If you stand under the Tyne bridge in Newcastle and look up you'll see the Kittiwakes nested between the steel and the rivets. The largest inland gathering of these cliff dwelling sea birds in the world have also made a home on the cities Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. The Kittiwakes are a reminder that Newcastle Gateshead is a city region connected to the sea.

A short walk to Newcastle's Metro and an announcement tells me the next train is for 'the coast' A line  of stations runs out along the River Tyne to where the estuary meets the sea at Tynemouth, then up to Whitely Bay and then loops back to the city centre.  A yellow ring taking city dwellers to the coast and back by train. Sand on the shoes of commuters and fresh salty sea air trapped in the carriages and released back in the city.

Tynemouth's white and green, timber and iron Victorian station is creaking in the wind. The breeze is flooding down the high street. The town's main beach, Longsands, is a wide arc that takes the full force of the North Sea. At one end snug amongst the rocks like a familiar shipwreck is the disused lido and the other St. George's church, it's spire reflected in the wet sand. The beach is a hub for surfing in the North East.

'It's unique in the surfing world in the UK at least' says long time local surfer and well known surf photographer Lewis Arnold. 'Tynemouth is unique in the surfing world in a way in that its connected to a city, so people here are used to big city problems and the pressure living in a city can bring.  In Newcastle theres football, drinking and so on. Here it's an escape. Being able to be in the water it completely takes you away from whats happening on land. It leaves the mind. The sea is an alien environment. Your senses are heightened, you are focused. It is powerful for the mind. Waves come in sets and there's is nothing like being in the wave. The noise is incredible'

Tynemouth has produced very well known British surfers like four time British surf champion Gabe Davies, Sam Lamiroy and the legendary North East surfer Nigel Veitch, the original North East pro surfer. But what is special about Tynemouth though is that there is a great mixture of people of all abilities using the same beach, 'In the North East there's a sense of everyone in it together. Most people will know one another in the water. You can have all kinds of people together.' says local surfer and RNLI crew member Sam Nicholson.

The Surf Shop- Louis Hudson

Louis Hudson runs the Tynemouth Surf Co, one of two surf schools on the beach. It's the middle of November and he's down on the beach in a woollen hat and multiple layers waiting for a pupil for one of his lessons to arrive A former captain of the British junior surfing team Louis's shop set up by his dad, local surfing legend Stephen Hudson, is something of a focal spot for the local surf scene, it's web cam trained on the beach. 'I was born in Tynemouth and started surfing at 5 years old. ...Tynemouth has a close knit community, one of the only places in England that has a good community left, you're pretty much guaranteed to know someone when you paddle out. I think everyone always looks for one another in the water as well and on land I should say too.

Especially through the summer months , a lot of the guys are lifeguarding and hanging out together. Surfing and working together. I think the community in Newcastle as a whole is pretty friendly, I've heard people say. I guess the North East's communities are pretty welcoming. Theres a kick off every now and then but nothing too bad. There have a been a couple of incidents over the years with some Cornish surfers coming up and surfing secret spots. The locals dont like it, theres been tyres let down and all that but I think its a load of nonsense (laughs). Theres been a few kick offs.

Theres a little bit of a divide between here and down there (North Yorkshire) but I'd say as a whole, a lot of time we'll go south but everyone is mates in the water. When your'e in the water in Saltburn it just turns into the North East community if that makes sense. There's kind of Saltburn, Scarborough and Tynemouth, three separate places but also a whole one.  Tynmeouth beach is the busiest surfing beach on the North East coast.  It's getting more popular, theres more money, look at the cars, It's getting busier. I quite like it getting busier, but I think quite a lot of people get bombarded by all the tourists. The other thing is that surfing is getting more popular. It's coming up to the Olympics, it's been on tv adverts and thats making people want to try it out. In winter it totally changes here though and it's fully hardcore and its very, very cold on some days.

My mum and dad got into surfing through my granddad, my dad's dad. He was in the Navy and he'd seen someone surfing on his travels. The boards were so heavy you'd need two guys to carry it down the beach and they'd get up and could only go straight. One of these boards takes pride of place in the surf shop.

When you go for a surf, maybe its the main reason people surf, it clears your head. Its just something about surfing that makes you feel really good. You're riding energy pretty much. You're riding natural energy.  If the waves are breaking on the point here, you feel a lot more in nature.....When I was about 14  I was out surfing in Cornwall, some coaching with a fellow geordie Joel Gray and a basking shark passed by us. Its fin was big coming out of the water. It just passed up by. They're gentle giants. I froze.

Winter is better here.. It depends on the winter though, last year was the coldest they'd know, everyone was just sat in their homes. I usually try and get away for a bit. A lot of the guys here will give lessons at the Tynemouth Surf Co. and they might be at the RNLI too.   I think around here on a good day, and all the other guys will say too, theres nowhere they'd rather be than here, home. You can be on some amazing beach in some amazing part of the world  but if you know theres been an all time day back home where all the boys have been out you'll feel like you've missed out. I definitely think its special. One of things about surfing is surfing with your friends, a good session will be remembered for years if its really, really good, if the suns rising its perfect, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

I met Louis's mum Melanie on the beach. The winter sun had set but there were still a few surfers out in the waves, head to tow in black wetsuits in the shallows.

'When I was a teenager I wanted to hang around with the surfers, there weren't many then. I was one of the few girls. I wanted to be with the surfers but at that time it was a fringe thing, it was cool and different. I wasn't really a surfer girl until later, but Louis got into surfing very young. We used to take him around the country to surf competitions. We opened the surf shop. It was clear from early on that Louis was a natural. It's quite a hard sport, you have to put the time in. You need upper body strength, I mean I have a lot of upper body strength too. Just the other day I was on the beach  and I noticed a guy who was a beginner. He seemed to be going further and further out. I said to Louis that he would have to go and get him. 'He'll be ok' he said to me, but I asked him again and off he went. I noticed how little trouble it was for him. How confident and strong he is in the water. Then again his dad was too. It used to be that I'd paddle out after Louis on our boards but now its more often me following him.

I became a teacher. On the drive to work I'd look out the window and see the waves and think ah no I 'm missing it! So there's a mix of city and beach life here. Newcastle is a city and there are city things like fashion and concerns like that, that cities have. I like this.

This is a close community. I don't know anyone who isn't proud to come from here. We are all proud Geordies. It might be because the place has this deep history that it has this energy'.

Mykaela

Mykaela Dodds is sat on the beach looking out to sea, it's the beginning of January and she has a smile on her face.

'My dad is a fog Boatman in the Sunderland boat yards and my granddad worked there too. So there's always been a connection to the water for me, my dad would take us out on boats. I got in ot surfing though when I was at university in Leeds, we'd drive out to the North East coast, Scarborough or Tynemouth. I go in winter mainly to Tynemouth, its quieter. It's peaceful when you're in the water, just you. Your'e in the sea at the end of the day. It's good for your mental health. 100%. I see it as a privilege to be able to be out there but also to be able to do this not far from where I'm from. I go up to Tynemouth by myself in my car often. With surfing your by yourself anyway once your out in the water, its not like football. You only have your own company. You look around at your surroundings , theres a sense of freedom, no worries, no sense of time and no phone. You are self reliant and theres an independence in this. It's made me more aware of my environment. When you are involved with the sea it makes you think about lifestyle choices. You could shout this from the rooftops and nobody would understand. You have to be in it (to experience this)'

The Joiner

Mike Holden is driving back from work in his van talking to me. He's a self employed joiner, a job he choose like so many surfers so he can be free to surf when the weather is right. He's been regularly making the journey from Carlisle to Tynemouth for the last five or six years.

'In a lot of places theres localism in surfing but in Tynemouth it's by and large really friendly, theres not usually any aggro. You can talk to anyone. It's a well known beach but its mainly locals who are surfing it. You might get some people who are visiting but it's mainly locals. It's friendly, its not pretentious. People are usually working and then they need to fit in surfing around that. In the North East it's not really like the image of surfing that we think of. The beach is full of all different types of people, its connected to the city really, in the sumer you'll get the teenagers having a drink on the beach, it's city life in a way. It's their park, the beach, isn't it?

Benjamin

Benjamin Berry is carrying his orange board along the beach. It's a Saturday afternoon in January.

'Here you are only going in the water because you want to, but it's always worth it. If you've got the right suit, 5-6 mm, then its probably colder on the shore than in the water.

I'm from Bude in Cornwall originally but I prefer surfing up here as its more mellow. My dad was a surfer. But somehow I'm a gluten for punishment as I like going out in the worst possible conditions. Maybe here in the North East is like the way Cornwall was thirty or forty years ago? When I was a kid I used to watch Sam Lamiroy, a pro surfer from Tynemouth and I sort of knew I'd end up here. That and football, I support Newcastle. It's a football city isn't it. It's often a Newcastle FC family in the water too, we can talk about the pain of football while out in the water.

I ended up meeting my wife who is also from Tynemouth. She lives right on the beach and it came up more than once that I married her for the house near the beach, especially at the wedding. My father in law goes out on to the beach every morning at 6am and does a beach sweep, he has his own bin. This is typical, people use the beach here and they don't feel shut out from it as they can do elsewhere, for example where I'm from its just surf shop after surf shop  and there are so many tourists. The thing is is that the beach is connected to the city, a few stops along and you can be in some of the most deprived parts of the country.

I moved here ten years ago and I'm a teacher in a secondary school on the coast. Often I'll try and get a surf in before school, the only time its difficult is when you want to go in again  and you can see your wet suit on the washing line and it still isn't dry the next morning. 'Cos I'm not from here I'd have to get to know people but thats been great, you soon learn about the local legends of the beach, thats the same anywhere. You can see them all out when its a big day. Often I'll just go to watch them too. A mate of mine said he's sure surfers spend more time looking at the sea than being in it.

Sometimes I'll see people at the beach who I know, sometimes students I've taught even. One student I remember, Isaac his name was. I never saw him in school but always out in the water. I always knew were he'd be.

Dawn is the best time, especially at this time of the year. If you can get in at 7:30, but thats the whole North Sea thing. It's elemental, its dark, it's not fashionable is it?

The thing is, it's Newcastle, whatever it is they just get on with it. This extends into the water definitely, it's old people, young people, kids. All together'.

Emily

I'm from here but I got into surfing when I went to Australia. I was working on a farm, it was inland and I was working with horses, its always been my thing. One day I was bored and drove out to the sea and that was it. Not long after I got a surfboard.

I became a maths teacher, I like it, but now I want my life to be about surfing. I've been counting down the time, until the days are longer, so I can get into the sea. From next week I'll be able to get down after work and get into the sea for an hour or so. I go to Devon and Cornwall quite a lot. I drive down in my little van. Most weekends I'm on the move. I go up to Thurso at the top of Scotland also. Just the other day I spotted a guy I'd met elsewhere in the water in Thurso, so I'm starting to build connections, you see the same people. In Devon and Cornwall they dont think of coming up to the North East to surf. Not really. They will head to Scotland but not here. They think theres no surf here and that its flat. It's colder, the water isn't so clear, you have to really wait for the waves and make the most it, of what you get. It's also maybe because of the general misconception of Newcastle the city, people dont think you can surf here. But you can, you can even at times surf the mouth of the Tyne.

But its good for us really, we have a connection to the place. In a sense its ours, surfing is very territorial.

Sometimes as a woman it can be as a bit isolating as I'll be the only woman surfing, especially in the lesser known spots. Occasionally I'm not treated equally as surfing can be male dominated. If I miss a wave I can be given advice or patronised but in a way its not always like this.

I think my generation are the last to have experienced surfing before it entered the mainstream media. It's no longer secret. I think its good that more people want to do it. It's no longer niche. I want to help my niece and nephew get into surfing, I'd like to give them that while they are younger.

Before I started surfing I was planning a lot, now I'm more accepting of things not working out. Surfing has helped me become more accepting. I used to teach horse riding to people with disabilities. I've seen the difference this can make. I think a surfing could be even more successful. My uncle surfs and it helped him with depression. I think because you are alone in the sea but for a board, its very single, its like in climbing if you remove the ropes it becomes more focused and single. You are reliant on the elements, very reliant. You 'have' to be 'in' the sea. You can't think about anything else'.

Our conversation takes place in a cafe on the beach, its almost dark. Mid conversation Emily looks over my shoulder to watch a wave burn like a fuse across the cafe window. White to black.

'My dream is to open a charity that would provide surfing, horse riding and climbing for people with disabilities. It's difficult for me to plan ahead though. It's hard for my mum to understand how I can just drop things. Life now is dictated by the elements and this has entered into my personality'.

Craig and Helen, a couple – the brickie and the blogger.

Craig a self employed bricklayer and his partner Helen, a successful food blogger, are from  Durham and we drive over to Tynemouth to surf as often as they can. 'We watch the weather a lot. We got into when me and Helen my partner went to St Ives and took surf lessons. We got really into it from there and eventually bought our own boards, that was 2 and half years ago. To me surfing makes me feel great. When I come out of the water later that day I feel good because I feel like I've achieved something, it's also free once you've got your board and gear. So if the waves are good you should never be bored. You feel really hyped. It's definitely good for the mind. I've got a friend and he'll text me saying today saying 'I was on this wave and it might only have been 3 ft' , but he says 'ah I felt so good', thats what its all about for me, thats why you want to do it I think. It's not about a badge of honour. For me it's not a lone thing either, it's social, I like togetherness and being able to chat to people. I've set up a Meet Up group so I can go surfing with others. I've tried to get my mates to go with me but they aren't interested, they'll say theres no way I'm going in the North Sea. They'll just be going to the pub to watch the football again and thats ok. They don't understand that you have to wait for the weather, they just say thing to me like 'aye you should be able to go out in anything! But they do't get it's not just about the temperature, its about the waves. My mates have also said they'd look stupid in a wetsuit, I just say to them don't worry everyone looks stupid! I make small films when I'm out their on my  camera, I'd like to start a Youtube channel to share my experiences and ideas and make things more accessible, for me also it'd be good to move away from being a bricklayer, I can't be doing that at 60.

The chemist  - Innes

When I met Innes the light was fading. He was stood on the beach waiting for his friend who was still out there. 'He has the car keys' he said. The tide was working its way up the beach. Longsands Surf School was closing up, a customer turns up to pay for a wetsuit. A dog tries to retrieve it's ball from the backwash. The day is nearly over.

'I'm from Suffolk originally. It's not good to surf there so I really got into surfing when I came to Newcastle to go to university. I joined the surf club, theres the occasional trip we'll go onto Scotland but its mainly here at Longsands. Up in the north East people arent as serious as down south, theres always the banter here. People always laugh and joke when I'm carrying my board,  even though everyone knows the beach theres always the opportunity to take the mickey out of the surfers. I think it helps though, this openness, everyone wants to talk when you go out.... It's funny but you're not far at all from Newcastle but you've got this noticeably different atmosphere in the town, it's by the sea isn't it and everyones happier by the sea aren't they? It really is the city's beach though. I don't have a car so I get the metro from Newcastle with my board, if I come in the morning at dawn at the weekend you end up getting the first metro back to the coast with everyone  who's heading back after a night out. It's funny, sat together. They're usually out of it though.

I'm a chemistry student and surfing has made me more aware of my environment yes. You can get really ill, anywhere , not just in Tynemouth. SAS (Surfers Against Sewage) have done a lot of good work, beach cleans and so on. I'm in a lab all day so I'm aware of these things.

The life boat man - Sam

'I grew up in and around Tynemouth. I'd always had something to do with the sea.  And then go into surfing with a friend when he got a board at 14. Then that expands when someone gets a car, you can go to places. We ended up going to the South West of France quite a bit too and then once one of my friends got a job in a surf school in Panama and I went out and worked with him. Later I ended up living in France and got into snowboarding. In the north east you have to be committed to surf as its not consistent, it can change so quickly, so most of the time is spent watching the weather.

I've been working for the RNLI at Tynemouth now for 9 or 10 years. My dad has been on the same boat for 25 years, he was an engineer at sea. It's quite common here to have families connected to lifeboat stations. We've pulled lots of people out of the water, 4 or 5 out at sea but when I was working on a beach we might be pulling 30 out on a busy day when there's waves. I used to work on a beach were you could set your watch by the rip current. Most of the experienced surfers are ok, its usually amateurs who aren't used to it.

Having fewer waves means you have to be prepared to travel with your mates, and some days you might ot get any surf at all, But this is all part of it, you dont want to be thinking 'Am I missing out on the waves'.

Josh Hodgson - the student.

When the weather is right sometimes we'll all meet in the pub the night before, to make our plans together. I live 15 to 20 minutes away from Tynemouth, one mile outside Newcastle. I can be in the water 3in 30 minutes, not as quick as the lads who live right in Tynemouth. I work from home a lot and its ideal to be able to get in to the sea and have a dawn session.

I got into surfing when I went to university in Northumbria. I'm originally from Manchester. The beach in Tynemouth is unique in that often you can have 40 people hiring boards and going out for example all from a university. Theres great access to the water here. You can see sometimes people on the metro with surfboards. It's only 20 minutes to Newcastle. With a shortboard its ok, with a long board not so much, its a bit big.

At Tynemouth theres a different feeling in the water than say in a more excluded place with only a small number on a wave, it s a different pressure. At Tynemouth it helps that its a beach break and not a reef, in general its safe. There's usually something happening somewhere on the beach. I always think that you can tell which people have been using a particular weather forecasting app by looking at the  different people in the water. Ideally its good to know someone who's right on the beach, really local. They can tell you what its like simply by going down to the beach to have a look. Tynemouth Surf Co. has a web cam. I can be logged in , in the city with my eyes on water. It's good to know someone though, such as the lifeguards, they'll tell you exactly what its like.

I bought my girlfriend a surfboard this Christmas. Theres a community in surfing. At Tynemouth there is space for everyone, it doesn't really suffer from the localism often associated with surfing. Also Geordies are really friendly people, thats what it is'.

The surfer/ photographer  - Lewis Arnold : counter cultural v Olympic sport .

When I'm taking photographs out on the sea I have to paddle to alongside the surfers as they are usually in a pack. Both my hands are gripping a heavy camera. It's like a zen experience. I'm so focused. I could take photographs from the shore but the best photographs are to be found in the water.

I've been surfing here since I was thirteen. Many stop after a while. I kept going. I must have loved it, surfing, as its hard physical work, paddling out against the sea. It's not something you can stop and start doing. It's very demanding. You have to stick to it. To persist. That is what I like about Sandy, he's one of my favourite surfers to come through here in a while. He is both humble and hard working.

Surfing is essentially democratic. Anyone can have a go. If you're from the North East then you have to find a job that will allow you to have surf time. I guess this is one of the things in the north East, not like some places were you are surfing there for fun or because you dont have anything else to do, here you have to really commit, it's about making time.

I got into photography through surfing. I had a darkroom and so on. I ended up becoming a press photographer in the North East. I'm mainly interested in photographing and creativity around what I'm interested in, surfing. I'm making a film at the moment about surfing in Scotland and I'm also working on an MA in Creative Practice. I've always been creative in some way and for me surfing was always a counter cultural activity. It was a niche activity that allowed you to escape. It was not about commerce or even being a professional.

Being in the ater involves having many different viewpoints. I've had some shocking experiences in the water where I thought I would die but anyone who is connected with the sea around here, fisherman, RNLI, they will tell you the sea commands respect.

So the experience then is powerful. This is why the transition of surfing into the Olympics is controversial. Being an athlete is what surfing has become for some. But for me thats not what its about. It used to be bad here for waste, pollution, a lot worse. In the last fifteen years its gotten better but the problem is still very much there. I did a beach clean just recently and the mount of small plastic on the beach was shocking. That said it used to be that if you grabbed a handful of sand you 'd grab a lot of plastic bags. Surfers are aware of their environment. As are people who live on the coast, not many of us live on the coast though, so its about raising awareness to those in the cities.

The professional – Sandy Kerr

Sandy Kerr is following in that tradition of the professional surfers who've come from Tynemouth. Quiet and thoughtful, he grew up yards from the beach. You can see the mouth of the River Tyne from his front door. Committed and now riding professionally he is in the words of local surfer and photographer Lewis Arnold, one of the most interesting surfers to come through in years.

I met Sandy, his brother Simon and their friend and fellow surfer Joshua Todd in a Tynemouth cafe on a cold January morning, the windows steamed up from the heat of the cafe against the cold of the sea breeze.

'My mum and dad had a cafe on the beach, it was a greasy spoon really, not like it is now' Sandy tells me 'I worked there as a child. My first job was on the beach. We'd play in the water. So I've always been on the beach. I grew up in an old lifeboat workers house in Tynemouth, its still largely as it was, open fires in all the rooms. It looks out over Tynemouth Priory and the mouth of the river Tyne itself. My dad wasn't a surfer but he decided to open a surf shop on the High Street here in 1991, the year I was born. He called it Sandy's Surf Shop after me. There s funny story about how surfers would call up to ask to speak with Sandy and my mum would say you can but he's six months old.

From the beach I'd notice the surfers. The it was worse then as it was as smaller clique. My dad's shop didn't take off because he didn't know the surfers and he wasn't surfing. Louis's dad opened a shop around the same time and that did well and is still going, this was because he knew the surfers.

In the North East we have to be patient and watch the weather all the time. We are always talking to one another about were and when we should surf. I've lost track of the number of Whats App groups I'm in. We have the best waves here but they are infrequent so we have to make hay whilst the sun shines. When I go away from here to places where they have surf everyday I always knacker myself out in the first few days so I see the waves and I immediately need to make the most of it. But of course there are waves every day in some of these places. It's the mindset we have here in the North East.

'In the North East we support one another' says Josh, 'here if you go out on to the beach at Longsands you can see people using boards made by local shapers (makers of surfboards). People will go to him and support him. Also here, people are not what you would call stereotyped surfers, there is less of that, people dont stick to one thing you'll get some surfers liking football etc.. I know some who'll even get out of the water like clockwork to watch the match'.

'It's because its unpredictable here' adds Sandy 'we have to find ways to make it work., we take all the jobs we can that can be flexible as possible. So many times I've felt I had to get in the water and just say the car broke down and thats why i'm late. Once I was trying to dry my hair on the heater in the car so it didn't look like I'd been in the water. We'd make any excuse'.

Simon, laughing, says 'Once I went into a cafe and the owner was by himself. I asked him where are all the staff? And he just pointed out of the window to the sea.

'Yes sometimes you'll even meet people in the water whom you're menat to be in work with. I've taken a job now though, I took a year to do a diving qualification. People say it wasn't going to work out for me but it has done. I'm working in shetland and the Outer Hebrides a lot, working on fish farms' says Josh proudly.

'I work for the RNLI for 9 months of the year. It works out' says Sandy 'They keep trying to get me to go full time for them. I work on lots of beaches up an down the coast. I've done a lot of water safety training. We'd often set ourselves up at say a fire station in the community and then we'd have schools visit us. I'd ask them when they last went to the beach and some had never been. So all along the Tyne is massively built up, but just either side, if you know about it you can get out into the country'.

Wompa – the veteran

When I was four years old I got a book, the Hamlyn book of Skateboarding. There was a picture early on in the book of a surfer on a wave. This is where it started.

When I got to about 17 I began surfing because this was when I could get a car and drive to the coast. The thing is I didn't have any proper gear. I had an old wetsuit that  I had to fold together. Later I had one I mended myself, it was uneven and when undoing it, it tore. I said to my mates 'Just get it off me'. Now I like to get the best gear I can get.

I returned to surfing recently. I was lying in hospital on my back with pneumonia. They drained two litres from one of my lungs. It was painful. I felt my lung sort of collapse. It hurt at first when I first got back in the sea. I had to get out a few times and sit on the shore. A guy out there, he was probably an instructor I think, waved at me. I thought he was just acknowledging me so I waved back but he was checking if I was ok. It happened again. A women said to me 'are you ok?' I was sat there. I must have looked sick.  My ears are pretty shot from being in the sea and from being a musician.

Back in the 90,s, Surfing in the North East of England was trictly for those who were hardcore, dedicated despite all obstacles and crazy enough to brave the freezing temperatures, wetsuit tech was not what it is today and I remember a few times when I paddled out in the snow just to catch a wave or two and be back in the car within 15 minutes before I froze to death. 

I must have spent my first years of surfing getting out back through pure attrition, timing and powering through the whitewater..Spending all day every chance I could checking the local beaches to find out the intricacies of what beach was best on what type of swell and when the tide was best to surf...

Back then on most days there was barely a handfull of regulars out in the lineup on weekends and holidays any more than 10 dudes out at Tynemouth I would consider too crowded and would head further up north. 

For me getting back into surfing after illness, every little improvement I took as a massive win from not being able to duckdive to duckdiving 2, 3 ,4 times in a row to turtle rolling a bigger board to getting out back on a bigger day and back up riding waves.

As far as healing power well....It sounds totally cliche but anybody who can get to the point where they manage to get to their feet on a steep drop-in and go down the line on a peeling wave will be hooked forever and usually when you witness somebody do that for the first time it tends to be followed by the universal call a surfer shouts when they discovers what it means to be stoked....Yeeeewww!!!!