Hello from Kent UK!

[Yamabushi170]

copied over from the crumbly old surfer thread

Hi Everyone

I'm 44 year old newbie surfer who was very recently turned on to the sport by a surfing holiday in Porto. I thought I would struggle with my first attempts to pop up, ride a wave etc, but to my great surprise I found that I am in fact absolutely bloody awful at this sport! To add insult to injury I did a great job of pulling or possibly tearing a muscle in my rib cage on day one so every single day of surfing for the duration of the holiday was an exquisite lesson in pain management. But despite this I still fell in love with the sensation of being on the sea, clad in my wetsuit and being rocked by the waves on my board. On my return I made a beeline for the best surf shop I could find and splashed out on all the kit I need to get started. My Bic Magnum is getting delivered today and now I just need some waves!
I'm about an hour away from the Kent coast so it's not ideal but still perfectly achievable. I'm looking forwards to my first session on the UK coastline and hopefully making a couple of friends along the way.
In addition to the thrill of the surfing itself I'm feeling motivated to get myself in better shape so I've taken up swimming again after a lengthy hiatus and I'm hitting the pool for an hour most days so I'm benefiting in other ways from this experience.
The main thing is that I'm glad I've found something to give me a reason to keep going in life. I recently lost my brother and sister to cancer, leaving just me and my elderly mother behind. My fiancee headed out the door a few months later, presumably not wanting to share the burden and since then I've just been finding it harder and harder to keep going for any reason other than the thought of breaking Mum's heart completely. So surfing has been something of a Godsend to me and I really intend to keep it up for as long as I possibly can. See you on the sea.

Excelsior!

[essex sucks]

Welcome to the world of surfing. Just across the water from you in Essex. Your not that far from some ok waves in the winter. And good for beginners.

[Yamabushi170]

Thank you old chap! Hopefully we'll cross paths/waves one day.

[essex sucks]

Thank you old chap! Hopefully we'll cross paths/waves one day.

You welcome to tag along on South coast day trips. Surf on my own these days.

[Yamabushi170]

Sure, it would be a pleasure!