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Some really cool surfer guy Must be at least a 45 foot wave! |
I started surfing going ‘body surfing’ at Newquay in Cornwall in 1970! I was hooked and got a body board and surfed every surfable wave on every holiday up to 2004. My first proper surfboard cost me about £80 from eBay in early 2005. I rented a ‘foam’ learner board from the surf shop in Llangennith a few times and also bought a semi (foam top, polypropelene base) from eBay. I sold this to help fund the longboard which was rather expensive, and bought from Llangennith surf shop! My mid-sized board was bought on eBay and I drove to Minehead to collect it! Having lost my job in 2005 does mean I can go surfing at Llangennith when the waves are sometimes very very much at their best! Also makes me a bit of a classic surfer ‘beach bum’! I started off with a semi-fish 7’ 6” board and spent 14 days struggling to get onto my knees at Vieux Bocau in the summer of 2005, 21 days sunshine too, not bad! (The board was just a bit small for learning on, floating a couple of inches under water with me on it when not surfing!) Then got standing on learner boards back home at Llangennith, most difficult thing I’ve ever learned to do, given I’m not a spring chicken and weigh in at over 17 stone! So I bought a 10’ 2” board which surfed like a dream (loved surfing this at Poldhu Cove Cornwall and at Llangennith), but sold this a couple of years later on for a cheaper polypropylene 8’ 4” board which also surfs very well. The large board was getting too much of a struggle to carry, being fibreglass and much too wide to fit under my arm, and less manageable in facing heavy surf. I had to sell an older 4x4 so now fit roof racks onto a small hatchback to strap the 8’ 4” board on. I still have the 7’ 6” board though it’s quite a bit narrower, for rougher conditions, and when I get fitter and trimmer again! I tend to go surfing on days with 4 - 5 foot waves, smaller waves are too much like hard work! I surf in shorts and a tee-shirt, as I find a full wetsuit too restrictive and makes me look like Mr Michelin man! I should save up for a shortie wetsuit, maybe some day! Does mean I only surf from later in June to October. I went surfing one year on 30th October and it was sunny and the water was still quite warm. The 15th October that year was a cool day with some really rough conditions, with just me, another surfer and a windsurfer in the water along the whole 3 ½ miles of beach! I didn’t surf last year at all as I was stony broke, so I was rather out of practice for the few times I’ve surfed this year, including into October. The aim now is to get to the gym more and get myself really fit and a good bit leaner to start off surfing properly again next year! I’d like to get standing on the 7’ 6” board again as it surfs really well in the right conditions! And it’s a smart looking board!
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