…stays together. Photo: Sasha Taylor
A surfing family is an adventurous family! We’ve had a lot of fun and action-packed trips together as we search for waves. Fortunately, my husband Geoff is a keen big wave surfer and our highly motivated surf coach and coordinator. I started my surfing journey with the kids when they were little so we could all enjoy the ocean experience together — now they are very supportive to encourage me to keep up! The beauty and simplicity of this ocean experience is a chance for us all to be rejuvenated and often exhilarated by nature. It’s a natural high and a great unplugged path.
Surfing has been a great way to spend time together as a family — a simple activity, no “stuff” (other than boards and suits), no shoes… connecting with each other in nature.
The best playground there is. Photo: Sasha Taylor
Remy’s first real ocean experience started with our swift trips across the inlet to the surf break, with him sitting on my lap; he found it so relaxing he always nodded off. Now we go on surf holidays quite often. Most recently we spent a month up north in the Ningaloo Coast (West Australia) and took a couple trips to QLD where there are heaps of slower waves for beginners. We have found spots to camp, spots where we can wake up and walk out to uncrowded waves. Weekends will hopefully involve some surf with little mates and like-minded families, where playing on the sandy beaches and rocky shores is simple, unstructured fun. They’ll continue to surf as long as they love it, there’s no pressure if they don’t feel like it. Most people we meet in the surf are cruisy, kind and encouraging, sharing waves and a chat — it is only frustrating when the older crew or bigger surf crafts take the learners waves.
And sometimes surf trips on the jet ski have taken us further than we planned: once we followed whale sharks far out of the Ningaloo Reef and mum jumped overboard to have a swim with them; another time we ventured out and found ourselves nearby a pod of killer whales. Yikes!
Depending on the waves, the boys might wear a life jacket vest so they are bullet proof in the surf. They first started surfing on my seven-foot board and then a foamie. Now they’re on a 5’ 2” and 4’ 8”. They even wax up their own boards now. And once they are off, you literally have to to run to keep up. At this point they have little fear and I’ve watched them both with my heart in my mouth as they take drops I wouldn’t — though that’s not saying much! — and carve across the face. Sometimes we’ve had to talk Remy out of a surf if we think it’s too challenging, consoling him with ice creams.
In the future, I expect the holidays and weekends will continue to be based around the beach and surf. It’s not just the surf itself that’s important, but the fact that we’re spending time outside, in beautiful places, uncluttered and free from a lot of modern living stresses. The ocean is a great cure! I would encourage moms especially to take up surfing. It’s not an easy sport to learn, find time for or find suitable waves, but it is a great way to spend time together as a family — and you don’t want to have to just sit on the beach.
All as one. Photo: Sasha Taylor
