On what was apparently the hotest October in the UK on record, we scored some of the cleanest waves, offshore winds and best weather we’ve EVER had on a North Devon surf trip. I surfed in a pair of board shorts all weekend, with a short wetsuit top just to keep the wind off. In all, I reckon I put in about 10-15 hours in the water over the course of the weekend, testiment to the fact that we just couldn’t get enough of what had been served up to us.

Now, call it fate, call it reward for all the times we’ve gone down and it being crap, or call it higher intervention, this time it was an epic session that will go down in the memory as one of the best times we’ve had down in Woolacombe and one that will be hard to top.

You know what comes next!

Stoked :)

Rich and Seb

Me cooking up a storm on the trangia

Rose basking in the summer sun!

Stoked to be so warm!

Pleased with her moves, Rose celebrates!

Barricane sunset #1

Woolacombe sunset #1

Barricane sunset #2

Barricane sunset #3

Barricane sunset #4

Barricane sunset #5

Barricane sunset #6

Woolacombe sunset #2

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!

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!

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 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!

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!