Surfing Mimizan

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Could anyone imagine how desperate i was looking forward to my first vacation after my return from central-america? First I counted weeks, then days, and finally it turned into counting hours and minutes... =) My working colleagues must have been pretty reliefed when I finally left on friday, 11 july...

The coach picked us up and took us on a 15h-ride to Mimizan which is located on the western coast of France. Exactly - at the Atlantic... The atlantic coast is more or less the only adress for european surfers - and they're so keen on it... I started surfing in Costa Rica in the pacific ocean. So the first spotting of the beach was a little, but just a little, disappointing. European seem to be thrilled by tiny swells and a wave height above 3 feet is just great!

However, the course started the next day. 8 of us (30 in total) already had made some surfing experiences, and i participated in that group. Our coach, Marco, was probably the moast unmotivated australian surfcoach you could find on earth. The good thing about it was, that we could surf as long as we wanted and where we wanted. There were some good sandbanks and channels, but behind it a current took you south pretty fast.

The first days were not too bad, i improved my green waves and worked on tecnique... I was glad that i trained hard before I headed for France - I was able to catch green waves with an NSP 7'6''... For me, that's great...

But after 2 days in freezing water, i got a cold - although i always wore the long neopren wetsuit. Anyway, I lost strength but continued, although surfing was no more what it used to be. Anyway, we had a good time over there, Raffi did some really good progress, and the food was sensational! Really, it was the only thing that made you carry that board back over that huge sanddune back to the camp...

As i look back, it was a fantastic week spent on the beach, hanging out with Raffi and friends, and being sporty. I definitly can't complain...

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