. Down in the water were people; lots of them. Some were riding surf boards, others were flat rid ing, a couple were body surfing and a great majority were just trying to ride waves. But the thing that made me connect that scene with a column was that all were enjoying themselves to the utmost. If those people were all practic ing the same sport and enjoying it why shouldn’t I write about that sport. Thus came the idea to write a short thesis on wave riding and its several auxiliaries and conjunc tives. Wave riding is an ancient sport practiced first by the Hawaians in their log canoes. It was probably discovered quite by accident, and although no dates are available on the subject, it is known that the islanders rode waves in their canoes while returning from fish ing expeditions, and from that came the modern interpretations of the sport. The essential principle in wave riding is to let a breaking wave push one’s body over the water in front of it. Practiced extensively in most seacoast sections where waves of sufficient size and force can be found, the sport has several different divisions. Probably the easiest and most commonly practiced forms of wave riding is what we term “flat rid ing.” Anybody who knows the basic swimming strokes and can paddle around in the water can flat ride, or ride flat, as it more commonly referred to. Differing from other forms of the sport in that the rider keeps his head and most of his body submerged, and the flat riding can best be done in shallow water where the breaking waves are comparatively small. Flat riding can be accomplished with a series of four or five simple movements, and though the first attempts usually prove discourag ing, a few more trials usually bring at least a modicum of success. First thing to do when flat riding is to find a spot where the water is not over one’s shoulders and the waves are breaking with some frequency. The beginning of the ride should be made by throwing the body face downward and arms out stretched in front of the wave, and then kicking like everything until the wave is “caught.” Selection of the wave to ride is an impor tant point, and it should be re membered that waves that have already broken are harder to catch, and less enjoyable to ride, while waves that will break be yond the hopeful rider cannot pos sibly be caught. Therefore the only time to successfully catch a wave is when it is just capping over in the break. Care should THE NAGS TALE Spend Your Vacation at PARKERSON'S NEW SEASHORE HOTEL One Mile South Wright Memorial Monument Nags Head, North Carolina A CHEERFUL PLACE Nice Rooms, Excellent Dining Room Service Everyone Should Try Parkerson’s Delicious Dinners MR. and MRS. L. S. PARKERSON Tourist, Sportsmen’s Headquarters Open All Year NAGS HEAD BEACH CLUB Music By Van Keys and His 14 Musical Keys Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 25c Per Person Wednesday and Friday 40c Per Person Saturday, $1.50 Plus Tax Couple SPECIAL!! Monday Night Square Dancing Tuesday Night Girl Break Dance be taken not to let the wave break on the rider, or to allow the out stretched arms to be drawn toward the bottom. Following these or similar direc tions it should be possible for the complete novice to learn flat rid ing after only a few tries. But flat riding is only dne division of this sport. Less commonly practiced, and harder to learn is the form of surf board riding that we see practiced in this section. Since the waves are not of the right type for that sort of riding on this coast, there is no need to mention the method of board riding that is practiced by the natives at Hawaia. The average board one will find in this section is about four feet long, and two wide, and can be made by any jackleg carpenter. The method of catching waves with a board is similar to that used in flat riding, except, of course, that the rider has a board which he must keep under him while catching the wave, and during the entire length of the ride. If the essentials of timing and spacing dealt with in the disertation on flat riding are noted carefully by the prospective board rider, and if he remembers to keep the front of his board up, and not to lie too far up on it, he should have little trouble learn ing to ride a surf board. This article would not be com plete without some mention of the real wave riding; the king of all water sports; commonly known to those who are lucky enough to have the knack, as body surfing. Body surfing is done without a board, and it is more effectively mastered where the waves are very large and strong. To our know ledge there have been only about a half dozen persons down here this summer who really know how to body surf, and who can catch the big breakers that so often keep the average bather on shore dur ing days when the water is kick ing up. Body surfing has all the thrill of bob sledding; all the haz ards of water polo; and most im portant of all, the close contact with nature that is found in so few of the modern sports. Cas ual observers w'ill tell you that body surfing consists of riding waves, in a similar way to board riding, without the services of a board and with the head and most of the upper portion of the body out of the water. Expert body surf ers will tell you that it took them between two months and four or five years to first get the knack that enabled them to body surf. No description of the method will make a person a body surfer. The thing must be practiced for weeks on end, and it can only be mastered when the beginner fin ally gets the knack of how to shove off, how to steer; and most im portant of all how to hold the body. First essential of body surf ing is to kick like the devil until the wave is caught, and then keep the arms pressed tightly against the sides, and the back arched to form a sort of suction cup. The only way to learn how to body surf is to practice; the only way to really enjoy the sport is to keep trying until the body sticks out of the water. So far as helpful hints in this regard go, this article will, in all probability, not amount to a great deal. About all we can tell you is to try and Try and TRY, and some day, maybe next week, may be not until next year, you’ll find yourself gliding along on top of a wave, your body half out of the water, and a huge comber, with the force and size of a freight train, shoving you along, like a cork on top of the water. A THING OF BEAUTY (Continued from Page One) ment that lines the average four lane highway, but a natural em bankment, all set about with dog wood and pine trees, and covered over with green grass and flowers. But best of all was the lake. He hadn’t noticed the lake until the car had stopped and he got out to better see that masterpiece of na ture which had so suddenly and surprisingly presented itself as the result of a measly bet. The lake was at the bottom of the embank ment, and it was covered over with colored reflections of the trees that hung out over its banks. It was a small lake, very irregular in shape, and better thought of as nestled down around the bot tom of the hills. It was an un usual lake, different entirely from the ocean and bay’s and sounds that were generally thought of as being characteristic of the sec tion. But most of all it was a beautiful lake, and we’d describe it to you only no verbal descrip tion can fit it. You’re lucky though, because the man who told us about it; yes, the one who came down to get drunk and lost a nickle drink and a package of nabs, told us where it is, and we went to look at it ourselves. The man’s de scription of the scene was fair; it was good enough to make us go see the lake and the woods and the sand dune, and that’s all any de scription could hope to accomplish. But we aren’t going to attempt a description of that scene. We’re going to let you see for yourself. Now if you’ll lean a little closer, and listen closely, and promise not to tell a soul we’ll let you in on the secret. It’s up in the Nags Head woods, and to get there you must first drive along the road into the Wright Memorial until you see a sand track off to the left. Let a little air out of your tires, follow the track, then drive up the wood ed road into the woods and you’ll be there. Bon voyage. NEWSPAPERS MAGAZINES Service Is Not Our Motto, It Is Our o BUSINESS O HH SUNSHINE SERVICE > Next to Nags Head Postoffice n O R. ROY KESSINGER CQ We Have The Finest Bowling Alleys On The Beach • O STANDARD OIL and GAS COLD DRINKS and BEER JOE COLLEGE and BETTY (0-ED Hot Dogs With a Reputation Open Day and Nile PANCAKES and SAUSAGE The Brightest Spot On The Beach— Where All The Crowd Meets BURGESS STORE STANDARD PRODUCTS Cold Drinks — Groceries Vegetables—Meats Your Patronage Appreciated E. T. Burgess, Mgr. mRS ON PARADE By TONI ROSSETT BUDDY EBSEN, allowed to VI'SIT THE BARBER SHOP, BUT !T IS A VIOLATION OF CONTRACT FDR HIM TO GET A HAIR-CUT! BUDOy'S'MATTEO MESS OF HAIR"AS HE CALLS IT, ISAS ESSENTIAL TO HOLDING HlS JOB AS IS HIS HIGHLY TRAINED FEET,>“ BlLLyGlLB>fcRT, THE COMEDIAN, GOT HIS START IN FILMS BY DOING A SNEEZING ACT THAT LASTED 15 MIN UTES. BILLY IS PICTURED WITH HIS BRIDE, THE FORMER ELLA McRENZIE.. Bi0*SMCRT5l STARTED HIS CAREER BY SELLING PAPERS... ALWAYS LIKED TO DRAW... TMe FIRST MICKEY MOUSE SHORT WAS CONCEIVED, CREATED AND Vmy EXECUTED BY WALT PERSONALLY! MICKEY IS THE ONLY, ACTOR TO APPEAR ON ALL FOREIGN SCREENS, SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAC5E i Tt1 ItiJ
The Nags Tale (Nags Head, N.C.)
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Aug. 6, 1938, edition 1
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