Here’s a sequence of shots taken from my Go Pro Surf Hero camera that captured a little wipeout I had whilst in Newquay surfing with my mates!

Last week Rich and I made the trip down to Newquay for our first surf of the autumn. Richie Dog was well overdue for some wave action and had to give his water wings a bit of a dusting off upon arrival (but soon after was back to true canine ways).

We stayed with Glen and Alison over at The Chynoweth Lodge, a lovely family-run B&B on Eliot Avenue, in a quieter part of Newquay. Our three night stay commenced with a full English every morning, plus tea, toast and cereal (you need something to keep the engine running when you surf six hours solid).

We were pretty lucky with the weather considering it was mid-October (one day of dullness and three of sunshine and clear skies). The swell and winds were also on our side with two cracking offshore days with shoulder to head-high waves.

We met up with two of my buddies: Mr. Mark Parry and Olaf “The Machine” Mathur, both of which are top blokes and more than functional surfers (ain’t that right Mark).

Our first team session was a three-man assult on the northern end of Watergate (followed by a swifty in the pub afterwards). The surf was ok, but nothing compared to the treats we were to receive over the coming days.

The second team effort (this time with a full four-man crew in tow) was mine and Richie’s debut at a beautiful spot called Penhale. The sun was out, it was warm (especially for October), we had the break to ourselves and we were all super stoked to have been blessed with a little good luck to be in the right place at the right time (conditions like this only come together like this once in a blue moon – unless you happen to live in Indo or the like).

Paddling out felt amazing, clawing through the clear blue water out to the line-up, the surface of the water inbetween sets like glass. The particular peak we sat on was right near the cliffs and broke right, although you could go left, but ran the risk of riding into the boneyard, something Richie would find out later on in the day (the dog loves to dice with death when riding the backhand bone).

We traded waves for just under three hours before heading back up the beach and heading off for an evening session over at Watergate.

Now to have had Penhale to ourselves was enough, but to then have head-high Watergate, clean as a whistle with plenty of space to maneouver and set against an amazing sunset was nearly too much for one day.

Olaf and I traded waves and I managed to make some of the bigger drops even though I was on a single fin longboard, whilst Olaf ripped up a few walls on his shortie. We surfed until dark and then returned to the cars and back home for some brews and a healthy portion at Signor Dicks.

All in all a quality day that really set the bar for future trips!

Yep it is official, month’s of training in the pool and gym, plus the 3 weeks I spent down in the South West have come up trumps and I am now a fully qualified RLSS Beach Lifeguard and BSA Level 1 Surf Instructor. Throw in a little defib and the principles of first aid and life support and as the certificates below say, I am all ready to go!

I am back off to Newquay tomorrow to embark on the second part of my BSA Surf Instructor course.

To become a fully qualified Level 1 Instructor you have to gain 20 hours of “work experience” in a BSA-approved surf school, helping out with lessons etc. It seems fitting that the school that I ended up organising my hours with the surf school that originally taught me to surf 6 or 7 years ago.

So as of Thursday I will be joining Mike Young and the crew down at Escape Surf School in Newquay to gain my 20 hours, looking forward to it!

Yes, I went all self-indulgent again and decided to reward my BSA/RLSS course efforts with a new board. I actually bought it mid-week, before I completed the course as I had been watching The Seedling (one of Thomas Campbell’s fine surf films), and was digging all the nose-riding and old skool moves. So I officially went loooooooong and nipped down to the Bilbo Surf Shop in Newquay and made my 7th board purchase: a lovely Bilbo 9′1, double concave, single fin longboard with wooden veneered insets and collar, a real beauty!

Luckily enough I passed my Beach Lifeguard and BSA Level 1 Surf Instructor course (more on that later), so the reward was completely justified!

Below are a couple of pics from Bantham with me and the Wave Wizard in full stoke!

For the past 10 years (post University) I have worked pretty much exclusively in London in the web and advertising industry. The work and people (for the most part) have been pretty cool and I’ve been lucky enough to create a little niche for myself that enables me to earn reasonable money.

For the past few years though, I have become increasingly unsatisfied at times with work and have thought about trying to do something more worthwhile than pushing pixels around a screen.

A few month’s back I signed myself up to do a BSA (level 1) surf instructor and RLSS beach lifeguard course down in Cornwall. I’ve been subsequently training (like an Olympic athlete) over the past few months to ensure I am fit enough for the course. Hopefully all the hard work will pay off, as I am off to Newquay in two days.

I am hoping this qualification will open up some new doors and give me the opportunity to get involved in something fulfilling, rewarding and worthwhile. I am not giving up on my web career (just yet), but I am hoping that I will be able to spend at least a few months each year (starting next year) working as a surf instructor and beach lifeguard and passing on some stoke!

I’ve finally got around to putting up a few pics from our trip to Newquay last month. We had a good time, great weather (as usual) and a few reasonable waves and one defining sunset season at Fistral on the last night. This time around Alan Stokes and Ollie weren’t around, but I still managed to spot another pro, Russell Winter. This pro surfer spotting is becoming something of a habit, haha!

Check out the pics on Flickr.

Next weekend will be the second trip we’ll make down to Cornwall this year. Hopefully we’ll score some waves and get a little surf stoke going. Living in a landlocked village in the middle of Essex, I don’t get to surf every day, or every weekend for that matter, so to surf once a month is a more attainable goal.

So far this year I’ve surf every month from February until now (May). The next few months will also continue that trend with a trip to Peniche in Portgual booked for the end of June/early July and Devon booked for August, but I digress.

The usual suspects are coming, Ben C and Richie, with the addition of newbie: Lionel (a seasoned snowboarder with an unashamed love for long, phat powder days, but a novice to the ocean sport of surfing). We are travelling down on Thursday night/Friday morning in convoy, to avoid traffic and to hopefully score a quiet morning session before the crowds of surf schools and stag weekenders are unleashed on the beaches.

Lets hope the surf was as good as it was last time, back in Easter, only time will tell!

I’ve been thinking over the past year about doing a course to become a surf instructor/beach lifeguard. The idea being that I spend too much time behind a desk in London when I would rather be out doing something I really love.

OK this isn’t going to be a full time career change, but I was initially thinking of spending a few months in the summer down in the West Country teaching surfing and the rest of the year earning some dosh in London freelancing as I am at the moment.

Anyway the idea is just in it’s infancy at the moment, but hopefully it will lead to something, watch this space!

Last (Easter) weekend, me, Richie and James did a 3 day trip down to Newquay and were rewarded with great weather, good waves and the presence of a few pro-surfers in the water (Alan Stokes and Ollie Adams).

We missed the Easter crowds by leaving at midnight on the Thursday, getting to Newquay for 5.30am. There was no traffic on the roads as you would expect, and we were down to the West Country for first light.

We arrived in a misty, semi-dark Newquay for the early morning high tide where we waited in the car for first light and met up with James (who had recently made a new purchase on a surf wagon).

High tide wasn’t up to much, so we went and got some breakfast and relaxed for a few hours, waiting for the tide to drop.

By the time the water had dropped, we were left with a good wave, which was pretty much the order of the whole weekend. We all got some nice rides and then retired to the Indian Summer for an evening of curry and beers.

The next day we awoke to a glorious day, with shoulder to head high surf over at Fistral and waist-high in the bay. Rich, James and I hit it big time, with myself of course over doing it and surfing until sunset and nearly collapsing at dinner that night over at Dirty Dicks Mexican.

The final day was absolute glass, perfect for longboarding and catching some sweet peelers, unfortunaltey due to fatigue and a dodgy ring, Richie was left on the beach, but what he didn’t capture in terms of waves he certainly made up with by catching a few decent waves on camera for us!