“Overall this was a great course that showed me a side of surfing that I had not considered before. I would absolutely recommend this course to any surf instructors, as the lessons learned can be applied to more than just adaptive surfing.” – James
Tag Archives: surf
Surfability Seal Rescue
A few weeks ago, whilst working in the Canthed Centre at Caswell, Ben found a seal pup on the beach. It was amazingly well camouflaged in the stones, with most people walking on the beach completely unaware it was even there.
Awesome Photography by Celf Calon
Thanks to Betsan from Celf Calon photography, we are spoilt for choice when choosing gorgeous photos to use on our website and social media channels. You’ll also find Betsan’s beautiful photos all over the walls of our new centre at Caswell.
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2020 English Adaptive Surfing Open
The 2020 English Adaptive Surfing Open took place on October 3rd at The Wave, Bristol. We were stoked to have four athletes representing Wales: Ethan Jolosa, Katie Richards, Llywelyn Sponge Williams, and Isaac Heaher. We headed up to support them, as well as run the water safety for the event.
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Seeking Salt Water- Why We Love The California Brown Pelican
Following the stateside adventures of the Surfability UK CIC coaches and elite surfers to La Jolla, California for the 2018 STANCE ISA World Adaptive Surfing Championship in December, the team here at HQ have become quite fascinated with the California Brown Pelican.
UNILAD Goodness
Check out this epic and beautiful documentary from UNILAD.
Featuring Surfability U.K. CIC and some of our inspirational participants, this instalment of UNILAD Goodness (here) is unadulterated, feel-good gold.
Pre-Storm Surfs
The Surfability Surfer’s have been enjoying the calm before the arrival of Storm Callum at Caswell Bay this week.
Donations!
After many, many requests for the Surfability UK CIC website to start accepting donations; we are pleased to finally announce the introduction of our donation button. Our web development team are working towards the opening of Surfability UK website shop where you can purchase our merchandise and make larger donations. Our donation button is open for anyone wishing to make their contribution in the interim.
Happy Birthday Surfability!
As Surfability U.K. CIC celebrates its 5th birthday today, the team here at the Surfability Headquarters are reflecting on the incredible journey Ben and all of his participants, volunteers and supporters have shared.
We would not be where we are today without the help of:
- Steve and the Wales Co-op Centre
- Unltd
- The Prince’s Trust
- Children In Need
- Discovery
- Disability Sport Wales
- Jamie Rewbridge
- Cerebra and UWTSD
- Mark and Swansea University School of Management
- Welsh Surf Federation
- Anna and Rob Parton
- Karenza Cassidy
- Bronwen Warner and The Gumby Legacy
- JP
- All our coaches and volunteers
- All our amazing surfers and their families
- Everyone who has fundraised and donated to us
- The LC
- Parmi and IncludeMeToo
- Strongbones
- The Team at NPT Children’s Centre
- Rehab Engineering Morristown Hospital
- Special kids
- The Swans Community Trust
- Warburtons
- Seren and Kasey
- Simon and Gower Surf
- SCVS
- My family
And a special thanks of course to:
- Elmo for keeping us all fed
- Kai and Leanne for being fearless test pilots
- Toby for all his time and effort volunteering and then coaching
- Ben and Nate for being co-directors and all their advice
- Stu and Steve for being willing to put up with a surf school’s worth of surfboards in your flat when we first started!
- And anyone else who we missed out: We love you all!
And of course, to Benjamin Clifford! Without his incredible and unwavering commitment to his dream of making surfing a reality for everyone in the UK, none of us would be here today!
“Thank you, Ben! There isn’t a day that goes by where you aren’t making the world a better place, adapted wave by adapted wave!”
Saturday Squad
There may have been clouds in the sky but spirits were still high for this week’s Saturday Squad.Continue reading
How Do We Do It?
Ensuring that safe, adapted and inclusive surf is available to as many people as possible is an important part of the Surfability mission. In this week’s How Do We Do It? We’d like to share an insight into the additional work undertaken by Benjamin Clifford, the Surfability U.K. CIC founder and director, to achieve exactly this.
We’d like to introduce the team at Healing Waves Surf Therapy, Jersey, who worked with Ben last week to complete their Adaptive and Inclusive Surf Coach Training Course.
With the support of the Welsh Surf Federation (here), Ben is now able to offer training to any surf school who want to offer adapted and inclusive surfing.
And we’re delighted to confirm that the team at Healing Waves Surf Therapy (here) are offering inclusive surf experiences on the idyllic island of Jersey.
Saturday Squad
Levels of stoke soared at today’s Saturday Squad as Andrew Price and the ITV Coast and Country Team joined our surfers at Caswell Bay.
Don’t forget to keep tuning in to ITV’s Coast and Country (here) to be sure not to miss the action!
Interested to learn a little more about Andrew? Why not visit him on instagram (here)!
Secrets of the Sand
Seeking Saltwater Sand Week
Composed mainly of quartz, feldspar and mica, sand is the product of many finely ground rocks. The colour of sand is determined by its component rocks and can vary from near black to pink and yellow.
Sand is constantly being moved by the water of rivers and seas. Constructive swells bring sand to the shore and destructive swells take it away.
Acting as a veritable microclimate, sand is also home to a wide range of living organisms. Crabs, clams and beach hoppers are but a few of the more popular residents. Not every sand dweller is as popular though. Inhabitants such as the weever fish are cursed by surfers up and down the British shores for their stings.
Who knew sand had so many secrets? Join us again next week for more insights into the salt world beneath your surf boards.
Saturday Squad
The sun has got his hat on and so have our Saturday surfers! Continue reading
The Saturday Squad
Spring is in the air this morning and our Saturday Squad are taking full advantage of the sunshine.
If you’re feeling tempted to try surfing for the first time or your surfboard is gathering dust, there’s no better time to get in the water. Summer’s on its way and Surfability can adapt a wave for everyone!
How Do We Do It?
As part of our How Do We Do It weekly segment, we’ve decided to share something a little different and very special with you today.
This week’s video is The Story of Michael, brought to you by Tobii Dynavox (a revolutionary company who’s aim is to assist every person, regardless of their disability, with communication).
Michael surfed with us last year and to call him inspirational… well, that would simply be an understatement!
Seeking Saltwater
The significance the ocean holds for each of us is deeply individual. With the intensity of its textures, sights and sounds, standing at the waters’ edge is an experience that shouldn’t be missed.
But here at Surfability UK, we’re interested in so much more than power of the crashing waves. The splendor of the sea extends far beyond and beneath it’s frothy top. In a new weekly segment, we aim to explore and share the wonders of the world of the ocean.
You may be interested to know, that on the earths’ surface there’s approximately 333 million cubic miles of water, of which 97.5% is estimated to be salt water. That’s a lot of salt! There are currently 20,000 known species of fish and up to 1.98 million known species of animals and plants living in those vast expanses of saltwater.
While we don’t expect to be able to discuss them all, we are looking forward to having a good crack at it!
If you have any images of the sea, adventures at the aquarium or snaps from scuba diving, that you’d like to see on the segment we’d love you to spam us with them! The email is info@surfabilityukcic.org As always, don’t forget to include the title of your photo, your name if you’d like it published and permission for your image to appear in the blog!
Shock Twist in World Surf League Championship Tour!
With the first round of The World Tour underway last night, the first shocks are out of the bag!
Jaws dropped worldwide as JonJon and Gabriel Medina failed to make it through their first round. Despite surfing an incredible wave, an interference prevented Medina progressing beyond his first surf. JonJon, meanwhile, struggled to find anything that could be considered a good wave during his heat. Both surfers will now have to surf in Round 2 to keep their place in the competition.
The long and short? In an unexpected early turn, there will be appearance from Medina and JonJon in Round 2 of this illustrious surf competition.
Click on the image below to tune in to the World Surf League website for all the replays and at 9pm (GMT) tonight for the next round of action!
If the swell is ripe, the competition will go on! Keep your eyes on the Gold Coast!