Surfing at Belhaven

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Spent some time on Belhaven beach on Saturday, trying out surfing! I was given a surf lesson for a birthday present about three years ago and for some insane reason I took up Sally’s offer to give me a lesson.

First thing to say is that the waves were pretty high, so getting the long-board through them was no easy task. But after getting through them I was instructed to jump on the board, lie down and look over my shoulder to see the huge wave coming up behind me and then start front crawl with my arms so that I caught the wave and got carried along on the crest of it back to beach… then battle my way back through the waves. It was great fun and you move at quite a speed, but I was taking quite a bashing from the waves, so I decided that Harvey needed some attention. He is getting to be a bit of a sea dog now, and from not liking water and being scared of the waves, he is now throwing himself into the sea and swimming after the ball like a good un.

The next part of my lesson involved getting my right knee up on the board and my left foot and leg up and at right angles  to it. I managed the right knee, but the left leg and foot will have to wait for another day.

After all that Harvey and I were quite knackered and retired to Dunbar for some well deserved dog biscuits and  coffee (and cake.)

While there I popped down to the harbour and tried out a sketch with my new Stabilo pens and pen brush on a boat that took my fancy.

This morning I met Tom Harley's running group near Ormiston and my upper body was aching all over and especially the arms where the waves had been pummelling me as I tried to get the long board through them. You may think that you run with your legs and that’s true but this morning they came out in sympathy with my arms! At least it made me forget about my Achilles tendon.