I spoke to the formidable founder Joke Devresee and other hardy ladies who’s love affair withs surfing the cold waters of the North Sea knows no limits for SurfGirl Magazine. Check out the piece below!

Belgium, the land of steak and moules-frites, more delicious chocolate than you can shake a stick at, frothy beers, hot, chewy waffles and the capitol of the European Union. But surf? First thoughts might be of a rain-speckled, flat and grey coast-line, such is the typically painted image of Belgium’s weather. But a burgeoning community of surfers, impassioned by cold-water surfing, are swelling on the northern shores of Belgium. Sophie Everard shines a light on the colourful surf community of Belgium, chatting to the founder of the North Sea Surf Sisters Joke Devreese and local surf girls Anais Vaneygen and Liselotte Oyen.

Hailing from the pristine, sandy coastline of Ostend, the West Province of the Flanders in Belgium, 28-year-old Roxy-Belgium Ambassador Joke Devreese, surfer, yoga teacher and passionate cold-water surfer, has been playing in the waters of Northern Belgium since she was a teenager. Her first boyfriend tossed her a board, and the rest as they say, is history (“I knew immediately, this was for me!”). It might be Joke’s boyfriend who has been christened “the king of the little waves” in Belgium, but it’s Joke leading the stoke charge: “it's me who is like, wake up! We're going surfing now!””. It’s amazing to talk to a surfer who is clearly completely enraptured by her local spot. Especially when this spot is mostly unknown globally. Drop Belgium into a conversation, and most people wouldn’t put surfing high on the list of activities to do. But taking a closer look at the at-first-glance ominous waters of the North Sea, and I find evidence of clean winter swell, and of a flourishing community of local surfers. Animatedly leading the charge is Joke, Founder of the North Sea Surf Sisters, a community brought together by Joke for the first time on International Woman's Day, who unassumingly posted on her Instagram, “who wants to surf tomorrow on International Women’s Day?”. Fast forward to the beginning of winter, and this simple post has snowballed into regular NSSS meet-ups of 50-60 stoked Belgian surfer girls who join Joke for a day in the water, and are excitedly preparing for their first winter surfs.

Winter in Belgium is really when the peaks of Belgium’s North Sea come alive, 13-year-old local surf girl Anais Vaneygen suggests that “cold water surf has something magical. Just a few people in the water with the same motivation, feeling the cold all over your body…really feeling the winter...Especially the feeling when you come out of the sea, (it) gives you an adrenaline shot. You feel your body instantly recovering from a session in cold water... It’s like your body is alive again...”. Much like British surf, winter is when the ocean thrives in Belgium, “surfing in the winter gives a positive feeling of adrenaline and excitement” Anais adds, and despite her tender years, Joke tells me Anais is one of the most consistently surfing locals in Belgium.

“I personally don’t “like” the cold water all that much” begins 38-year-old local surfer Liselotte Oyen. “Although I have to admit, there is magic to a freezing, winter morning with the lighthouse beams making the crystal air sparkle. With pristine waves, a clean 3-feet swell, I guess it’s too hard to resist the pull towards the ocean”.

Cold-water surfers can develop a hardy disposition, and those who fear the cooler temperatures (who hasn’t nearly wept at an ice-cream head or sausage fingers when changing out of a 5 mm in a car park) often have shrewd ways to embrace and cope with sub-zero temperatures. Braving the wintry wildness of the North Sea, Joke advocates prior cold-water immersion, “I think it's good to start your body to get comfortable with cold water…I try to swim every day in the ocean to feel the cold”. Taking learnings from her yoga teaching, Joke also believes that “heating from within” is vital to embracing cold-water surfing. “I do pranayama breathing, heating exercises from yoga, to warm the girls up. And having a warm shower after isn't that good as you have to heat from within, it's better to heat yourself after with running. And shake it out! Have a good big cuddle!” she laughs.

Liselotte suggests that “my trick is to keep paddling and surfing. It wouldn’t be wise to sit and chat too long. Another important trick: don’t stand at the beach watching the surf for a long time. Is it looking any good? Get in! It’s standing at the beach where you’d lose warmth (and motivation)”.

The romanticism of cold-water surfing and the beauty of its temperatures and environments appears to be zealously embraced by Belgium’s surfers, surpassing any chat of inconsistency. I ask Joke if she in fact prefers cold-water surf to warm? “Ha-ha, I wouldn’t say I prefer cold water to warm! But we have a perfect word in Dutch, “uitdaging”, it means when you can do it in a difficult way, I would take that way...not the easiest way!”.

Staying motivated with the sting of winter’s chill can be difficult, and I am amazed and transfixed by the positivity and embrace of winter the Belgian surfers have. “I’m sure my personal motivation is similar to what motivates most surfers” begins Liselotte. “It’s the sheer love for the activity in itself…Being out in the ocean, sliding, being in the moment, focusing, ... it’s precisely what makes me clear my mind. It’s the only activity I know that frees me from all other thoughts or worries. At the same time, the feeling of mastering a skill or a technique are aspects that give me confidence. I have never done anything that is as energizing as surfing. Sometimes a session can physically drain me and at the same time provide me with a gigantic mental re-boost. I’m afraid it comes down to a cliché; it’s probably the stoke”.