The Wave Project: The Story of Lucy (as Told by Lucy)

2020 has been a year of uncertainty, cancelled plans and new rules to live by due to Covid 19. Its been a Spring where we have all been living with disappointment, changed plans and learning to adapt to an online world.

We have remained resolved to protect each other and many of the usual group trips and activities that would have taken place over the summer have not. As restrictions began lifting over the summer and others were sharing their experiences of traveling within the UK 'staycations' we wanted to take the opportunity to arrange a seaside holiday and surf trip for Lucy, one of our clients.

In order to mitigate for new or different restrictions the holiday cottage was booked only a couple of weeks before departure and an individual surf lesson booked, and arranged for the sun to shine (which it did).

We found a fabulous cottage in a tiny village with views over the sand dunes to the sea, close to a small town and near Croyde where the surfing lesson took place. This was a really neat solution to remain socially distanced but to enjoy the Devon countryside.  

Lucy travelled down to Devon with her parents for the first three nights where they visited Woolacombe and enjoyed many walks around locally along the sand dunes, beaches and inland.

On Wednesday Lucy (also known as LucyDave to avoid confusion) and I drove down to meet up with Lucy and her parents and we got to experience the rural bliss, sitting out in the garden, watching the sheep in the paddock in front of the cottage passing the time of day.

During our stay we treated ourselves to a local takeaway and made plans for Thursday when the surfing lesson was booked. We also decided to make a trip to Woolacombe to spend some time on a different beach, Lucy is a Beach connoisseur.

The surf school has been set up brilliantly for social distancing, they are currently based in a campsite field next to the beach so we could remain outside. Lucy and LucyDave were fitted out with their wetsuits and were able to change into them in the nearby WC. There were two instructors on hand to support them.

Surf was up! Lucy had a quick surfing refresher on the beach. This was her fourth trip to Croyde to catch the waves and after a few minutes back in the water- it was as if she hadn't left since last year.  The waves were perfect, the sky was blue and the sun shone, it made for a most fabulous day.

That evening we rustled up some supper at the cottage and made use of the hot tub in the garden – a suitable way to unwind after a day in the sea. This was the last night of the trip away. On the last day we had to depart at 9am (another covid consequence to give time for additional cleaning) and made our way back to Oxford.

We didn’t want to finish the holiday quite yet, so we made a detour to Weston super Mare in Somerset. A great opportunity to see another beach, it was thanks to the tide, All beach! We strolled along the promenade, had fish and chips on the pier (well chicken and chips and a saveloy) and popped into a gift shop (masks adorned) to pick up some last-minute trinkets.

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