Just got this email - let me know if you want to get in touch with Zoe!
“Hey my name is Zoe and me and 2 friends are looking for an allround job at a surfcamp. We don’t mind where or what kind of work. We just really love the sea and ’surfing atmosfere’. We have spend the past 4 years on surftrips and beaches all over the world.
I hope someone can use a very enthusiastic staff member!
Kind regards,
Zoe x”
I’ve injured my back, so at the moment I can’t surf, and haven’t been able to since September. But I think I’ve found an alternative - stand up paddle surf. Since you don’t have to paddle lying down, I think this solution might be easier on the back. Another good thing is that you don’t need very impressive swells to do this, which means that Brighton might actually become a real surfing destination…
Time to get back to the roots!
This is the closest we get to a wave in London…
It’s pretty though. The photo is taken from Battersea Bridge.
A friend of my told me about his plans to sail around the world a while back. I suggested that instead of “just” hitting standard destinations along the route, he should visit the best surf spots around the globe.
Westcoast of Europe (UK, France, Spain, Portugal), Morocco, Canary Islands, Cap Verde, Caribean, Panama, Costa Rica, Australia, NZ…All of them are along the route most sailers take, and full of world class surf spots.
The trip would probably take 2-3 years to do. And at least 2 years of preparations. But what a trip it would be!
I wonder if he can get back to Monday mornings in the office after such a trip.
I’m just back from a weekend in Saunton, North Devon. This time I stayed at super-nice little cottage in the village of Braunton - review here: Bloomsfield Bed and Breakfast, Braunton.
The surf was OK, but not great. Sunday was clean but the waves really small. I recognized most of the locals in the lineup this time, and there are some great longboarders hanging out in Saunton. But the vibe is chilled and friendly.
I met a guy in Morocco once who told me about a “Swedish surf brand”, and he claimed that the boards were awesome. I was sceptical, but such a thing actually exists - Nordsurf is a Swedish producer of surf boards, with boards adapted to Swedish conditions.
I’m embarresed to say that even though I did a lot of windsurfing when I grew up, I never even tried wavesurfing in Sweden, and I still haven’t. I’ll change that this coming Christmas, unless there is too much ice. Here’s a good movie about the Swedish way of wavehunting.
Nordsurf.com is also a community for the dedicated tribe of Swedish surfers. They arrange surf camps, parties, competitions, and have a lively web forum (only in Swedish). And Adam at Nordsurf wrote a nice article about glissers - thanks 
The forecast for Saunton was simply too bad. I couldn’t justify driving 5 hours one-way for something that promised to be ruined by messy offshore winds. So I stayed home in London, and have spent the day learning about web development and SEO (and watching Federer crush Gasquet in Wimbledon). I’ve made some small changes on the design and the texts - if you spot them I’ll buy you a beer. I’m also trying to figure out how to end up higher in Google’s page rankings. To me most of this is new stuff is brand new, but I love learning about it. If I had to pick between “surfing” and “Internet”, it would be a very close call.
I’ve got Thursday and Friday off this week. Should I leave the smog and go surfing…?
YES!
But more difficult is to figure out where to go… the forecast for Saunton is not looking great - too much wind - Saunton at MSW
Maybe this is the perfect opportunity to venture down to the south of Portugal, fly into Faro with Ryanair and spend a few days traveling around. Or maybe go to Wales for a few days. Or maybe hop over to Biarritz. Oh, these wonderful choices
I spent Thursday and Friday in Saunton, North Devon. I arrived with bus from London late on Wednesday evening, tired and hungry. Woke up early on Thursday to maximize my exposure to the waves, but almosted started to cry when I saw the weather - rainy, windy, no waves.
I went out anyway - 2 h in the morning, 2 h in the afternoon. Happy just to get wet and catch some small messy waves.
And then, when the evening came, the wind dropped, the tide came back in, and all of a sudden it was paradise. Saunton is amazing for longboarding, absolutely amazing, and I had the best time ever (well not ever, but it was GOOD). Friday morning was even better, so when I went back to London (7 hour in a bus…) I had a big fat smile on my face.
I wrote a review of the place I stayed: Saunton Sands Hotel.
Here’s a pic from the road just above the hotel:
