To see more photos of surfing in Sligo click here.
Distance cycled: 0km (Got lift to Bundoran last
minute due to big surf in Strandhill.)
Highlight: Finding out that standing for 10
seconds is considered surfing.
Lowlight: Blowing up my inflatable mattress a
record five times during the night.
Number of waves I surfed: 6
Millilitres of sea water swallowed: 1083
Total minutes I wore socks with sandals: 24
(I'm still mortified.)
My challenge today was to have a surf lesson with Larry 'The Hunk' Mulligan who recently returned from
a 30,000km cycle around the world, raising money for cancer
research. Check out his website here. I was slightly intimidated by his
achievements but I needn't have worried as he was as chilled as the
water we were surfing in. He said surfing was the thing he thought
about most when he was struggling on the bike, apparently picturing
that perfect, unbroken barrel and riding its force helped him up
many-a-mountain.
Hoping it could be my saviour as well, I did the beginners
lesson and dived head first into the waves at Rossnowlagh Beach. Maybe it's all the cycling
I've been doing but I bounced up on the board after only a handful
of wipeouts. Chatting to some of the surfer hostel dudes at
Bundoran I was surprised to learn that Ireland has some of the best surf in the world but people don't rate it
as a surf destination because it doesn't have the sunshine
associated with the sport. I was one of the last to leave the
water, loving every last second and I can honestly say I didn't
think about the cold the whole time I was in there.
Later that evening I bumped into an American couple at the local
pub who had been on the surf lesson with me. We got chatting about
my website and the issue of privacy on the internet and they shared
an interesting story about unexpected youtube fame. Kalli always
wanted to shave her hair really short and since she was about to
move to Ireland to study and nobody knew her it was the perfect
opportunity. So her partner gave her a buzz cut (really short all
over) and her friend videoed it for prosperity. He posted it on
youtube and sent Kalli the link and surprisingly, within a few days
she had 1000 hits - apparently it was a sensation in Iran!? She
shared it with a couple of friends and next thing it had over 3000
hits. She figured something was up and followed the trail of
traffic to learn that 'Kalli's Buzz Cut' had been posted on a
fetish website. She was one of a list of 'buzz cut' links -
confirming you never know what odd things people might get off on.
Worried about potential employers searching her name she pulled the
video down but it got me thinking about the uncontrollable and far
reaching ability of anything shared on the internet.
When you put something on the internet, it's kind of like peeing
in the ocean - once it's out, there's no getting it back. (But
preferably don't do it while you're wearing a hired wetsuit!)
However the big difference is that when you pee, people can't
google your name and find out the exact google map location of your
deposit… although I'm sure there's someone, somewhere working on an
app for it right now.
Has anyone else ever had any funny or unwanted attention from
something shared on the internet?