Rachel Billings came on our Devon trip earlier this year. She captured some lovely moments on 35mm. The in-between moments and the down time. Every camp we get to meet lovely women who add to the whole experience. Thank you Rachel for sharing your experience with us. If you' would like a little insight into what it’s like on a Yonder Camp have a little read of Rachel’s post below. Thank you.

I’d only ever surfed once before joining in on Surf Camp. It was a miserable stormy day in Bournemouth, I cycled through the rain to Boscombe beach and stuffed myself into a smelly wetsuit and tried desperately to concentrate on the instructions being shouted out over the sound of thunder rumbling in from the sea. It was a really bad day to give surfing a go, but we all tried and froze in the choppy water, it was a bit of a wasted effort and I felt completely disheartened by the whole experience, so much so that I never mustered up the effort to try it again.

Fast forward to May 2019 (six years later…) and I’m in North Devon catching my first ever wave, riding it all the way into the shore and simultaneously scoring a high-five with Tom Bing who’s whooping encouragement while boogie boarding along next to me.

Catching that first wave made the highlight of my weekend, plus the falling off, the face-planting, the absolute ludicrous feeling of actually standing on a surf board and looking around in amazement - rather than looking forward (sorry Sally!) and laughing at myself (as you can witness in every photo Tom got of me!) the whole experience made my soul feel full.

Sally’s tutoring was crystal clear, and she’d watch our attempts and give us simple yet concise tips on how to make the next wave really count. Sally’s teaching methods felt like her years of surfing were flowing into you, even before dipping a toe in the water we knew which waves to look for and could almost taste that salty wipeout on the horizon! Her passion for surfing was contagious, and I couldn’t help but feel a little bit envious of their wonderful little set up: travelling around in their motorhome, catching waves and soaking up the sea air with their wee Billy in tow.

All our camps are currently sold out but we will be announcing 2020 camps dates over the next few months. To be the first to hear about camps, sign up to our mailing list. To hear about regular lessons, sign up to the Whatsapp Broadcast. Thank you again for taking the time to have a little read about what we get up to!

@raisehellbill - Rachel Billings

Surf Camps with Yonder; Rachel Billings