Words by Ruth Carruthers

I stumbled across a flier for this summer’s Roxy Shimmer Surf Days in my local Quicksilver shop. Since leaving Uni and the surf club there I’ve been missing the water, so this seemed the perfect opportunity to get my feet wet with some friends.

So after excited phone calls I packed my wetsuit and found myself on my way to sunny Portrush, Northern Ireland…

Roxy are touring this summer in order to promote their new pro-surfing DVD ‘Shimmer’ and give girls up and down the UK a taste for saltwater. I joined the Roxy crew in conjunction with Troggs surf shop on the 29th of July at the lovely new watersports facility in Portrush, Northern Ireland.

40 excited Roxy chicks including myself and three friends met at 10am to start the day off with a relaxing yoga class to get us warmed up for tackling the waves, or so we thought… While everyone expected just a 20-minute stretch, the session actually turned out to be a full-on two-hour yoga class that had us balancing upside down and back to front. For someone like me that practices yoga it was a pleasant surprise to attend such a good session with a well qualified teacher. It was nice to have a view of the ocean too.

Next we were supplied with some lunch and chill out time to enjoy the sunshine and get to know the other girls taking part that day. Everyone taking part seemed like lovely optimistic people including the Roxy pro’s, Sophie Helllier and Candice O’Donnell. The waves weren’t the best but with the help of the instructors from Troggs and the Roxy pro’s we had on hand to help, most of us stayed positive and were catching waves and perfecting our pop-up before the end of the afternoon. Most importantly we all had a laugh and learnt something new.

We finished the day off watching the new Roxy DVD ‘Shimmer’ featuring some of the best female surfers around today which left us all feeling inspired and looking forward to our next ocean adventure. We even got a nice bag of goodies to take home with us too.

Exhausted, I enjoyed some beer and pizza before my friends and I watched the sun set over the Giants Causeway. What a perfect day, and all for only £25! I found myself travelling back to rainy Glasgow with salty hair and a smile across my face! I know the Roxy team thought it was one of the best days on the tour so far. It’s great to have such inspirational events for girls on our doorstep, so a big thanks to all those involved!

Peace and Love

Ruth x