Was Andy Martin right (at my age, anyway)?

I'm awaiting some images of my recent trip to Lanzarote from my good friend Aerial Attack. Once I have them, I'll post an extended piece about surfing in Lanza, trekking in Lanza courtesy of the excellent Blackstone Treks & Tours, getting ill in Lanza (thanks Harry), staying in Lanza at the fun and funky Finca de Arrieta, and returning home to The Endless Winter (no, not the film, but our desperate British climate). I won't say anything about travelling with Ryan Despair, because they're useless, but for now I will briefly muse that Andy Martin may well have been right after all.

A few years ago, when Surf Nation came out, I took umbrage with Mr Martin because he didn't seem convinced that surfing in the UK was worth it. Andy's qualms were chiefly on account of the cold, though he also expressed doubt that the UK had decent surf. I think he's since agreed that we have the surf, but I suspect his views on the cold haven't changed. And now, as I slide inexorably to the increased desuetude of my 47th birthday, I am starting to agree with him.

In Lanza, I surfed point, reef and beach set-ups in warm water, and had a great time. Just before I went, I surfed Sennen Cove in the freezing cold - and had a shocker. On Saturday, I paddled out again at Sennen Cove, fresh from various good sessions in Lanza. How did I surf? I didn't catch a wave. Not a single one. It was numbing and miserable and utterly depressing and a total waste of time.

Granted, other people were catching waves. There was a strong offshore but it, and the cold, essentially only did for me. My neck hurt, my left leg went all weird (as it, and the neck, do in the cold), my body felt sluggish and rubbish and old and knackered, and I couldn't even catch a single sodding wave. I repeat: only a couple of weeks ago, in a nice and hot place, I was surfing without any problems.

So, post-spinal surgery, and at an age where everything is falling apart and I am no longer the impressive icon of masculinity that I once was, amid my many delusions anyway, I am inclined to agree with Andy. In winter - this winter, especially, which is malicious, bitter and unnecessary - surfing in the UK is an exercise in both futility and masochism.

Of course, all it'll take for me to change this view is una ola. It might even happen this week, here in this glacial land.Trouble is, right now I would 100 times rather it happened in Lanzarote, or anywhere warm, than here.

Pictured courtesy of Wannasurf: the sun shines, having no alternative, on not a UK break.

Comments

[Neil Watson]

Not only was Andy Martin wrong, he wasn't even qualified to pass judgement on surfing in the U.K. As I recall, he dismissed it because his son got a bit chilly during a surf school lesson in summer. Compare that with the reasons for your own frustration, despite which you'll bounce back.
And anyway, your "total waste of time" gave your followers Wade's Word of the Week - desuetude!

[Ben]

Mr Martin should have taken a look at Croyde this weekend. The barrels on offer put the waves breaking at Bell's beach for the ongoing competition to shame.

I have to agree the water temperature does hold you back when you get to a certain age but by the time it is 10-11 degrees I at least can operate reasonably well.