Well, 2022, it was definitely a year! Plenty of crazy ups and down Worldwide for us all. Hope that it was a good one for you and your family with an incredible 2023 ahead for you all.

Here is how Paddle Surf Scotland’s head honcho Matt Gambles spent his year on the water…..

I flew out of the ountry on the 31st of December 2021, arriving early morning on New Years Day in Dubai. I was here to work and travel for the first three months of the year. Mid thirties temperatures were certainly different to the freezing Scottish weather and meant a fair bit of sweaty adjusting was needed. Leading hiking routes in the deserts and mountains of both the United Arab Emirates and Oman occupied plenty of my time, but there was still plenty of incredible paddling opportunities to be had. 

The Gulf of Arabia in the winter is a surprisingly fertile surf zone so I was lucky to have some pretty reliable surf on my doorstep. Al Hamriyah was my local surf break and I got to surf it from tiny ankle ticklers up to double overhead in size. Pretty incredible for what is, apart from a 30km wide gap to the Indian Ocean, pretty much an inland sea. 

Surfing underneath the famous Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai contrasted with the awe inspiring natural beauty of the Musandam Peninsula, known as the Fjords of Arabia. All in all, a pretty incredible winter of SUP, all in water temperatures in the high twenties, certainly no wetsuits required!!. A highlight was paddling with several former World Kayaking champions and two Olympic Gold medallists underneath the hundreds of metre high cliffs of the Musandam,

Back to rather chillier temperatures then for the 2022 Paddle Surf Scotland in the Spring, but it's always amazing to embrace the greens and abundant water of Scotland after a winter in a completely different environment. Straight into high river levels with the winter snow melt means that my favorite river wave, Wee Eric, on the Tay is at ideal levels. Still, after all these years of surfing and paddling globally, it is still one of my dream spots to play. Plenty of fun sessions and it has been great to see more people embracing (and pushing the limits of) whitewater SUP and river surfing. It was a great year of helping more and more people push their paddling in this dynamic environment.

My first surf trip of the season couldn't have gone much worse. A wheel of my camper went well and truly kaput while on the way to chase a perfect forecast on the North coast around Thurso. This meant, after a tow to Brora, living in the van for two nights on a garage forecourt waiting for a tiny part to arrive to fix the van. By the time the van was fixed, and, I had driven the final two and a bit hours to the North Coast the winds had kicked in, the rain was on, and with my tail between my legs I headed back to Perthshire without a single wave!.

I got to meet and share my love of SUP and the water with so many wonderful people this year, I honestly do not think I have enjoyed the challenge of coaching, and the simple pleasure of paddling as much as this year to be honest. Thank you so much to all of the Paddle Surf Scotland clients, your enthusiasm, smiles and laughter are so infectious.

Some clients this year will have met me, disconcertingly hobbling on crutches before their paddle trips. I am sure this was an odd sight, and was due to a pretty serious Kitesurfing injury which led to me being hospitalized, 5mm shorter for the rest of my life with spinal compression and with a painful and lengthy rehabilitation. The first paddle back, a solo trip testing a raceboard on Clunie Loch, though painful physically, was mentally an incredible and emotional experience, reigniting the love for gliding on water. The physio needed to come back from the injury (which could potentially have been life changing) was all about maintaining and working on good posture, SUP has been the perfect tool for this.

With the summer getting record breakingly hot at times there were some fantastic Loch Freuchie and the River Quaich trips on the glassiest water I have ever seen there. Low water levels on the rivers meant weeks and weeks of perfect levels to surf the wave at Stanley weir on the Tay. It's another wave that keeps me  coming back to it after all these years, working out the minute intricacies of mastering how to surf the wave as the water surges past your feet.

Autumn meant the North Sea started to wake up and send pulses of surf to play on. Plenty of fun local sessions with the passionate and friendly local crew were had along with some great trips up to the North Coast, Moray and the Aberdeenshire coast. 

With exciting plans ahead and the opening up in 2023 of Paddle Surf Yorkshire, offering trips and lessons across Yorkshire, it was a pleasure to spend some time on my home turf. I was lucky to get plenty of fantastic swell and to seek out some gentler pleasures on its canal system. I am super excited by Paddle Surf Yorkshire going into the new year.

I am now writing this, sat, hiding from the sun in shorts and shirts. There is not a cloud in the sky and I find myself back for the winter in the United Arab Emirates. Living in Ras Al Khaimah, I have a brilliant surf break on a 4 mile long deserted island, just a short drive away. The surf has been really consistent, the weather always bright blue and brilliant. I have paddled with Turtles underneath me, surfed empty beach breaks and, have several months left to enjoy this desert paradise. 

Yet, already I am excited for the possibilities of 2023 back home in Scotland. More loch and river sessions, more progression sessions, British Canoeing courses, river surfing and whitewater. Also, some super exciting multi day trips will be on offer too. Cannot wait to get started and be on the water with you all in 2023!.