Do you believe in the idea of love at first sight, that you can fall in love in a day? The first day, I knew. Even though I hadn’t known exactly what I was looking for, that day I knew I had found it and that I’d found a great passion. I could no longer sing along to U2’s I Still Haven’t Found what I’m Looking For and actually mean it. I could no longer cry eat  cakes (yes it is a thing) when I had pmt lamenting over my life having no meaning.

I knew that I’d found a love that would consume me, that would make me a better person, take me to new places, give me focus and stop me feeling restless. I knew this love was going to change my life, at the time I had no concept of how but, I knew. OK, ok enough with the silly dramatics. I just bloody loved surfing from day one and I wanted to do it all the time.

 From the first day I caught a wave on my belly I knew I had to find a way to make this surfing malarkey a bigger part of my life. From  21 lessons of  not standing, (that is rectified now) to 2 years and 4 months of pining for the sea, frequently weeping loudly due to being landlocked and not being able to drive, this need had become greater and somewhat more urgent than ever.

A few surf trips a year were just not enough to scratch the itch.  My approaching 40th birthday also made me realise that I had to act now, time moves so fast. I had to try and dedicate more of my time to pursue my dream of surfing now and not wait another five or ten years. The question was what would I do, how could I do it and where would it be?  In the quest for my own Endless Summer, with very limited funds but, an unlimited supply of  ideas and enthusiasm, I set about trying to carve a path for myself to the beach .

Part 2 here