8 Ways To Nail Winter Surfs

The lovely Lexi from StillStoked got in touch with regards to writing a feature for her site. She wanted to know more about the surf scene in Cornwall, and with temperatures dropping with the shift in seasons, I felt I had to share my thoughts on this. It feels as though we've come straight out of summer, and thrown right into the icy claws of winter. 

I've been struggling with this as I love the heat and roaming freedom of hot, summer days, but I'm also loving the quieter line-ups and the cosy evenings beside the fire. I wrote this to keep us all stoked through winter with a few suggestions to make the transition that little bit more seamless...

 Image by Hayley Green

Sea Dips in the Mist // Kobe Surf Feature Article

A piece written for Kobe Surf in celebration of the release of the new Ocean Wanderer Collection and film, shot by Clare James. A stunning short bursting with love, laughter and good old fashioned cold water fun. We celebrate the joys of cold water swimming, playing outside and bodyboarding on a cold, grey summer's day in Cornwall. 

The new collection is designed for women of the water who yearn to explore, swim, surf and play on these shores whenever possible whilst brightening any grey, rainy day. The new collection uses Econyl; a company creating high quality materials from regenerated nylon, such as ghost fishing nets. Econyl collect harmful plastics from landfill and oceans. 

Feeling comfortable in the skin you're in whilst wearing clothing that aims to help change our natural environment into a healthier, happier place are two things I really give a shit about. Kobe encourages girls and women to embrace our beauty and imperfections and step out with confidence whilst embracing the elements all around us.

Misplaced Memories of a Cornish Summer

Sitting with Cornwall’s autumn evening rays resting on my shoulder, I recall the heatwave of summer. The two month heatwave drawing hoards of holidaymakers to Cornish coastlines. My restlessness accumulating with every surplus second spent indoors at work, craving to share the joy of the outdoors with everyone else. Agitation prevailing, I yearned for a day off to enjoy nature’s finest; to be in the ocean, submersed under water.

No Two Surfs Are The Same

The weekend just passed was filled with surf, a little bit of sunshine (mainly fog) and friends a plenty. We started by kicking off the Friday evening with a fun surf under the grey skies at Watergate. The following evening, the waves were supposedly smaller so I swapped the 5"6 I had been trying the previous night and took out my 6"10 mini mal at Penhale. The sea fret rolled over onto the north coast, covering the beach in a thick layer of fog.

Morwenstow // Cream Teas // Coastal Wanderings

Last October, I made a trip further up the North coast in search of new coastal walks and a change of scenery from my usual North coastal suspects.

Whipsy // Autumn Swells

This isn't my usual post. My posts are usually upbeat and celebrating all the positives about Cornwall; the ocean, health, well-being, and all the good things that come with this life here in this beautiful place I am lucky enough to call home! I have been struggling mentally, emotionally and physically the last few months, for a number of reasons.

It wasn't until this night, after having been in the water, that I felt I could write about it. After countless nights of not being able to sleep until 2am/3am in the morning, and even then, consistently waking up throughout the night; I felt I could finally put something down. 

Long Weekends On The Cornish Coast // Part II // Porthcurno // Porthchapel // Logan's Rock

The following morning, we woke bright and early to the rumbling of a farmer parking his pickup behind the van, ready to deliver his free roaming cattle with fresh supplies for the morning. I opened the van's doors to be welcomed by a view of vast, green fields laden with fresh morning dew. I filled my lungs with the scent of crisp ocean air spilling through the open doors. 

Late Spring Evenings

The bank holiday weekend just gone, treated us to a couple of days of sunshine and swell, after an arduous month of a millpond ocean.

Long Weekends On The Cornish Coast // Part I // Kynance Cove

The long Easter weekend and May Bank Holiday weekend have provided me with more than the normal two days to get out the office and go explore more of the Cornish coast I don't normally get out to visit...

A Special Day On The North Coast

A few weekends back we were treated to a lovely few days of swell here on the North coast...

Chilly Nips // New Year Dips

There's not much to say about this day... Apart from the fact that it was a particularly freezing New Year's Day.

We were all a tad hungover. I think we may have all lost the plot a little. The wind was the strongest, iciest wind that had ever blown on these Northern shores (probably not, but it bleddy felt like it!) 

So we 5 idiots (4 idiots actually; Hayley was wise and remained fully clothed behind the camera capturing these shots on film) thought it would be a great idea to change into our wetsuits, don the bellyboards, and waddle down the slipperiest of mud-soaked slopes to the beach and nearly drown ourselves on the coldest day of the year (admittedly it was the first day of the year...)

A Crisp Cornish Winter

Let's face it, surfing in the British winter (pretty much the whole of the Northern Hemisphere's winter) can be a bit much at times...

But then again, when it looks like this...

Summer Days // Watergate Bay

As you will have seen from some of my previous posts, Clare and I upped the levels of stoke this summer. Despite working long hours during the peak season down here in Cornwall, we always managed to find the time to get in the ocean. We've had our fair share of early rises before a long ass shift or a quick power surf post-work catching the last of the day's waves before the sunset, all to wipe away the stresses of the day in an attempt to make us feel human again!

Early Morning In St Ives

These photos were taken the morning after the St Ives Biathlon. We woke early, a little too early actually… 5:30am to be precise. All to escape a fine from camping in the car park overnight. Unsure where to go or where would even be open at this time in the morning we parked up at Porthminster and stumbled down to the beach. Feeling a little scraggly from the free pint of rattler given to all competitors who successfully completed the Biathlon the night before, we stumbled onto the beach for the sunrise.

Party Waves

After our photo-surf session we felt we really needed to get a few shots of our next surf doing its thing in the sunshine. We wanted shots to show Cornwall does get beautiful, fun days of waves in the sunshine, to prove we’re not always surfing in the mizzle and drizzle of Cornwall’s mighty rainclouds! 

Courtesy of Clare James Photography.

Two Surfs A Day // Keeps The Doctor Away

We’ve been having a pretty fun time here in Cornwall this summer. Despite the gloomy first few weeks of August, we’ve managed to fit in some memorable surfs on some of our favourite beaches. Clare and I managed to time a few of our days off together so we could explore and embark on a few more of our surfing safaris we love so much. However, this time we decided we are going to document it, not just on land, but in the water too...

June // Cornwall

June has been a culmination of small, clean, super fun swells and stormy, blown out crumbly days. 

Chill At The Mill

A weekend full of incredible food, all the drinks, amazing music, sunshine, adventures in the woods, glitter, hula hooping and some pretty dodgy dancing! 

Two Days Of Gold

Somehow I managed to time my days off perfectly to coincide with the arrival of the new swell!

As promised by the wave gods, the clean, offshore waves predicted were finally, and very kindly delivered to our doorstep. Those days spent surfing the mush in optimistic preparation of surfing a proper slice of swell well and truly paid off. What can I say...  heading in whatever the weather, whatever the wave was damn good advice!

Whatever The Weather // Whatever The Wave

"IF IN DOUBT... PADDLE OUT!"

This article may be a bit kooky, but I was  hoping it might inspire some other learners to get out there no matter what! I was chatting to Clare in the car on our way back from a cold and windy surf at Fistral, about how much better it is to get out for a surf even when the conditions are not ideal, than to just sit at home, watching the webcam praying to the wave gods in the hope that it might get better! That shit is just boring... and it'll most likely drive you a little insane!

We starting talking about all the benefits of surfing in all sorts of conditions and it got me inspired to get out there even more, quit moaning about the mush and just go SURF! So I decided to write a little KOOKY post about why you should get out there WHATEVER THE WEATHER, WHATEVER THE WAVE... I hope you find it inspires you to get out there whenever you can, the benefits are endless...

Hmmm... Is it worth it?