Learning to Surf: One More Wave…
Rhino’s favourite three words.
I’ve heard them so many times that I also know it means at least two more waves, but that he’ll always come out with a smile on his face afterwards.
Rhino has been surfing for over 35 years and learning to surf has always been high up there on my bucket list. It’s just something that I haven’t yet mastered. And that’s not for a lack of opportunity, I mean, I married a four time Welsh Surf Champion and four year member of the British Surf Team.
I’ve spent fourteen years travelling the World and the UK with Rhino on the hunt for surf. Somewhere along the way, I became defacto surf trip buddy, being the only other adult on our trips. The girls have grown up surrounded by surf too. Before-school surf checks, travelling everywhere with a board bag in tow and all the dramas that come with it and smelly rotten wetsuit boots to boot!
Surf checks often take as much time as the surf itself, and do you know what? I actually really love them. There’s something about watching the shifting shapes of the water and that sound of the tumbling waves is one of the very finest in nature. Recently I’ve been cycling to work and taking the coastal route, so I get to do a cheeky little surf check en route. And just soak it all in for a few peaceful moments.
So naturally, over this time I’ve learnt a fair bit about surfing, without actually learning to surf – a bit like an avid football fan who doesn’t play the game. Lefts and rights, barrels and breaks, offshore and clean, sets, secret spots and swell periods. I’ll admit that I still can’t pick Rhino out of a line up though!
My usual role is standing on the shore taking photos, drinking tea to take the edge off the Welsh winds or when in the balmy climes of Bali, drinking smoothies to take the edge off the heat. Hanging out with Koko and Kitty whilst Rhino goes out to get barrelled. And there’s no complaining from me there.
I mean, who doesn’t like hanging out at beaches?
The girls have been paddling about on boards, learning to surf since they were babies. They’ve ‘surfed’ in Fuerteventura, Bali, Portugal, France, Wales, Cornwall and Australia! They’ve had a few good waves, love splashing in the water, and know if they’re goofy or natural. But that spark inside them, that fire for the waves, that itching passion to get in there, hadn’t really been ignited.
Before last week.
Walking home from school on a hot sunny Tuesday afternoon, Kitty said “Can we go surfing?” And with the conditions turning out to be perfect, we did.
It was awesome.
The sun was shining, the water was warm and seeing their faces light up as they glided into the little one foot wavelets was priceless. And when it was time to get out, they said,
‘One more wave?’
But after one more wave, instead of leaving with smiles on their faces, Kitty cried the entire way home, utterly sobbing her broken heart out, mourning the end of the session.
She was hooked.
If you can’t beat them, join them.
Wednesday: ‘”Can we go surfing today?” After standing on the shore again and watching them all having a blast, I decided to get back in the water with them and get in on the action.
Koko on this day really gained confidence and we saw a little spark of a young Rhino in her that gave us both this warm, fuzzy feeling, wondering if they’ll make surfing as much a part of their lives as it is in ours.
And so Family Rhino summer surf camp 2021 was underway.
We are learning to surf, together. Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday all pretty much centred around the surf. But for once, it was for Koko, Kitty and me and not for Rhino. Even he started to look at the smaller waves with new perspective – they’d be perfect for the girls.
South Wales has some great beaches for learning to surf and there are plenty of fantastic surf schools to help you get to grips with the basics if you’re a beginner (or sort of beginner). Check out the following great surf schools if you’re looking for a lesson or board hire in South Wales:
End of week one reflection.
It’s Sunday afternoon as I write this and my body is broken after three days of surfing in a row. Whilst I might understand the terminology and know a good wave from a wipeout, I sort of waddle about like a walrus in the water and struggle to get to my feet. But you know what they say… The best surfer in the water is the one having the most fun. And I’m certainly up there for winning in that category.
Life is too short to worry about these things.
I’ve surfed before, in a few lovely places. One sunny September Sunday back in 2007, we even surfed with dolphins in the Harbour Trap, Aberystwyth. Being one of the animal kingdom, I reckon Rhino used his contacts to invite them along, just to add a bit of magic to the date – he always was a charmer!
But it’s probably been over a decade since I last really got on a board and, my oh my, could I feel it. In the early days of Rhino and Soph, before Koko and Kitty were born, Rhino would give me regular surf coaching after work or on weekends. I was definitely fourteen years younger, a few stone lighter and far more agile than I am today at almost 40.
I suppose it’s a bit like the first run in ten years or the first time back on a bike. You don’t pick up where you left off. Recently, I heard someone talk about meeting resistance when you start a new journey. Those little moments of doubt or frustration that come with lack of progress. And how if you lean into that resistance and use that energy to keep going rather than let it bring you down, then you’ll fly along in that journey and reap the rewards.
I can see this in the little ones too. There are moments when they have a bad wipeout and hurt a foot, or a leg, get a nose full of seawater or come home with a horrendous wetsuit rub. But there are also those moments where they cheer each other on for every little win, every wave and every pop up. And they cheer me on too, especially when I wipeout and tumble spectacularly into the whitewater. It’s seeing that empathy in them and that joy of learning together, that is absolutely gold.
Surfing can be such a difficult sport to master. Each wave is only ever there once, for a fleeting moment. Even when surfing the same spot, the body of water might break in the same place but there are so many variables that can change that one wave. Wind speed, direction and tides, it’s impossible to say with any certainty in advance. The conditions can make or break a surf, and it can be hard for children to understand why that wave was harder today than yesterday.
So, surfing is a huge builder of resilience and perseverance. Falling down time and time again and having to get back up, again and again. Laughing along the way and learning from each fall that the more you get back up on your feet, the better it all gets. And this is exactly why surfing is such a great sport, a great lesson for the little ones. And for us big ones too.
There’s just something about the magic of being in the water that just makes you want to succeed. To keep trying. To just get in. To walk on water.
And when you catch that first wave, or make that first pop up or learn how to ride across the wave for the first time, every wipeout and stingy salty eye is worth it.
Saturday is when it happened.
“Is it time to get out, Soph?”
“Just one more wave.”
I said, before leaving with a smile on my face.
So, this is the summer where Family Rhino is learning to surf. That’s our challenge. Bedtime chatter this week has led to us each setting a goal for our surf progress this summer:
Sophie (Realist) – Catch a wave and pop up.
Koko (Ambitious) – Get good enough to swap my foamy for a hardboard.
Kitty (Dreamer) – Be as good as Daddy.
Well, if you don’t shoot for the moon when you’re seven years old, when are you ever going to?
*You can follow our surf progress (and general travel/ life musings) on Instagram for more regular updates. And keep an eye out in July for our full review of our trip to The Wave, Bristol, for a day of family surfing.
