Of Dirty Wax And Rabbits' Feet

Surf superstition is alive and well in our culture, and it can be the difference between our best and worst sessions.

- Justin Housman

Some Major League Baseball pitchers hop over the chalk baseline on their way back to the dugout at the end of an inning because they know that if they don’t, something terrible will happen. Step on that chalk line, and you’re practically guaranteed to give up a grand slam in the next inning. For them, it’s almost a universal law. Yet other pitchers step on the line without a second thought. They’re not worried about some kind of karmic penalty from accidentally messing up the baseline, because they know that the real talismanic protection lies in wearing the same unwashed undershirt beneath their jersey every single time they pitch. In their minds, if they forget that thing at home before an away game, they might as well start scanning the “help wanted” ads on Craigslist. Baseball is filled with these little superstitious rituals.

I don’t know about you, but so is my surf life.

Can you walk to the water carrying your leash in one hand, unattached to the board you’re carrying with the other hand? I can’t. I don’t remember when it started, but I have to attach my leash to my board before I leave the car to head for the sand. If I don’t, I just know I’ll be surfing like a kook that day (more than normal, I mean). I’m sure that at some point in the past I jogged to the water’s edge holding an unattached leash, then threaded it through the leash string, strapped it to my ankle, paddled out into good waves and proceeded to blow like 15 tubes in a row. I don’t remember that session, but something must have planted the seed of my superstition.