Hi, Tom here…

We have had a few new followers and subscribers across our Social Channels recently and it felt like it had been a while since we properly introduced ourselves as the people behind Yonder. I (Tom) am writing this instead of Sally as I am usually, but not always, the one in front of the computer that pulls this sort of stuff together for Yonder. We will get into that in more detail a little later on in the blog.

Yonder is a family business, run on the fuel of passion and determination and a love for what we do. I thought we should share a bit about us, but I am going to write the bit about Sally as I am the person who knows her best in the world. Here is her life story as told by me…

I met Sally in Leeds in the mid 2000’s. I’d gone to Art College and the group of friends I had made through riding BMX and going to punk rock shows turned out to all be friends with this girl Sally. She was living briefly in Japan at the time, for the first year or so of me being there. She came back to Leeds for the summer and we hung out and got to know each other. Her reputation proceeded her; everybody knew her. An activist, passionate, vegan, well travelled, adventurous. Sally had grit, determination, a sense of adventure, a strong moral compass and an ability to disregard bullshit and I liked that. I looked up to her as many did. We watched the sun rise from the roofs of abandoned churches, we drove her 1990 Nissan Micra to the coast, to the river, to the Lakes or Northumberland to camp and we were always underprepared and laughing.

Sally cares more than anyone I’ve met. At the time we met she had just finished her degree in Politics and International Development and was interning with the British Refugee Council working with destitute Asylum Seekers. A job came up within that organisation and she got it and worked with the passion only Sally has. Day in, day out working directly in conflict with Home Office policy to help destitute people access food and accommodation. She transferred to the British Red Cross, establishing drop-ins for destitute Asylum Seekers in Bradford, Hull and across South Yorkshire, working up to managing a team of volunteers and staff. She made an immeasurable impact on countless peoples lives.

During this time she was looking for a balance in her life and after getting the basics of surfing down in Australia, we had always disappeared in her Micra across to Scarborough to surf. We’d both surfed a bit, but we’re learning together. It quickly got its claws in us and as the serious nature of Sally’s job increased with promotions, responsibilities and an ever growing brick wall of the Home Office making her work more difficult, surfing became the escape and she poured her everything into that too.

In around 2009 we bought our first van. A ‘98 Transit that cost £700. It had no floor in the back, it had all rotted through, but it ran well. We took it to Mike Hill (Deathpack) and he welded the bulkhead into the floor. That was us set, we were at the coast most weekends and sometimes nights after work, surfing every opportunity we got. We’d known for some time that this wasn’t sustainable and we were only in Leeds for Sally’s career so I had been working at an exit-strategy by doing a PGCE with the idea we could move somewhere and I could teach. The opportunity arose for a job in the North East. We had thought about Cornwall or Devon but the draw of the North East was strong for us.

One thing that has always made me really proud of Sally was that she quit her well paid, well respected career with an office, team of staff and worked a part time job in a cafe in Tynemouth. Surfing had come to mean everything to us, a career and being a surfer are hard things to juggle and after a few years of amazing service to incredible charities, it was time to move on. That kind of work is only sustainable for a period of time, it’s so taxing. We surfed lots and Sally got good. We spent summers in Indonesia, France and Winter trips to Morocco and Scotland. Sally went to college at night and trained to be a level three teaching assistant and got a job as a mentor in a secondary school.

Sally trained to be a surf instructor too, completing her ASI qualification. For ASI, she needed to prove on film that she could do a top turn, bottom turn, cutback and re-entry (with spray) in at least 3ft of surf. If you ever wondered why Yonder isn’t Surfing England affiliated, thats because they don’t recognise ASI, only ISA. For ISA you have to prove you can paddle out, stand up and go left and right…that’s not the hard way so Sally didn’t do it.

It was pretty much time for me to have a near-breakdown over the work that I was doing as an art teacher. I hated every second of it and my passion for photography had been simmering away in the back of my mind and it was time to act on it. To cut a long story short, I quit, we sold lots of our stuff, advertised our flat for rent and I somehow managed to persuade Sally to agree to riding motorcycles 16,000 miles from Chile to California (with surfboards attached). I have a feeling most people wouldn’t agree to this plan, but Sally did. She worked hard to get her motorcycle licence and we packed off and went. That was 2015; Sally had trained to be a surf instructor in 2014.

So, a year later, we returned. Sally went back to school to work part time and surf instructed for another local surf school whilst I worked on pushing my portfolio out to prospective new clients. After a while, we decided to have a baby. That was a big, and difficult decision for us as surfers and fun and adventure seeking big kids ourselves. We felt confident we could do it our way and raise the kid that we wanted to raise. Our families aren’t nearby so childcare was always going to be an issue for us.

In the early days of us surfing on the East Coast, women who surfed were far and few between. In Scarborough there were two regular women who we knew of. When I say surfed, I mean took it seriously, we’re out back on bigger days, occasionally surfed the reefs, surfed the year round etc. In Saltburn it was Emma, Zoee and our friend Sophie surfed a bit. In Tynemouth it was one of the lifeguards and we’d see Adi (who surfs still, shout out to Adi!) occasionally. Sally would be teaching women and women would come through the surf school, but for some reason it never seemed to stick. That was a conversation we’d been having for years, why do so few women so this?

Billy arrived in December 2017. Sorry for the details and Sally is going to kill me here but she was there on the hospital bed pushing out her son shouting “DON’T CUT ME, PLEASE”. She wanted to surf, simple as. Sally was an RNLI lifeboat crew member for six years in Tynemouth (and seasonal lifeguard) and had been involved in a serious accident, snapping her arm in two pieces just before getting pregnant…it had been a while since she had surfed. The birth was traumatic and took its toll on Sally’s body, she was taken for surgery and told to rest to recover.

Ten days later, December 11th on a freezing cold day, Sally put her wetsuit on and paddled out in the snow to surf. She got pounded, came out crying and almost defeated but she had done it, she’s caught a couple of waves and felt the rush of what she loved.

To me, that is a sign of true passion, dedication and determination. Three characteristics Sally has always displayed in her life.

Working for a school was off the cards after maternity. To work 3 days means to put Billy into nursery for 3 days. We did the maths and Sally would bring home around £5 a week and miss out on a lot of time with her son. The surf school she worked for weren’t prepared to give her regular lessons so it was back to the drawing board.

That is how Yonder came about, an idea, a niche and a very small amount of savings to buy Swellies and wetsuits. Ran from our 1990 Talbot motorhome (do you see a theme of early 90’s vehicles here?) Sally taught women how to surf. This was the opportunity to do it her way, all the things she had learned from the other school that she thought held women back from progressing, she could do differently. Small groups, good conditions, nice equipment, holistic approach, all female, immersive etc. The community started to find its feet, to grow and connect. Yonder was viable and Sally was back to having a positive impact on peoples lives for a job again.

Yonder has grown, but it hasn’t grown beyond this family and the passion that drives us. Sally spends hours submerged in salt water teaching and still surfing whilst balancing being an incredible mother and inspiration to Billy. She works hard; physical labour, teaching, wading in the sea, carrying wetsuits, washing wetsuits, drying them, loading and unloading boards etc. She earns her tea.

Our son is now three and a half and is very much a part of what we do. He gets up with us, checks the surf, sits on the reef, helps out with giving out rash vests at lessons and we deliberately expose him to all of that. For him it’s normal that his mum surfs loads and works hard and he is constantly surrounded by other women who surf and skate. To him there are, and never have been any gender boundaries.

She also rips. Longboards, shortboards, fish, mid-lengths (Sally took a 6’8 Widowmaker to Indo in 2013 and dedicated about five years of her surfing to single fins), foamies, big waves, small waves, critical waves, warm waves, cold waves, busy waves, remote waves, good waves, bad waves. She’s out there, head down doing her thing, getting her medicine and its beautiful to see. I’ve been there every trip, every good session and seen the work and dedication and the successes and wipeouts, hold downs and poundings. Through France, Morocco, Scotland, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, , El Salvador, Mexico, California, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa and of course the countless hours put in at home, pioneering cold-water waves as a woman. Sally McGee is the real deal and I know that all of this time, dedication and experience gets poured into what she does with Yonder.

The female surf community has grown exponentially. Every time I paddle out at the beach, the balance of women to men is noticeably different in a post-Yonder world. You are all out there doing it, it’s so lovely to see. Friendly, smiley, polite faces who understand safety, etiquette, who show respect and get respect. Women of all ages, shapes, backgrounds, ethnicities, sexualities out there putting in the time and seeing the rewards. I don’t even teach any of you, but I feel proud of all of the women who have come through us. Surfing is a hard world to navigate and Sally sees you right. Good boards, good technique, good vibes.

So there you are, a brief insight and introduction into Sally McGee, the driving force behind Yonder. She’s the real deal. An inspiration to me in the water and out of the water. Breaker down of barriers, inspiration to our son and saviour of our family as you will find out in blog #2 about me, who I am, where I came from and what I do at Yonder.

Meet the Team - Sally McGee