An 18th Birthday Surf Trip

Theo and Flo in the garden of their apartment, Sennen beach to the right.

For my 18th birthday this year (which I celebrated in October) there was only one thing that I wanted: to surf. I bugged my parents for about a week in August with different Airbnb cottages and holiday homes for rent and we finally booked a little apartment right in the cove of Sennen, Cornwall (my mum, myself and my brother would be staying). This, to me, was incredibly exciting. I have grown up learning to surf at Sennen Cove but for all the times I had visited Cornwall, I had never stayed in Sennen.

I could not wait to be go on a surf trip in the middle of a term, which to me seemed unprecedented (especially my brother, Theo, who got to skip a couple of days of school to come to Cornwall). At this time, we were terrified that one of us would catch the Corona Virus and would no longer be able to go. My mother kept saying “I don’t care if I get it, as long as it’s after Cornwall”.

I had treated myself to a few new items specifically for this trip. A brand new winter wetsuit from Billabong (costing all my Summer wages), my surf skateboard (which I bought off of my youngest brother), a disposable camera (so I could get vintagey looking photos developped) and a Dry Robe (as part of a birthday present from my godmothers). I was also very excited to be taking my dog, Ivy. A tart of a shihtzu that mostly gets described as ‘lazy’ or a ‘madame’, but a lover of the beach none the less. We had never taken Ivy to Cornwall before as most beaches don’t allow dogs, but new rules in meant that we could have her on the beach all day long.

Another factor adding to my excitement, was that we were going to have a sea view at the apartment in which we were staying. This was very much a first and one that I was very excited about. I could literally wake up and look at the condition of the waves in the cove from bed!

Day 1:

The car journey was not too long, record time for us actually. And our arrival in Sennen lined up perfectly with low tide. So, before we had even had a chance to look at the apartment, I was in the sea and catching waves. That night we celebrated our arrival by making our own pizzas and watching some big wave surfing.

Florence and Mummy Julia’s gluten free pizzas.

Day 2:

Lots of surfing!

Day 3:

I got dragged to St. Ives on Monday morning, my mum wanted to look around and thought it would be less busy in the autumn. We were unfortunately wrong. On the way back to Sennen we stopped off at the Dog & Rabbit Café for a lovely lunch (I definitely recommend eating here if you’re in the area). And then even more surfing! The waves were so big, or at least bigger than I had ever surfed (8-10 feet according to magic seaweed).

Day 4:

High tide was a little later today, so we took Ivy for a walk from Sennen, along the coast path to Lands End. It was incredibly windy. I literally felt like I would be blown off of the cliffs. On the way back, we discovered that all of Theo’s year at secondary school had been sent home because of Covid-19 in the year group. We spent the rest of the morning organising for him to get an earlier train down to Penzance so we could pick him up from the station that evening. A bit more surfing some biggish waves.

Sennen Cove, taken from the cove’s headland.

Day 5:

It was really nice having some one to surf with. As much as I love having the ocean to myself and enjoy my own company, I liked having Theo there to talk about surfing with. Whether it be how to improve our take off or how much nicer it was at Sennen in the Autumn as the line-up was not so crowded. I sat and watched Blue Crush with my mum that night. We were having all the Hawaii surfing feels. Also, if any one is looking for fish and chip recommendations in the Sennen area, go to Blue Lagoon Fish and Chips, their chips are the most delicious! We had them on the Wednesday night and the Thursday night.

Flo, barefoot and skating in the rain.

Day 6:

Lots more surfing on the Thursday. Theo was meant to be doing some online lessons, but we spent the time in the morning sitting at the window watching for when the conditions would improve or for better sets to come into the cove. My mum decided to continue the surfing film theme and we sat and watched Bethany Hamilton’s ‘Unstoppable’ on Netflix. If you have not watched this film, go and watch it! It is so inspiring!

This day was also a little traumatic as I lost my long board fin (I have a 2+1 set up) and I still, to this day, have NO IDEA HOW! It wasn’t that big and Sennen is a beach break, not a reef.

A morning trip to Mousehole, some rock stacking took place. Theo, Julia and Ivy.

Day 7:

My mum drove me to Penzance in the morning to get a new long board fin from Sessions (a brilliant Surf and Skate shop) so I was a happy surfer. We had a really lovely day surfing and then I treated my mother and brother to dinner at the Logan Rock Inn. I love this pub so much! Their food is so yummy and the atmosphere really cosy with low ceilings and several open fire places. They are also dog friendly, so Ivy enjoyed the evening stretched out on a bench next to the fire place.

 Day 8:

Theo and I had planned to surf before leaving on the Saturday morning, but the conditions seemed a  bit worse than Magic Seaweed had predicted. And it was raining. On our last morning. I decided to surf a different section of the beach without Theo who decided it was too miserable to surf.

At Sennen, there’s lots of different waves and honestly, I could not give you the name of a single one. Every year the position of the sand bars changes and at high tide only the locals surf because of the sort-of-rock-reef and sometimes the sea wall that protects the village creates a few nice sets when the tide is going out and sometimes there are those with enough stamina to paddle out to the cliffs between Sennen and Gwynver. It is truly it’s own world that only the locals who have lived, surfed and almost died there will understand. I like to pretend I am one of these people.

On this particular rainy morning I had seen some nice sets coming in next to the sea wall and went out and managed to get some nice little waves here. However, after about forty minutes I checked my board, as I had now been doing regularly since losing my fin and discovered that I had again lost a long board fin! Seriously, WTF! I searched everywhere for it (even checked in at the two surf schools and surf shop in Sennen before leaving to see if any one had found it). £120 down the drain. Or, more precisely, into the ocean. I was hysterical when I rushed back to the apartment, but my mum calmed me down and we decided to go to the Dog & Rabbit for a goodbye brunch. We also popped into West Cornwall Surf (a massive surf/kayak/SUP shop near St Ives) just to make sure there wasn’t anything wrong with my board.

The journey back was a sad one. I never like saying goodbye to places that I feel I have connection with as cheesy as it sounds, (I literally sit on the plane and cry whenever I leave Portugal). The same goes for Cornwall. I always need to remind myself that Cornwall is not going anywhere, and I will probably always be able to surf again.

Florence in the apartment garden with Ivy on her lap, Cape Cornwall to the right of my head.

 This holiday was the best I have had in my life, however short it has been. I spent a week in one of my favourite places, doing my favourite thing and with my family. It was pure bliss.

I hope you have found my little recount of my trip interesting and that you want to go visit Sennen now. If you are interested in learning to surf, there are two surf schools by the beach, Sennen Surfing Center and Smart Surf School. If you know how to surf or paddle board and don’t want lessons there is also a place next to one of the surf schools where you can hire boards, wetsuits etc. And if you’re looking to do a bit of shopping, there is a lovely surf shop run by the Sennen Surf Company in the beach carpark (the building is an old church, it’s kind of hard to miss).

I hope everyone has had a really lovely Christmas or a festive season (depending on your faith) and that you are looking forward to a new and less Covid-y year.

As a final note, I have now brought a screw in longboard fin. I recommend this if you tend to lose yours. Whilst waiting for my new fin, I was riding a weird minimal-twin-fin-setup surfboard for the couple of times I have managed to get down to my nearest break. It was weird.

Florence x