I eventually got moving under my own paddle power, largely thanks to an initial shove from Connolly — this touch of momentum made both balancing and paddling far easier, and was rather more exhilarating than falling off all the time.
By my second lesson I was able to paddle into a couple of tiddly waves and get a feel for just how it might feel to do this sport properly as I slid smoothly towards the shore. So far, most of Connolly's clients have been experienced surfers keen to try a new branch of surfing, but that's not to say that non-surfers shouldn't give it a go. "Coming to the sport without any preconceptions can be an advantage, and anyone who is fit and a good swimmer, kids especially, should be able to pick it up," he said.
On any surfboard other than a stand-up paddle board you probably wouldn't bother trying to catch the kind of small, gutless waves we were surfing at Bigbury, but conditions such as these are the norm around much of the UK coastline in summer, so the sport could take off big time here — indeed, it would even allow you to "surf" on virtually wave-free coastlines such as Kent and Lincolnshire.
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