25/5/2007 - Whaleshark 2 and surfing surfing

A bit more than one week after my great experience with the whaleshark something incredible happened.

It was not really the season anymore for whalesharks. And to be honest, you don't spot them so much at Koh Tao. So I didn't brief anything about the whaleshark to my students that morning.

We were the first ones to enter the water (6 am at the diveshop, 7 am in the water) and not even 5 minutes into the dive I heard that same banging on tanks again. Something interesting that means.

I learned from my other experience and looked above me. And there she was......

A 6 TO 7 METER BIG WHALESHARK!!!!!!

What an incredible big shark! Image a land animal from that size, it goes further than your imagination. We dove with her during te whole dive. She was graciously moving trough the water, but for us it was swimming as hard as we could. I was exhausted when I came out of the water, but happier than kids that go to Disneyland. And it is all filmed, including my friend and college Karen who cut of a robe that was tied to her fin (some asswhole tried to catch her, we think). A moment of ahh's and ohhh's.

That was my last dive until now.

I left Koh Tao to go to Bangkok to pick up my friend Debby who will also live in Thailand (yeah!) and to say goodbye to my parents. I will not see them for a long time again. They are finally back in Holland for a little while.

Debby and me went to Phuket to visit a friend. He has a diveshop there and I used to work with him on Koh Tao. We didn't dive but learned something new.

Wavesurfing!

My father was a wave surfer and I grew up with looking at it, listening to the story's and watching a lot of movies about wave surfing. But, I never tried it myself. And after so many years, I finally went for it.

In the off season the waves are good for learning at Kata Beach.

We took 1 hour lessons for the basis technics (and a little push to catch the wave) and after that it was up to us......

Oh my god. After one hour already my whole body was one big mess. Broozes everywhere from the board, muscles hurting at places I didn't know I had them (like wrist muscles and rib muscles) and cuts, also from the board.

After two hours I felt that getting through the waves was getting harder. Ater 5 hours that full day, I walked like a crippled with a big smile on my face.

But, that feeling of catching the wave, that feeling of standing on the board, that one second of fame. That is the best feeling. Or just sitting on your board chatting away with a local surfdude and staring into the ocean looking at a catchable wave coming. It's definitly very addictive.

I wish I had more time and money to have learned more, but am also glad my body got a little rest now.

I think my best ride was a ride of 1 long second if you count twentyone slowly.

Now we are at Koh Lanta where te sun keeps on shining!

Lot of love,

Jazz

Sorry for no new pictures, but something is wrong with my laptop and internet. Coming soon!