hardware & gear

Buying a second-hand surfboard: what to look for

Girlgonesurfing

When I just started on my surfing journey, I extended my quiver by 100% (i.e. I had one surfboard, and then I decided to buy another one). Now, I knew there was a good chance that I would destroy any surfboards with my kooky ways. I was also hoping to progressively step down in size, and taking my budget as a gainfully unemployed beach bunny into account, I made the thrifty decision to buy a “new” one second-hand. Looking around, I realised I could save myself about half the price of a new board, that’s fairly decent!

For anyone thinking of doing the same thing, here are some tips for your (first) second-hand board purchase. Continue reading “Buying a second-hand surfboard: what to look for” →

hardware & gear

Getting off the foamie – and onto your first “real” surfboard: what to look for

Girlgonesurfing

This is Part 2 of my three-part series on surfboard buying – what to look for when upgrading to your first “real” surfboard (i.e. something that is hard, whether it’s fibreglass or an epoxy pop-out). If you want to read Part 1 (what to look for when buying your first foamie surfboard), you can find it here. If you’re not quite sure whether you are ready to upgrade to a hardboard, have a read of Part 1 first.

For me, surfing is all about progression – setting yourself goals, hitting them and seeing concrete evidence of your improvement. Or sometimes, backward decline (especially when you haven’t been able to spend enough time in the water *ahem*).

I think that the most visible (and exciting) marker of improvement for someone just starting out is upgrading to a new surfboard. So without further ado, below are some tips on how to approach buying your first “real” surfboard.  Continue reading “Getting off the foamie – and onto your first “real” surfboard: what to look for” →

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motivation, surfing

Swallowing the ego (and a whole lot of water!)

Girlgonesurfing

I recently read Never too late: A welcome to those who learn to surf as adults and it made me think.

The thing about coming to surfing later in life (I started at age 26) is that you can’t care what people think of how you look. Because the fact is, you will look absolutely ridiculous… and for a long time.

There is, unfortunately, just no way around this. Sometimes you just have to swallow the ego and go for it. Continue reading “Swallowing the ego (and a whole lot of water!)” →

motivation, surfing

How surfing helped me to score my dream job

Girlgonesurfing

If you’ve read my first post (here) you will know that I hung up my proverbial shingle in order to reset, chill out in PJs all day, and basically undertake a range of fairly cliche’d activities like make raw organic kale and protein juices (which I still love), attend hot yoga sessions and develop a serious (and possibly unhealthy) obsession with surfing, all in an attempt to “find myself” (how one misplaces themselves in the first place, I do not know, but I managed it).

Tracking back through my post history, you will see that there has been a period of silence from me, and that is because I have – *sharp inhale*– started working again. Continue reading “How surfing helped me to score my dream job” →

hardware & gear

Your first surfboard – some double entendres to remember!

Girlgonesurfing

I always think learning from someone who is just a few steps ahead of you is useful because the advice they impart is often the most accessible and immediately relevant, so I wrote this post to pass on my “first board” experience.

Bear with my double entendres below!

1. Big and thick is always better

More experienced surfers often misjudge (or forget) how difficult the mere act of standing up on a board, or catching a wave, can be for a beginner. Continue reading “Your first surfboard – some double entendres to remember!” →

motivation, surfing

The Cowabunga look

Girlgonesurfing

Last weekend, like any other day recently, I checked the surf report – brilliant it says 2-3 feet and glassy (a beginners heaven), jumped in my rustbucket and headed to the beach with my trusty board in tow. At the beach, the excitement in the air was palpable. Something was wrong. The type of surf I like is fundamentally different from what experienced surfers froth at and so if these surfers were frothing, I was going to be struggling. And frothing they were. Continue reading “The Cowabunga look” →

how to, surfing

Surfing sans buddy when you’re a beginner

Girlgonesurfing

Going on a career break, whilst it may not be good for the progress of my career (after all, it’s less a “break” and possibly more a fracturing), has fortunately done wonders for my surfing. I have been able to get out in the water, during the golden quiet time that is otherwise known as just after 9am on a weekday, nearly every day for the past few weeks. It has been absolute bliss.

I surf in places that are generally packed like sardines, 12 surfers all trying to surf the same break on the weekends (with varying degrees of success), but during “quiet” time I am usually one of the few surfers (sometimes only) in the ocean. There I can meditate as I stare out at the ocean, and try to figure out my life and where I am going whilst I wait for the next wave, take things as slow or fast as I wish, and generally make an idiot out of myself without half the surfing community thinking “what a kook” because happily, few are there to witness my sins against the surfboard.

Continue reading “Surfing sans buddy when you’re a beginner” →