Let’s go surfing!

This blog really hasn’t got a lot to do with snowboarding but has got a whole lot to do with summertime and surfing – yeeehhaaaa.

Surfboards

I just got back from a two-week trip to the Maldives and had an unbelievably awesome time. Yes it’s known as the honeymooner’s destination but no, I wasn’t a newly-wed – phew. Eight friends from the snowboard world and I decided to go on a boat trip in the Maldives so we could surf great waves non-stop for just under two weeks. Mark Rupo was turning 30 and suggested the trip earlier this year, it was a bit pricey but I was well up for it and after a few weeks of chatting to other folks we had an excited crew of nine discussing what to take and where to get new boards shaped.

We flew direct to Male, the capital, and took a little speedboat to the island of Hudhuranfushi for two days in a small resort to get ourselves adjusted before heading out on a GTM cruiser. On the island we surfed Lohis, the left-hander break, which was a great warm up and being goofy footed I loved it. I wasn’t too sure about the reef and climbing out over rocks to get in and out of the surf but it was worth it for the long left waves.

By the end of the two days I had already surfed a bunch of fun waves, had a tasty cocktail or two and eaten some lovely fresh fruit salads. A few of the crew had picked up some reef injuries but nothing a Boots first aid kit couldn’t handle, so they manned up and we packed up and boarded the boat.

We were met by a smiling crew of seven who would be our friendly helpers for the trip and were a great laugh. Over the course of the 10 days on the boat we had great food, great sunshine, fresh fish caught by Scottish Ross – the fisherman

of our group and pretty handy at shaping the odd surfboard too.

We surfed loads of spots including Sultans, Chickens, Cokes and Jailbreaks, though we found ourselves mostly at Sultans as this seemed to pick up more swell and was a fun right hander.

Catching waves

The lads surfed Jailbreaks when it was pretty big but had strong rips so was tough on the arms. Tom caught some awesome waves and even got a few barrels – when the wave hollows into a tube just before it breaks – I’m not sure if he fully made it out of them but it was impressive to watch. Gary Greenshields built up an impressive wave count throughout the week and by the end of the boat trip he let me drop in on him a few times – party wave! The Hortonater, Jason, was known for his deep wave drop ins, not always making the section but giving it a damn good try. Henry Jackson was the party instigator and early morning surf checker – most mornings Henry or Tom would report back on the wave situation.

Everybody jump!

Then there was Weaver and Aimee Fuller who were less experienced surfers but improved so much over the course of the holiday, It was so good to watch and really impressive as the waves were a bit heavy at times in some spots. Weaver was the suncream master, dedicated tanner and funny guy. His face was always caked in zinc and then afternoons were spent top deck tanning. Fuller was full of beans the whole trip and it was great to have her energy around. She convinced the boat crew to let us go surfskating on the back of the mini speedboat which was hilarious and she motivated me to join in the Weaver yoga classes on the top deck of the boat each evening, ha ha. Rupo, the birthday boy, got the biggest cut injury on his foot but never complained and never stopped surfing. It was such a fun bunch.

Limbering up

During the trip we went snorkeling and saw tons of beautiful fish, came across very cute sea turtles and saw sharks in the evening at feeding time. One of the best moments of the trip for me was just by chance, Aimee and I had decided not to surf as the waves were a bit too big for us at Chicken that day so we were chilling in the little speedboat. We happened to have our snorkel gear with us as we were thinking of trying to spear some fish. Adam the boat driver suddenly yelled at us, “Dolphin, dolphin”, and Aimee and I quickly donned the snorkel gear, jumped in the water and were surrounded by about 20 dolphins. It was an absolutely amazing experience, they were all circling around and playing in pairs, some were deep beneath us and others came super close.

Dolphin!

A memory I will never forget – it was a shame that I didn’t have the Go Pro head camera on for that moment. I also managed to miss Aimee triumphantly catch a mini fish – she actually caught a fish with the spear and filmer Jones missed it.

Aimee spears a fish

Later in the week it was one of the crew’s 24th birthday and it’s their tradition to throw the birthday boy off the boat 24 times so we kindly offered to help. Some HP sauce got added into the mix and it soon escaladed into a full blown food fight – we all ended up covered in random food items.

Although there were some windy days, which meant the waves weren’t quite so good, overall I cant complain as we had 4ft waves some days, only 2-3ft and one day 5-6ft – a great mix. I was truly surfed out by the end of the trip and the last day or so was spent on the island of Kandooma which again was a classic honeymoon resort but really beautiful and we had one last snorkel session, a quick surf and treated ourselves to a few Pina Coladas while watching the sun go down.

Cocktail O'Clock

Early morning we reluctantly got back on the plane to the UK. The sun was actually shining in Bristol and I was at least happy to be back in time for Wimbledon.