WITH THE NOOSA FESTIVAL OF SURFING HITTING LOCAL SHORES NEXT MONTH, GEMLIFE PACIFIC PARADISE RESORT MANAGER AND AVID SURFER, TIM MOORE, TEAMED UP WITH TWO RESIDENTS, SEL SULLIVAN AND STEVE WEIR, TO HIT THE WAVES AND BRUSH UP ON THEIR SURFING SKILLS.
While Noosa gets ready for the return of the Noosa Festival of Surfing from 3 to 12 March, two GemLife Pacific Paradise residents were inspired to try a surfing lesson with Noosa Surf School’s surfing coach and 1988 Lagoon Bay surfing champion, Merrick Davies.
Merrick has been running his surfing school for over 28 years, almost as long as the local surfing festival, which began in 1992, and was originally known as the Noosa Malibu Classic longboarding competition.
In the spirit of the festival, Tim, Steve, and Sel, all chose the longboard for their surfing lesson, as Merrick teaches both shortboard and longboard styles, but told the team that longboarding helps to improve technique faster.
“In this instance, the bigger the better if you want to improve quicker. If you want to surf the pipes, the biggest board will get you there, not just in the surf but in skills,” Merrick advised.
GemLife is sponsoring the Noosa Festival of Surfing for the third successive year, and although the two residents are not entering any events this year, it didn’t stop Sel getting out there to upskill his existing surfing talents, while Steve, a first-timer, was also excited to brave the waves.
“I loved the lesson even though I find that gravity on water doesn’t work the same as gravity on land, but it’s a lovely way to spend a day in the ocean. I highly recommend it to everyone because it was so much fun,” Steve said.
“Merrick’s got a great school down there and made life very easy for a beginner.”
Sel, an avid surfer, said that despite his existing skills, the lesson was very helpful.
“The school has been going for a long time and is known not just by me, but by many. Merrick runs a good show, so residents should give it a go to make up their own mind,” Sel said.
Tim added that he had a blast on the waves with the boys but forgot how much surfing worked the entire body.
“You don’t realise how much it takes out of you, especially for me because I haven’t surfed for a long time, but this has kick-started me to get back into it,” Tim said.
“For those wanting to give surfing a go, I would highly recommend it. It gets you out in the fresh air and the salt water and you’re safe in Merrick’s hands, plus it’s such a terrific pastime. So if you’ve never done it, try it and give me a shout out as I might just join you out there.”
And as a final piece of advice from Merrick to any Gemlife surfing enthusiasts?
“Catch the waves with your eyes, not your ears and come down and give it a go.”