Dylan Graves’ voice can be heard as he scrabbles about in the undergrowth. The Vans sponsored professional surfer finally fights his way out through the weeds laughing, beanie on, wetsuit covered in mud and leaf litter in his beard. The badges of honour for a bore rider.
We’ve all seen clips of the Severn Bore before, the monster nine mile wave that curls its way through the green and pleasant English countryside. What the Weird Waves team bring to the experience is the fun and the challenge of surfing the wave.
‘The beauty of this is the length of the ride’ says Steve King, Guinness world record holder for the longest wave ever ridden‘ we base a good ride in miles, rather than the quality of the wave’.
Unlike beach waves that only offer the surfer a dull single view bore riders surf past trees, farmers, inquisitive cattle and the odd startled badger on their way to rides that last upwards of an hour.
The Weird Waves series is fun. There’s a little local knowledge, some (mechanical) suspense, a car chase, soul arcs under stone bridges and ancient willows and a lot of falling over – down mud banks, through reeds, over fences and under trees. There’s a party wave of twenty and an après surf fry-up in Sainsbury’s.
All without taking off your beanie.
