My first Surfing lesson with the Bude Surfing experience.
When I was on my BodyBoard holiday in Bude, I decided to have a “Stand Up” surfing lesson. After searching the internet and reading a few websites, I settled on http://www.budesurfingexperience.co.uk/ . I called the number on the website and talked to Scott and after a brief chat, I booked a lesson.
Scott – Another surfing Budha
I was really nervous about going, thinking I’d look like a total newbie that had never gone in the sea before but I was also really excited. When I turned up, I was greeted by Scott and instantly liked the guy, Friendly bloke with a big smile on his face.
After signing the necessary paperwork – the Sea can be unpredictable, but I was reassured that Scott would take every precaution – we headed off to the changing area. This was a big plus for me; BSX had an indoor changing area, a safe place to leave your gear and hot showers afterwards!
As I had my own wetsuit, I used that but the suits provided to the other members of my lesson looked warm, decent and comfy!
We got in our neoprene and headed off to Summerleaze beach to start our surfing journeys where we got our safety briefing and our “Foamie” surf boards.
A Foamie surfboard is just as it sounds – Really big, Soft, floaty and stable. Absolutely perfect to learn the basics on such as paddling, catching a wave and the “Pop up”.
We used the “Buddy system” to carry our boards to the sand where Scott explained to us the basics such as how to put on our ankle leashes, how to lay on the board in the water, how to paddle and catch a wave and perform the “Pop up” which is the manoeuvre you have to carry out to get to your feet on the board.
Now it was time to get wet.
A great part of this lesson was learning how to handle the board in the water before getting in the water. This was accomplished by using the great “sea pool” that is on Summerleaze beach. This is basically a swimming pool filled with sea water, so we got used to paddling around on our boards without having those pesky waves to deal with. It was actually great fun, but I was keen to get into the water.
After a few minutes of this, we paddled across the pool and headed to the sea proper. Scott gave us instruction on how to carry and get our boards in the water safely, so like little ducks we waddled into the Ocean.
The first thing we had to master was catching a wave before we even thought of trying to Pop Up. I found this fairly easy, after all the Foamie felt just like a massive bodyboard and I had to resist the urge to bottom turn the thing! The other three students in the class seemed to get the hang of this without too many problems as well.
People having fun in the surf!
On your feet solider
The next step for me was getting to my feet. I must admit I found this “challenging” as I was instinctively putting my hands in all the wrong positions after catching a wave , and when I did get too my feet I was standing up far too quickly, before I’d properly caught my balance so I spent a lot of time falling off!
Scott was keeping an eye on us all, and let me know what I was doing wrong but I was still being a bit rubbish so I went back to dry land where Scott patiently pointed out what I was doing wrong, but also pointing out what I was doing right (which felt great!).
I went back into the water with a determination to get to my feet, and by jingo I did! I also kept falling off, but I rode that big old foam surf board a few times and I have to say it was brilliant. As is the law in these situations, I gave the “Both hands in the air, waving the Shakka” pose when I managed to stand up and ride it a few times.
The other people in the class accomplished this feat as well, which I think is a testament to the teaching you receive at the http://www.budesurfingexperience.co.uk/ .
Summary
I massively enjoyed my lesson and I’m now hooked on surfing completely! I have the confidence to go out by myself on my own board and practice the lessons I learnt. If you’re ever in Bude and fancy trying this exciting sport, I can’t recommend BSX enough.
