When I meet people all over the world they tend to assume I’m Australian or Kiwi – I hardly look like a Brit with my sun bleached curly hair, using the word “heaps” heaps and referring to people as “dude”…to be honest I quite like it!
Once I explain to people that I’m English (or more often than not Devonian!) and that I work as a surf instructor they then ask me a series of questions;
Them; How long have you been surfing
Me; Just over 10 years
Them; But you said you were from England right?
Me; Yup.
Them; So where did you learn to surf?
Me; North Devon
Them; There’s surf in England!?
Yup – believe it or not the UK has some pretty damn epic surf and whilst I’ve been home I’ve been lucky enough to score some good pre winter swells at my semi home break of Putsborough in North Devon. Waves shared with good friends and even a splash of sunshine.
This shot was taken last week – an early morning surf which saw me loading my roof rack at 7am in time for a beautiful sunrise, offshore winds and peeling waves. Fair enough it’s not quite the warmth and size of surfing in Bali – but it’s damn good fun and I left with a huge smile on my face.
Lets face it if I hadn’t have told you where this shot was taken would you really have even considered the UK as an option for its location?!
For me that’s one of the things I missed the most whilst on the road – surfing with familiar faces and trading waves with people who share my love for the ocean, no matter the temperature!
Any else tried surfing in the UK?
teehee! Never forget the cheeky poundings stuck inside there with you and your bro! I NEED SURF!!!!!!
hahaha – oh the joys of winter swells at P-Land hey Tommi?! Shame I missed ya this time around!
Cool picture, I’d love to surf in England sometime! People ask me the same because I live in Holland (you can surf here.. occasionally) although sadly, I’m never mistaken for an Ozzie =) guess I look way too Dutch haha!
Hey Lisette,
You should definitely head over and sample the waves in the south west sometime! My Dutch buddy is trying to convince me to head that way and surf sometime – I am slightly more inclined to drag him to warmer climates though!
Just stumbled across your site Chris from this post – an it just so happens i’m staying in Croyde this weekend an will be surfing Puts sunrise to sunset with a little breakfast at the cafe in between!!! Safe travels dude
Awesome!
Well enjoy the surf – Friday looks set to be an EPIC day of overhead, offshore perfection! Grab some lefts for me at P-Land!