There might well be some surfing content on this blog, it ranks very highly on my Radius and deeply rooted within the realms of what makes me tick under the banner of the 'Great Outdoors', so thought I’d better tell you a little about Surfing and me. As this is a journey of sorts, I'm going to break this one down into chapters. There are so many people surfing now, some new to the sport, the super experienced, elite and professional surfers, and guess what? They were all beginners once, every pro, every surfer you see who is better than you, all started by dragging a board down the beach, or trying to catch a wave on a board that was never, ever going to allow that to happen. My journey to be a surfer was partly inspired by an image I once saw, a photo of four young surfers standing in the shallows at Newcastle Beach, NSW, Australia. I remember two of them very clearly, Matt Hoy and Luke Egan, I think one was also Nicki Wood (RIP). It was an advert for a wetsuit company and they were the coolest cats I’d ever seen. Everything about them screamed I’m a surfer…what are you? It was like the old Tony Alva skateboard adverts back in the 70’s, no action just an image of the coolest skater alive, holding his deck with his name ‘Alva’ printed on the base. In many ways his image was like that, four surfers, holding their boards and looking like they were the toughest, most radical surfers, which they were. Advertising had become about attitude, not the act, and maybe that's why surfing continues to sell. That was one of many images that sold surfing to me over the years, but it was when I was about 16 and working in the local village Petrol Station that local lad Greg Watts pulled up in his VW Combi, probably fueling up before he went off on another trip to Cornwall. He must have been about 18, a couple of years above me at school, and we all lived a couple of miles from the beach. Greg had the maddest, curliest blond hair, (just look up famous Aussie surfer Terry Fitzgerald and you’ll get the picture) and member of a local south coast club known as the ‘Harbour Wall Bangers’, a surf club that surfed inside the harbour wall at Shoreham Harbour and Brighton Marina, that generally worked on big South Westerly swells. Greg went on to become a surfboard shaper, moved to Newquay, and that was the last I ever saw of him. I heard that he was one of the best surfers and had eventually moved to the Caribbean with his family. I can only imagine he continued to surf his brains out and shape great boards. My point being, and I have got one; It was seeing these influences that made me want to be a surfer, but in many ways it wasn’t the images of surfers I’d seen, it was probably Greg Watts who influenced me most. Just knowing that when he pulled out of that petrol station, he was off on an adventure that was based purely around stoke. I suppose is the same for the thousands of people who are influenced today, except now it's images of perfect waves or Youtube videos like J.O.B (Jamie O’ Brien), or BIg Wave Surfing, terrible advertising that has jumped on the surfing bandwagon, because they know it sells, or social media. This might sound weird, maybe a little cheesy, but I knew that somewhere inside me, I was going to be a surfer, plus if Greg did it coming from our local area, so could I. A late bloomer at 19, I bought my first second hand surfboard shaped by Tim Mellors under the name Custard Point for £110, and my best mate bought a 5’10” twin fin. The name Custard point was the name given to Brighton Marina by the surfers who surfed on the East side of the Harbour wall, and back then I had no idea what I was buying, all I knew was it tiger stripes on it, three fins, it looked cool, and I still have it now. It didn’t take me long to realise It was way too short at six foot, and considering I had no idea how to surf this wasn’t going to end well. Up to that point, all I’d done was read cover to cover any surf magazine I could lay my hands on, and the only thing I did understand was how to read a weather chart. Having a Dad who sailed, and who’d tried to pass this love onto me by talking me through the Synoptic chart in the newspaper or on the news, and how it could be used for predicting swells, ideal for weakened jaunts, but back then still a gamble and an eight hour drive. Today, and for those who really can’t be bothered, it’s easy to head over to Magic Seaweed. In 1989, British born Martin ‘Pottz’ Potter won the World Surfing Championship, and that was that, I needed to go surfing. Myself and a couple of mates packed our boards, loaded the cassette deck with Hothouse Flowers and the Rolling Stones and went West. We had no idea how to ride these boards but like so many before us we drove to Newquay, in our knackered Ford Fiesta, this was our first official surf trip. If you’ve ever tried surfing or walked into a surf shop to buy your first board then this can feel like such an intimidating place, worried about what others might think, I know we did, we actually felt really embarrassed. I walked into the North Shore Surf Shop on Fore Street and asked for some wax for my board, but had to then ask another question; How to put it on? I remember feeling like a proper kook, which I obviously was. As a little side note and hopefully words that will help, from my own experiences, a surf shop full of people who look like surfers, act like surfers and talk like surfers, doesn't mean they are good surfers, or even that they can actually surf at all. Many of them wouldn’t know one end of a surfboard from the other, so please don't be fooled, or intimidated. My best advice 33 years on, is just be honest, tell the staff member you're an absolute kook, a complete beginner, smile and make a joke of it, and I promise you'll get the best service, and a smile in return. As far as surfing goes, leave your ego at the door, the ocean will teach you a lesson that’s for sure. For three days, we got battered by the waves and never stood up once, but I was hooked and became a weekend warrior, traveling to Cornwall as often as I could. At this point I’d like to pass on some of what I learnt in those early years. I soon realised that one thing that will help you learn to surf is the right board, and I swiftly made this change. Then there is the willingness to get consistently battered by the mother ocean, again and again. Perseverance, determination and commitment come very high on the list of qualities required to be a surfer, and lastly, Selfishness. The ability to drop everything, including loved ones and mates who don’t surf, and head for the waves is essential. These are the best options until finally you’re making a breakthrough. Then barrier after barrier will begin to break down and progression will happen. Actually, there is one more… I finally made my breakthrough in 1992 whilst studying Tourism Management. I spent a summer in Cornwall on work experience and worked for a multi-activity center. What should have been two weeks easily turned into four months and a late return to college. At every opportunity I could surf, and my word I did just that. By the end of that time in the county I know call home, I could stand up and go along the unbroken wave, my wave judgment was better, I understood beach conditions and weather systems even better, (again, this was pre-internet, websites, Magic Seaweed and the dreaded webcam), but my greatest lesson was how to paddle like a man possessed. My boss would scream at me whilst we both paddled for the same wave, and he didn’t hold back. Preceding the levels of political correctness we have today, as a surf coach he certainly had a novel way of encouragement. Using some pretty bad language he essentially bullied me into paddling some pretty serious waves, for a kook. This is the final element of being a beginner surfer, and one that I observe lacking in others today. That one factor that lets newbies down and prevents them from moving forward in their dream to join the surfing lifestyle. As I learnt to break down my own surfing barriers, that honestly took years and years, the last bit of guidance I’ll provide in this Radius Blog is this..If you want to be a surfer 'PADDLE'!! I ended up studying Tourism Management in Canterbury and this part of my surfing adventure was pretty frustrating. I could surf, but studying and the stress of those studies, lack of finance and a reliable car kept me away from the waves. I kept my interest alive by writing my dissertation on 'Localism', which is the term used for conflict between local surfers and visitors, but more of that later. I had achieved that feeling that only a surfer will understand, that glide of riding on an unbroken wave, and that first bottom turn, but the real commitment was yet to come……. If you’d like to find out more in Chapter two of this journey, then please check back in for part two soon, and also head over to the new Instagram account @theradius_uk and please give it a follow.
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AuthorHi, I'm Russ Pierre, a Cyclist, Surfer and outdoor enthusiast. Please join me as I have some fun on my adventures and write about all the stuff that makes me tick. Archives
October 2023
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