We’ve had some bleddy good surf down here lately. In fact this winter has been turning out better than even last year’s, whence I set upon my ‘surf every day’ challenge.
I'm on top, Bennet is underneath. The battle is underway!
The last couple of days I’ve been surfing with my great mate Will Bennet, whilst his lovely missus Celine Collaud (of course also my great mate) kindly took some shots of us. Celine has an ability to capture the absolute apex of a turn; you make the turn in the water, replay how you think it looked in your head, wonder if Celine caught it and then learn later that of course she did, and exactly at the right moment. This profound understanding of sports probably comes from her being a European kitesurfing champion.
Off the lip at Watergate,me.
Anyway, we were having a fantastic time, catching waves, living for the swell and wondering what the next day will bring. And if it goes onshore naturally we don’t care since we fund our very existences on this earth through kitesurfing! Afterwards over an apres surf Skinner’s Surfing Lager talk sort of drifted towards money and careers and responsibility.
The board room or the bored room?
It would be fair to say that our little crew, like many others around the world, have put a lot of things on hold (or never even started them) so we could instead devote time and energy into surfing and kitesurfing for purely recreational purposes. I mean, it takes a fair bit of discipline to suit up and paddle out into chunky surf when the air temp is hovering around freezing point, or to live in a constant state of awareness of tides, winds and swell.
Would that focus be better diverted into keeping track of financial markets? Would that tenacity serve us better climbing hand over hand up a corporate ladder? I would never write off anyone who works hard in an office and can only make it to the sea once a month, and also I think people choose the lifestyle that suits them. But when do you start feathering the nest?
Slave to the lip grind
Surfing (when I say surfing I mean surfing, kitesurfing, bodysurfing, SUP, all of it) does keep you lean and mean and largely without injury. It creates deep bonds with friends as you share wild adventures and flirt with danger. Together you see some of the most beautiful scenery and are alive in the most intense weather systems. And best of all you get to feel those amazing waves under your feet…you don’t even need to replay them in your mind, you just feel a natural sense of well being.
Reversal - going right this time, top turn comparison.
It’s a great life we’ve chosen but you don’t get paid for playing. Sure someone could be sponsored but I’m not, never will be. Only a tiny percentile are so talented that a company would pay them a salary just to surf. So I’m asking you dear reader, what you reckon to all this? Is it time to cut back on the beach and scale up (make that start!) on the pension plan? Is it selfish to put so much value on chasing something that can really only benefit yourself? Is it naive to think that by seeking natural, healthy experiences you are somehow contributing to a better balance in the universe? I’d like to hear your thoughts, please sound off below.
Till next time, stay fly till you die!
It’s hard.
I have found a way to live in Cornwall (not London), have more leisure time, and to spend more of it in or by the sea than before. But a LOT less than you and Will (and others). I often wish I spent more in the sea and less on work and other projects. But my job and other projects are also (mostly) enjoyable.
I’ve chosen to have more of a future plan integrated into my life, but admire those that don’t, or those that find a way to get more sea time than I do.
If you want the ultimate, check out this video:
– http://www.dolectures.com/lectures/do-trust-in-the-things-you-love/
“If I can only scrape a living, at least it will be a living worth scraping”
Dom
It’s only through hearing about the exploits of such heroes as you and Mr Bennet that us ‘weekend warriors’ make it through the cold, dark winter, with sessions sometimes months apart. Keep living the dream buddy, you’re doing it for all of us !
Jeff
Always chasing that balance. I believe there is a certain level of financial security which can be reached if lucky without working 9-5, 5 days a week.
Also with flexible work hours, reducing time wasted travelling and seasonal busy times, you can set aside plenty of time for travel/leisure/etc
I saved 1000 miles a month by moving house.
I don’t know if Philip Larkin was partial to a surf up in Hull, but he nails it in ‘Next, please’:
Always too eager for the future, we
Pick up bad habits of expectancy.
Something is always approaching; every day
Till then we say,
Watching from a bluff the tiny, clear
Sparkling armada of promises draw near.
How slow they are! And how much time they waste,
Refusing to make haste!
Yet still they leave us holding wretched stalks
Of disappointment, for, though nothing balks
Each big approach, leaning with brasswork prinked,
Each rope distinct,
Flagged, and the figurehead wit golden tits
Arching our way, it never anchors; it’s
No sooner present than it turns to past.
Right to the last
We think each one will heave to and unload
All good into our lives, all we are owed
For waiting so devoutly and so long.
But we are wrong:
Only one ship is seeking us, a black-
Sailed unfamiliar, towing at her back
A huge and birdless silence. In her wake
No waters breed or break.