Summer Surf Sessions
We have decided to run a club surf night on Mondays at local North Devon beaches. We will aim to run the sessions at Sandymere, Westward Ho! as often as possible but due to spring tides we will have to move to Saunton for some sessions. This will be communicated well in advance.
Starting on the 19th April, we will run two 1-hour surf sessions.
6-7pm Beginner Session
The first hour will be from 6-7pm and for beginners to surf kayaking (not total beginners to kayaking!). These paddlers will need to be at least a 2 star standard to make the most of the sessions and be safe in the surf environment. We will offer 4 places to beginners in this session, with 1 surf kayak leader and 1 experienced assistant to make our Covid friendly group of 6. We would like people to sign up for 3 weeks at a time, in order to coach the same paddlers through the basics and help them all to make good progress in the 3 weeks. We will then offer up another 4 places for the next 3 weeks. The idea is that paddlers who have completed a series of beginner sessions will then be able to join the intermediate group in suitable surf conditions.
We ask participants to be in the car park with enough time to get changed and sort kit before the session. This will be at least 30 minutes before start time depending on how quickly you get changed and how much kit is your own and how much you are hiring from the club. We will email out more details to participants when they have signed up, ahead of their sessions.
7-8pm Intermediate Session
This is an informal surf session where you don’t need to book in advance (unless you need to hire some equipment) and can just turn up. All participants will need to be competent in the conditions on the day and able to self-rescue and get themselves safely back to shore. As always if the surf is quite big, then people can just go out as far as they feel comfortable and practice their skills in the whitewater and reforming waves. We will let you know if it is likely to be too dangerous to do this if the surf is huge or the wind is very strong.
We will all look out for each other on the water and tips/ coaching advice will be available for anyone who wants it. We will encourage everyone attending the intermediate session not to gather in big groups on the beach or in the car park, to give each other space in the water, to respect other surfers in the water (we will send out information on surf etiquette) and to follow social distancing guidelines with each other at all times.
We have a couple of surf kayaks that we can bring along for people to try, so let us know if you would like to try one!
Equipment Hire Fee: £5 to include kayak, paddle, BA and cag if you can transport it to location yourself. £7 to collect at location to cover extra petrol cost. Juniors have free use of equipment. You MUST book equipment in advance.
Flat/ Stormy Conditions
If the surf is flat then we can still meet up to do some fitness paddling, rolling and rescue practice. Some people may even want to go for a scenic paddle along the cliffs. If it is really stormy then we will cancel the session for everyone’s safety.
Filming
We are hoping to be able to do a bit of filming at both the beginner and intermediate sessions for coaching and promotion of the sport purposes. Also it is really cool to have a video of some of your good waves! I will check with all beginners whether they are happy to be filmed and will try to get around to all the intermediate surfers to check but if you don’t want to be filmed then please let the leaders know, either by email or at the beach.
Juniors
We plan to do regular surf kayak coaching with the juniors after May half term, when the air and water temperature are warmer- especially in the evenings. You don’t need the 2 star standard to take part.
Weekends
We plan to run ad hoc surf sessions on some weekends but it relies on the suitability of conditions and availability of leaders.
Hope to see you there.
Pat and Emma