With the first day of New Year 2021 upon us it feels like a new dawn is, er, dawning. Going without saying 2020 was a strange one with much peaking and troughing. Whilst we’re not out of the woods yet, as far as pandemics go, there does seem to be light at the end of a long, dark tunnel – fingers crossed.
Looking out of the window it’s currently cobalt grey with the odd shard of sunlight piercing through. There’s a small amount of surf pulsing at our local, Polzeath, enticing a few in for that box ticking New Year’s Day surf. Unfortunately, escaping the current Baltic temperatures isn’t on the agenda. Long range forecasts (for all your faith you can put in them) don’t suggest much change in the short term. So cold it’ll remain…
Whilst some love this time of year from a watersports point of view there’s no doubt it’s a much harder period to muster motivation to get wet. The majority simply don’t feel the need to be cracking ice before paddling out for a couple of 2ft peelers. Although that said, with current restrictions in place, perhaps that Jack Frost surf ain’t looking too bad an option in light of not being able to do anything else (if you’re fortunate enough to live close to waves).
New Year’s blues permeate at the best of times but with this end of December into January being an altogether dampened affair the negatives may be deeper seeded. Only compounded by Mother Nature’s wintry mood. So what to do?
One suggestion is plan for the spring and set yourself some watersports goals and challenges. Hopefully everything will be less knife edge come Easter ’21 meaning we can enjoy the outdoors with less risk to each other and ourselves. This means opportunity to crack on with what you lay foundations for now – be that physical or mental preparation.
It could be anything:
- Riding a different style of surfboard.
- Challenging yourself with bigger waves.
- Hitting a new surf spot and not relying on your tried and tested every session.
- Learning a new discipline completely.
Or whatever else you deem to be challenging. You can make things as hard or as easy as you want. The overriding point, however, is to keep it achievable. Goals need to actually be attainable otherwise you lose interest.
So whilst it’s a tough situation at the mo, keep that chin up if you can. Look at it like this. March is only two months away with Feb being a short month. And once we get into March it’s only a few more weeks until the clocks change, once again giving us longer days with more light.
Happy New Year from NCW! Let’s hope it’s a good ‘un…
Whilst you’re here, why not check out these articles –