Your surfing experiences

[TheWildchild]

Hey guys!

I’m currently in my second year at uni (Falmouth) and have finally been given a brief that interests and applies to me...extreme sports. I’ve already written down my experiences and thoughts on surfing the South coast, but I thought it’d be awesome if I could get some feedback from other surfers just to see if we all have similar views and experiences or are all completely different. If you’ve got a spare few minutes please could you fill this in, you’d be a massive help!

- How did you first get into surfing?
- What drives and motivates you to surf?
- Any bad injuries or near death experiences? How long were you out for?
- How do you feel if you can’t surf for a period of time (i.e. I feel empty inside, like my life isn’t complete)?
- I surf to relax and clear my mind...why do you guys surf?
- Do you feel at one with nature when surfing...why?
- When you’re buying gear do you choose performance or branding & looks?
- Any problems you can think of with your gear?

Cheers guys!

[Don_Alessandro]

Hey guys!

I’m currently in my second year at uni (Falmouth) and have finally been given a brief that interests and applies to me...extreme sports. I’ve already written down my experiences and thoughts on surfing the South coast, but I thought it’d be awesome if I could get some feedback from other surfers just to see if we all have similar views and experiences or are all completely different. If you’ve got a spare few minutes please could you fill this in, you’d be a massive help!

- How did you first get into surfing?
- What drives and motivates you to surf?
- Any bad injuries or near death experiences? How long were you out for?
- How do you feel if you can’t surf for a period of time (i.e. I feel empty inside, like my life isn’t complete)?
- I surf to relax and clear my mind...why do you guys surf?
- Do you feel at one with nature when surfing...why?
- When you’re buying gear do you choose performance or branding & looks?
- Any problems you can think of with your gear?

Cheers guys!

How did you first get into surfing?
I spent 8 months in Australia; for the mostern part in Manly, Sydney. Simply amazing place! Manly beach was incredible and there's almost a wave guarantee through the whole year, and it's also a great place to improve/hone your surfing skills. Another good thing about Manly Beach, is that is has excellent surf spots in near proximity, such as DeeWhy or CurlCurl. This is where I first started surfing, and I have been infected with the surf virus ever since.

The experience which tipped me over the edge was when I went on a 7-day surftrip from Sydney to Byron Bay. You'll meet a lot of ppl in a 'camp/trip' setting like this, and the spots are fantastic!! Just imagine... 6am, you come lurking out of the dense 'jungle' with the surfboard under your arm, first you hear it.. the waves roaring.. visual contact; beautiful sets lining up (with no people whatsoever!), and just to top it off.. "the locals", the dolphins are already out surfing. Wow, daydreaming myself away.. it actually happened like that though

What drives and motivates you to surf?
- The pure essence of this beautiful watersport. It also provides a great feeling of self-achievement and mastering.

Any bad injuries or near death experiences? How long were you out for?
- I've had some pretty bad wipeouts, but the first experience that comes to mind would be DeeWhy in 2005. Ingredients: Huge waves and a thunderstorm.. The waves were the biggest I have ever surfed, and at this point I had merely been surfing a couple of months. On the first wave, I popped up (amazing feeling going down the wave face), but due to lack of skills I slipped and fell into the wave. The wave was so strong that it brought me up to the peaking point and then slammed me to the bottom, where I was pinned down for what seemed like an eternity.. As I finally stopped spinning I swam to the surface, gasping for air, I turn my head 90 degrees just in time to see another wave just about to collapse on me. History repeated itself a couple of times, and I made my way to the beach knackered and battered by the wrath of Poseidon.

Do you feel at one with nature when surfing...why?
- Definitely. The feeling of being one on one with a big waves is simply amazing. In my honest opinion, it's as close to mother nature as you will ever get. Unless you are a dendrophiliac that is...

Alex (@gone-surfing.com)

[TheWildchild]

Do you feel at one with nature when surfing...why?
- Definitely. The feeling of being one on one with a big waves is simply amazing. In my honest opinion, it's as close to mother nature as you will ever get.

Totally agree! It's weird...sometimes I feel like I'm on the verge of conquering Mother Nature, before she smashed me right back into the surf lol!