Week No 26 - Surfing in Crete in July
28 June to 4 July 2021 - Wow what a ride it has been. Extreme heat conditions in Crete and Greece for at least 10 days in a row. This is quite unusual and as all extreme weather conditions cause for concern. As surfers we depend on the nature and the weather and are worried about the well being of our planet.
We also worry about the well being of our participants and this is why we cautioned all to avoid strenuous activities these days and to stay in the shade. Finally the meteorologist called off the warning, wind has come to cool down the island and with wind come waves!!!!
On Friday we resumed our surfing lessons. In the morning we welcomed a group with mixed previous experience. To the ones that surfed before surf coach Andy focused on improving their positioning on the board, their pop up, making turns, as well as being able to catch waves on their own. Our first time surfers were introduced to board handling, overcoming waves, catching waves and gliding - no matter in what position! At the end of the lesson everyone was able to catch waves independently thus achieving the goal of the first day.
In the afternoon of Friday the waves were picking up and our group had a lot of fun surfing the waves of Falassarna. Our participants progressed quickly and were able to catch waves on their own, learned how to pop up on the wave and the ones that were ready, even learned making turns today!
On Saturday both in the morning and in the afternoon we took our groups to the "secret" reef surf spot of Kalo Surf. Before Andy discovered the place in 2015 this was uncharted surfing territory. On a completely empty surf spot our participants had the opportunity to learn everything about safety on a reef break such as the reef circle, to have longer rides and to try performing the turn.
On Sunday both of the lessons took place at Falassarna beach. The group of experienced surfers further trained spotting the right wave, choice of wave trained, positioning in the water taking off on a wave, choosing the direction and performing turns. In the beginning during the theory surf coach Andy introduced our participants to the rules of priority in surfing.
In the afternoon our first timers learned how how to be safe, how to catch a wave on their own and how to distribute ones weight on the surfboard. Too far in the front means nose-dive, too far in the back the board will sink and slow down.
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