I look to my inside and see that I am alone. “This is it”, I tell myself and turn around to paddle. I push my chin into my board to get as much downward momentum as I can and paddle my heart out. The swell gets steeper and steeper feeling the reef, still paddling as the wave picks me up. As I get to my feet it feels like I’m on the edge of a cliff, the bottom of the wave seems a mile away…