Leaders-Only Beginner Surf Trip 🏄‍♀️

Leaders
Blox Bloxie Bloxham (she/they) (Surfing Chair), Kyle Bertram (Surfing Co-Leader), Taryn Johnson (Surfing chair)
Program
Boating
Type
Surfing
Trip date
Saturday, August 10th, 2024
Difficulty rating
Easy
Prerequisites
Must know how to swim. Must have (co)led 2+ MITOC trips within the past year or made other similarly sized contributions to the club.

Eligibility

This trip is open only to MITOC (co)leaders who have (co)led at least two trips within the past year. If you have invested a similar amount of your time into giving back to the club through other avenues (running 10+ office hours, BOD positions, etc.), feel free to sign up and briefly explain your contributions in the Notes section. (Or, if you’re not yet a MITOC leader but are an experienced surfer (“advanced beginner” or better) who’s potentially interested in helping run surf trips, send us an email and maybe we’ll grant you an exception!) Everyone else, check out our open-to-all Beginner Surf Trip on August 24th!

Trip Description

Join us on a MITOC beginner surf trip on Saturday, August 10th (possibly being changed to August 11th depending on the wave and weather forecasts). Depending on the wave forecast, we may go to Nahant Beach (MA), Nantasket Beach (MA), The Wall (Hampton, NH), or elsewhere. We will announce which day and which beach after the lottery runs on Tuesday. We will meet at 8:30am (arriving earlier than that to park) and after a lesson on the beach, we will plan to surf from about 9am to noon.

This is a great trip for folks who have never surfed before, or beginner surfers who want to improve. We will be going over surfing basics: how to read waves, paddle out safely, pop up on your board, proper surf etiquette, and of course, riding the waves!

You must be able to swim in order to join this trip! While we plan to go out in friendly, beginner wave conditions where you will likely be able to touch the bottom, there can be larger waves, a lot going on all around you, and the chance of ending up in deeper water, so comfort in the water is important for everyone’s safety. You should be able to comfortably swim the length of a pool and back without touching the bottom.

We will have a mandatory pre-trip meeting in the MITOC office on Thursday evening at 7pm to go over the plan for the day and to rent gear. Surfboards and wetsuits are available to rent from MITOC, but you are also welcome to bring your own gear if you have it.

Costs:

  • $20 rental fee for both a surfboard and wetsuit ($10 if you only need one of these items)

  • Parking fees (~$10/car) & gas (shared costs for each car)

  • There is no trip fee for this trip so do not pay one on the website!

What to bring:

  • Swimsuit (wear it to the beach under your clothes)

  • Towel

  • Dry clothes for afterwards

  • Sunscreen

  • Snacks, lunch

  • Water (lots)

  • Stoke!

Wetsuit size chart

Signup

Algorithm
first-come, first-serve
Maximum participants
7
Signups opened at
July 25, 2024, 10:23 p.m.
Signups closed at
Aug. 6, 2024, 11:59 a.m.
Notes
  1. Have you led two MITOC trips within the past year? If not, what other similarly-sized contribution have you made to the club in the past year?
  2. What is your swimming experience and comfort in the ocean?
  3. Have you ever surfed before?
  4. Do you have your own gear (wetsuit, board, etc.)? If you need to rent a wetsuit, which size do you think you’ll want (based on link above)?
  5. Are you able to make both possible dates (Saturday, Aug 10th and Sunday, Aug 11th)? Could you make an afternoon session?
  6. Do you have a car that could carry 8’-long surfboards (either inside or on the roof) and, if so, how many boards and people can you fit?
  7. (Optional) Pronouns?
Signups for this trip are closed.