South Coast Sessions

South Coast Sessions is the blog of Pamela Newman, who lives and surfs on the South Coast of England.

I think its fair to say it’s an unusual set up we have here on the UK’s mainly south eastern / Channel coastline. Comparatively speaking we don’t really receive waves of any real quality, apart from the odd Atlantic groundswell that may reach our shores every now and again in winter. For the most part we rely on the prevailing South West / Westerly winds to create waves using wind fetch pushed in from low pressures out in the Atlantic.

The area requires a good knowledge its different breaks (yes there’s a few believe it or not !) Many of these work at varying stages of the tide, which, with a roughly 5metre difference between high and low generally means there’s only a narrow window of opportunity when its worth getting in.  Combined with the hours of darkness in winter and oh the small matter of holding down a full time job means you may not always surf as much as you’d like !

The winter is by far the most consistent time of year… if you don’t mind the 4°/5° temperatures come January / February time !  For me, surfing at home fills in the gaps between trips away, keeps you paddle fit and every now again we have some fun little sessions !

Enjoy reading !