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I haven’t been out in the ocean to surf for a long time. Years in fact.
In the last month I’ve been learning to surf again in the safe, clean, controlled waters of Urbnsurf in Melbourne - Australia’s first surfable wave park. Idyllic waves rolling in consistently coupled with a limited amount of surfers in the water at any one time has been the perfect way to get back on the board after a long hiatus.
But when I moved to Queensland this month I was intimidated to take my skills out into the sea. The water was packed with surfers like peak hour traffic on the Pacific Highway. The complete opposite to what I was used to at Urbnsurf. So when Billabong’s Girls Get Out There popped up on my Instagram announcing an all-girls surfing event just across the road from my apartment at Currumbin Alley, I knew it was the motivational push I needed to get me out there in the water.
The sunny yellow umbrellas of the Billabong SMILEY colab could be seen from the carpark as I made my way down to the event tent. I signed in, collected my goodie bag and headed to the anti-bad vibes circle where Joey and Brearne from OneWave - a non-profit surf community raising awareness of mental health through a simple recipe…saltwater therapy, surfing and fluro – began the event with a mental health chat.
We went around the circle sharing things that made us happy and things we do to pull ourselves out of bad thoughts. The OneWave girls then guided us through some breath work to calm the mind and some gentle yoga to ready the body for surfing. By the time we’d finished, our friendships and feel-good vibes had expanded.
We collected our boards. Since all of us had surfed before, there was just a quick briefing from the surfing coaches before we paddled out into the water, the sea of our yellow Billabong SMILEY rashies brightening the grey day. The waves weren’t pumping, but the swell was just enough to enjoy some small sets. With smiles on our faces we waited for the waves to roll in and as soon as we could, we were catching whatever came our way.
The first wave I stood up on was a party wave with a goofy footer, so we were facing each other, mirroring each other’s big grins. We connected with a high-ten and rode the wave together right into shore. That was my favourite of the day.
We had to pop up quick to catch one, but when we did we could ride it all the way in. Looking left and right, there was always another girl next to me, it was smiles all around from what I could see.
When the last wave was called, I managed to catch a cruiser, sailing in on my 8 foot surfboard like a longboard goddess.
After our surf, we stuck around for some nibbles, sharing stories with the wonderful women we just shared waves with. We quickly added each other on Instagram and Facebook, creating a surf gals messenger group to organise surf trips together.
My intention in attending the event was to gain more confidence in the ocean. I did not expect to gain an ocean of friends. We came from all walks of life, all ages, different experiences, but we all got out there and connected over one simple day in the surf. That certainly put a smile on my face.
By Lisette Drew