Gone Surfing

It was a gorgeous Bank Holiday Monday here. Clear blue skies saw the temperature drop to 4ºC over night but the sun was up early and it soon warmed up. With no wind at all it was a perfect day for the beach.

My parents were still here along with my sister and her children Kia and Shaun so we had breakfast and headed across with surf boards and such like. It’s rare for us to sit on the beach in holiday-maker style as we tend to just walk across, do what we were going to do and come home again, but as there were lots of us we set up camp on the edge of the dunes and Morgan and I went for a surf.

Morgan had fun and managed to stand up well, but the sea was a little cold so he didn’t stay out long. I then went out, and had a good surf with some decent 2-3 foot sets coming in. I don’t surf that much these days as I tend to windsurf so its good to get back to my roots now and then and make sure I can still do it.

Time to hit the waves

Surf's Up

I finally had an appointment with the Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) Consultant surgeon at the hospital yesterday. He confirmed that I did indeed have Surfer’s Ear but thankfully didn’t want to send me off for surgery to have it fixed.

He refer me to get fitted for some earplugs though to help prevent it getting any worse and amazingly that was done there and then. So in a couple of weeks I should have some free custom moulded earplugs courtesy of the NHS. I shall have to wear them when swimming, surfing and windsurfing.

I had decided to take it easy on Saturday as my ribs were still killing me following the windsurfing crash on Thursday.

So much for plans, after the moth meeting and teddy bears picnic, the wind was blowing, the sun came out and the sea looked perfect so I headed across to the beach for a windsurf. Unfortunately as I did so, the wind dropped and I only managed a quick 10 minute session on the water before it went completely. I packed up and as I had my wetsuit on when back to the house and got Morgan so that he could come for a surf with me.

Morgan had a good surf, using his leash for the first time and did quite well in what were tricky, lumpy, rough waves. He did stand up briefly once or twice, but the fact that he was getting tumbled all over the place and wasn’t worried by it was really the lesson for the day.

After that I had a quick go on the Turbo Trainer, but really wasn’t in the mood so it didn’t last long. I don’t know if it was the main in my chest / ribs, the fact that I’ve done a fair bit recently and need a rest or if I was just tired as I hadn’t slept thanks to the ribs. Whatever it was I wasn’t in the mood for proper exercise so didn’t bother sticking with it – I was supposed to be having an easy day to let my ribs recover after all.

Morgan’s new surfboard arrived yesterday. He has been using mine but we though it best to buy him a softer foam board that would suit him better. It’s still 6ft so a little long for him but should be ideal for the learning stages.

As it arrived yesterday I collected him early from after school club and we headed off into the surf. He managed to get to his feet on the first wave of the day! And the fact that it’s narrower than my board means that he can paddle it too.

I had a quick go as well, but it is a little too flexible for someone of my size.

Morgan's First surfboard

One of Morgan’s friends, Lotti, invited us to her house for a little party on the beach yesterday. They had all had their reports this week and as they were good they were having a treat.

We all had a little surf, Morgan managed to stand up briefly and had good fun, as did Lotti, Yo-Yo, Emma and Guy. I even caught a few little waves.

Afterwards we had a BBQ and then the kids had a water-fight. Morgan seemed to enjoy getting wet – again!

A damp 5 year old!

Morgan has suddenly decided that he wants to learn to surf. I had been careful not to push him too much towards surfing, but this is of course great news. He has a wetsuit and so far I’ve been taking him out using one of my ‘proper’ surfboards but I may well have to get him a nice foam board that will suit him better and be a little safer if (when) it hits him.

So far I’ve just been taking him out a little way, lying him on the board and pushing him onto waves so that he can ride them in. he seems to love it and does try standing up from time to time. His swimming isn’t really strong enough for much else yet so he isn’t going to be able to paddle out on his own for a while but no doubt the ‘surfing’ will help his swimming and the swimming will help the surfing too.

If he carries on like this it won’t be long before he’s better than me. Laird Hamilton – watch out!!!

Here are some photos from our last surf session.

I took Morgan surfing again on Wednesday – Here’s the best of his photos. Looking good!

Morgan Surfing at Ynyslas

Summer must be here – I’ve just got back from taking Morgan for his first surf lesson. It wasn’t that much of a lesson really, just getting him used to being in the sea and riding a board. I gave him a push onto most waves, but got him steering whilst lying down and as you can see from one of the photos below he even tried to get to his feet at one point.

He now wants a ‘surf lesson’ from me every Saturday and was asking when he can have his own board!

I wonder if we can get planning permission for one of these in the back garden.

Anyone who has ever had to put on a cold, wet, smelly wetsuit will know that it isn’t a pleasant experience. It is usually accompanied by howls and much swearing, especially when performed on a cold winters morning in a windswept car park. We’ve all been there and it isn’t nice.

However, I can’t remember the last time I had to do it as I now always tumble dry my wetsuit before putting it on. I can’t tell you how much nicer it is, especially if it has just that second come out of the tumble drier. I usually tumble dry it in the hot setting so not only does it come out dry, but it is piping hot too. Sliding into a hot wetsuit is just so nice, and the extra heat not only warms you up, but it also makes the suit more supple so getting into it is easy.

I know the care instructions on a wetsuit will advise against this, but I’ve been doing it for years without any problems. In fact, it is probably much better for the suit than drying it on the line in the sun where the UV rays will degrade the neoprene.

I’ve just checked my ‘Toy Box’ on Forces-of-Nature where I track my ‘extreme’ sports sessions and equipment usage and my current wetsuit, a C-Skins Wired, is now 4 years old and has been used at least 230 times and is still keeping me warm in the sea. It won’t have been through the tumble drier after every session, but must have been dried at least 100 times and will have had quite a few wash cycles in the washing machine on a normal 40ºC wash as well.

I highly recommend it.