Solo Road Trippin' The South West Coast

Bobbing Along #5

Hello hello and welcome to the June edition of our Bobbing Along newsletter!! It's been a truly action-packed month so I'll have to do my best to avoid turning this into a War and Peace length epic.

I recently came back from my two-week solo road trip around the idyllic southwest coast of Cornwall and Devon, a trip that exceeded my already very lofty expectations. The solo road trip has become a bit of an annual ritual for me — a beautiful opportunity to hit the road, decompress from the mania of London life and explore the (unrivalled, imho) Great British Outdoors.

One thing I now firmly believe is that the best time to road trip the UK (particularly the coast) is late April / early May. Yes the water is still a little cold as I discovered on my first day of surfing at Fistral Beach, where I lost all feeling and motor function in my fingers after approx. 45 mins. But being the perennial cold-water seeker that I am, it didn't really bother me. Add in the total lack of crowds at some of Britain's most well-known beaches and safe to say I was pretty much permanently euphoric.

A surfer contemplates entry at Watergate Bay. Sand lines at Holywell.

I'm going to do a separate article about each of the surf spots I visited, but one in particular that stood out to me was Holywell Bay — a beautiful sandy beach nestled on the coastline between the surf meccas of Newquay and Perranporth. A short walk from the National Trust carpark opens out to a stunning bay, with the best surf tending to be up the northern side of the beach (where I may or may not have caught my best wave of the trip).

Another highlight was the Salcombe Crabfest, where I had the time of my life selling our British-made towel ponchos and other wares in my first ever market pop up stall. There's nothing quite like getting face-to-face with your customers, especially when you've had 2-3 pints of scrumpy. I also had the pleasure of meeting Jo, the dream market stall neighbour and founder of 2nd Wind, who handcrafts old sails into lovely bags of all varieties.

Salcombe Crabfest. Bad day to be a pint of cider.

London Social Swims — Upcoming Swims and Side Quests

It's safe to say that our social swim club here in London is really starting to pop off, to a degree that I had really never anticipated (or prepared for). Thank you so much to everyone who came down to our swim club social at Flat Iron Square and/or one of our May social swims at the West Reservoir — the turnout has been wild and I am still continually amazed by just how lovely our crew of peeps is.

Social swimmers as far as the eye can see. Four young ruffians at our swim club social.

We've got two social swims coming up this month — the first on Sunday, 8 June and the second a couple of weeks later on Sunday, 22 June. If you want to get involved just drop us a follow and DM on TikTok or Instagram or sign up via our website here, and I'll add you into our (brand new!!) WhatsApp community.

We also have our first ever wild swimming day trip coming up on Sunday, 20 July. Tickets sold out in about 45 mins (!!!) but I may release a few more at some point, so keep an eye on the group chat.

Go Placidly Amid the Noise and the Haste...

I was recently down in Peckham where, in the bathroom of a delightful pizza restaurant, I rediscovered a (genuinely life-changing) poem that was a staple of my childhood — Desiderata.

As a kid I remember there being copies of Desiderata literally all over our house — on the fridge, taped to the inside of notebooks, on bookmarks. There were even loose copies floating around in random kitchen drawers. So it was with a strange sense of revelatory nostalgia that I gave it a read for the first time in many, many years.

What struck me most is just how much my understanding of life — my deepest, most core values — have been informed by this poem. Lessons that, sometimes without realising it, I reflect on nearly every single day.

It's the kind of poem that speaks for itself, but here are a few of my fav bits:

"Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons."

"Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass."

"Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here."

"With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy."

Until next time peeps.

Sax x