The love of a surf WAG is like no other

So with valentines day here, I'm pretty keen to highlight the L-O-V-E of a surf wife or girlfriend, with over 20something years of experience I think I just about qualify with a bit of insight about my surfer and the mistress called surfing in this marriage, its literally a love like no other, a love that should be cherished and respected, is it his devoted love of surfing or my love of his love of surfing, you decide, either way over the years i've come to accept that this is how it is......... 

Some of it is actually quite comedic and these days and would rack up thousands of 'likes' if portrayed online, from getting a sore neck because his surfboard has pride of place in the car whilst you're wedged in a tiny spot big enough for a small child, with the board so close to your head that your hair is getting stuck in the board wax and you're consistently getting whacked in the face by the swinging pineapple Sex Wax air freshner that's trying to disguise the stench of stinky wetsuit boots or one of my other favourites in my early years of loved-upness where you suddenly realise that his idea of a hot date is you being his 'shotgun' in the passenger seat checking every single surf spot in the locality in onshore wind and rain only for him to finally head back to the first spot he checked for 'a couple of waves' which is usually code for I'll be in for anything from 2-4hours and so you watch and you watch and be the interested girlfriend and think 'this is it' and he's going to ride 'this' wave all the way into the beach but nope he pulls of that last wave and heads back out to the lineup, and you keep smiling through gritted teeth and promise yourself to not cause a tiff and ask how his surf was instead.

The one that still to this day that makes me snigger, is the night before a swell is due to hit, he gives you no attention because he can't concentrate, his phone is hot with 'where are you heading' texts and his phone buttons are worn with the constant refresh of the wind charts and wave buoy forecasts and you can see him slowly getting more and more excited or angsty that 'the wind has now swung round" and you silently pray the swell is what he hopes its going to be. I certainly peak in favouritism when its flat but that's a different force field to his mood of not getting in the water, you weigh up the pros and cons and him getting in for a surf wins for everyone, every time! Another classic is going in for a touch of romance post-surf and its at that precise moment seawater decides to drain from his nose, yes so sexy! 

Not so much now in this new age of social media and the wonderful world of the World Wide Web and the choice available, but there was definitely a time and I'm clearly showing my age here, when I knew every single soundtrack and endless tropical barrel of every pros surfers section to every single surf video that got rammed into that VHS, played again and again, on repeat all with their matching worn cardboard video sleeves night after night, if you know you know, Taylor Steele's got something to answer for! Don't get me started on knowing off by heart every single quote from Point Break, it just came with the territory of surf pals permanently spouting Point Breaks renditions back to each other, thinking they're all Johnny Utah or Bodhi ( just incase you wondered Bodhi every time, got to love a bad boy)

Things have changed quite a bit since our minis have made an appearance, yes he's still the eternal Grom even though he's still knocking on Kelly's door in age, he's more precious with his time in the water, more choosey of conditions, still gets hideous FOMO and I still get utterly proud when I see him on a wave surfing like he always has and he always asks if I saw him on 'that' wave and I usually reply of 'of course it was a good'un' like the  surf WAG I am, even if I was  distracted with crazy spaniels and wrestling kids out of sandy wetsuits, but he doesn't need to know that, things change, but I love that his love for surfing doesn't and that makes it all good in the Watersports family hood, its how its meant to be!

Photo:Phill Boyd of Outwest images

 So my advice if you're starting a new relationship with a seasoned surfer, embrace it because he's not going to change, it was his way of life long before you came on the scene, learn to love it, maybe even join him and learn to surf or  accept this way of life, hold his change robe, get the coffee, take the photos, always ask how his surf was,  but don't eye roll when he blows the budget on a new board or gives the tech spiel on a new wetsuit, just nod and smile, always!

 So to all the girlfriends, wives, boyfriends and husbands on the beach, I see you and I hear you and officially welcome you all to the gang, you rock and shouldn't be ever  taken for granted!

Mrs AW signing out on Valentines Day '22