Big Adventures on a Small Island: a most

Everybody’s gone surfing, apart from Oliver Smith who is terrified of the sport ever since he was rescued by a lifeguard in Cornwall. He rides the waves for the first time in a decade @OliSmithTravel

PICTURE THIS HAPPY SCENE: IT’S A sunny afternoon on a North Devon beach. A labrador is chasing a frisbee. Out on the waves, the Littlest Devon Surf School is getting a tutorial. And I am also on the shore, wetsuit-clad, board in hand, in a state of paralysis at the thought of entering the waves. Strange, because once upon a time I was actually a surfer. Or rather, my friends were surfers, and I was an apprentice. Together we surfed distant corners of the world: from Morocco to Mawgan Porth. In minor ways I joined the fraternity of surfers. They taught me about the ‘surf stoke’ –,-2 130 ̭ ,%  2-)# Ƥ -, Ƥ 0#,2 Ơ 32 2&# ',"# ̭ ,  *# 388 -$ "  71 #7-," 2&# breaks. And other things that made 130 ̭ ,% %0#  2 ơ 1  ," ', 7-30 &  '0  2 bedtime, and beaded necklaces.  32 5  1 *3"'!0-31*7  " Ɵ  30 ̭ ,% $-0 me was a kind of lateral drowning action. Catching waves was only an unintentional consequence. While my friends were riding tubes, I did my best to remain inconspicuous, mostly being submerged, scraping along a reef with a John Dory up +7 5#213'2 1*##4# Ɵ  &'*# 2&#7 ̮ 3,2#" their skills, I lay in a sandcastle moat in the recovery position. , 1.0',% ./0/Ơ +7 130 ̭ ,% !  0##0 !  +# to a head one day at Constantine Bay in Cornwall. We all paddled out among mighty, watery ranges. And one-by-one, the other guys inched out of sight. I was alone and panic set in. Rip tides (more correctly ‘rip currents’) are dangerous currents that drag swimmers out to sea –the key lesson is don’t paddle against them, but paddle sideways. A helpful analogy is breaking down on a motorway –pull in at the hard shoulder, rather than doing a U-turn back to the nearest Welcome Break. I paddled against it, exhausting myself quickly. I was cold. I took a pee in my wetsuit, and warmth dispersed across my torso. For one happy moment there was the snug sensation of being by the ̭ 0#1'"#  2  &0'12+  1  $2#0 2&#  3##, ư1 speech. Then I was cold again, drifting 2-5  0"1  12,#2 Ơ  &  ,,-,  ," '280-7Ɵ HOOOONK. The RNLI lifeguard on the beach sounded his alarm, and began charging towards me. Salvation came in 2&# $-0+ -$ +7 $0'#,"1 Ơ 5&- ̭ 1&#" +# out. I spent the rest of the holiday indoors, doing a jigsaw of kittens in  1)#21  ," ̮ ',!&',% #4#07 2'+# 2&# *-- ̮ 31&#" Ɵ  &  2 5  1 +7 130 ̭ ,% !  0##0 -4#0Ɵ Until now. I waded out, breathing steadily, slowly accustomising myself to the salty slosh of the sea. After half an hour out on the swells, I spied a dark

+  11 -, 2&# &-0'8-, 2&  2 2&-3%&2 +'%&2 be Lundy island. It loomed closer, and it was clear this was the wave destiny had dispatched to me –the one upon which I would glide silkily to shore. Paddling frantically, I caught it, slicing manically 2&0-3%&  ̮ -2'** -$ ', ̮ 2  *#1 Ɵ Even for a novice –crashing about like a teddy bear in a washing machine –130 ̭ ,% '1  1.-02 *')# ,- -2&#0Ɵ 2 &  1  venue like no other: no-one stares at a tennis court or a football pitch the way 2&#7 *--)  2 2&# 1# Ɵ  30 ̭ ,% '1  0'23  * that was holy to Hawaiians, practised in communion with the ocean, the gravity of the moon, the rotation of the Earth. And on the board I remembered those sensations that tug at surfers’ hearts, like outgoing tides. The weightless rush of being propelled by water; the homecoming feeling as ice cream vans, parasols and dunes hurtle towards you. Back on the beach, I walked tall past the students of the Littlest Devon Surf School, sitting on the sand eating Dairylea Dunkers. I was off to buy beads.

The trip in statistics 3 hours deciding whether or not to go surfing 30 minutes surfing 7+ days bragging about going surfing

For this adventure you will need 1 surfboard or bodyboard –resist the temptation to pay for cheap polystyrene bodyboards; rentals of quality boards are easily available in surfing hubs like Croyde 1 wetsuit (NB: never pee in rented wetsuits)

What I’ve learned Conquer your fears and become a stronger person for it. Unless you’re really bad at surfing, in which case it might be safer to stick to sandcastles.