6 MONTHS AS A VOLUNTEER IN FERREL SURF HOUSE
Thinking back one year ago while listening to the Ferrel Surf House playlist, it’s time to share some memories of my time in Portugal!
Rui and me after a fun surf session at Almagreira.
I am Laura, a German girl who escaped the boredom of online studies in summer 2021. I met Rui, the owner of this beautiful paradise, through Facebook as he was searching for a volunteer doing the marketing. We instantly had a great connection and he gave me the chance to live the surfers dream for 6 months in Baleal. Beginning of the season he took me out surfing to local spots everyday and I quickly became part of the Ferrel Surf House family. This includes Ana, a wonderful soul which has always your back and Pedro, a surf teacher and close friend of Rui who’s not only teaching how to surf but also great advise for life.
How did my job look like?
The beach as my office.
Working with Rui gave me so much freedom to share and evolve my ideas how to present Ferrel Surf House in the digital world. As I was the only one responsible for the marketing I was able to run free my own style, creating videos, advertisements and working on concepts for social media. While being the photo-and videographer for surf lessons I literally moved my office to the beach. Is there anything better than getting a tan while enjoying the work you do? It was a blast to join the crew on the surf days, spending the time in between the sessions on the beach, listening to music and enjoy the beautiful weather. The longer I’ve been part of the family the more I got in touch with bookings and running the overall business. Rui is a mentor who gives a lot of opportunity if he trusts you which made it feel like an even partnership.
How was living in Baleal?
Surf, Surf, more Surf! Being able to surf everyday and attending the surf classes with Rui and Pedro brought my skills to the next level and I am so thankful for that! Baleal is a small village, famous for amazing but powerful waves. But no worries, after a while you will develop a love-hate-relationship with washing machines on a daily basis ;-)
Living at the Surf House meant also to meet so many guests from all over the world. Dinners, Barbecues, Parties and spending time on the beaches made it easy to become friends with them. Greetings to our Italian guests as I now finally know how to make THE REAL Spaghetti Carbonara. 🙏🏼 One of the best moments where definitely when we spend evenings with snacks and a bottle of wine above the cliffs next to the wild ocean of Almagreira. Or when our rental car broke in the middle of the night at a beach in the middle of nowwhere and the guests had to catch their flights the next morning. It never got boring!
On a trip to Nazaré.
Sunsets never get old.
Ferrel Surf House’ 3 angels.
Where were my favorite places in Peniche?
From not knowing anybody in Baleal I quickly became part of the local surf community. The people there are super open-minded to connect, especially when you spend more weeks there and share the same passion – surfing. Obviously my favorite places in the world are the ocean and the beaches. But besides it never get’s old to drink an ice-cold beer at a supermarket bar called Superlagide - how can you say no for 1€? I also loved having a strong coffee at Hangfive, a local surf shop with super cool styles, hand-made art and often life music in the evenings. Probably a place which I visited too much and almost caused me diabetes was a little bakery called Doce Dia with the Pastel de Natas in the world!
As this could turn out into an 300 page novel quickly I better stop it here, but I wanna use the closing credits to thank Rui for his trust and kindness he gave to me. I’ll never forget my time in Portugal and the memories I made while living at Ferrel Surf House.
I loved the great people which I met in Ferrel Surf House from all over the world.
If you have any questions I’m happy if you want to reach out! Just write an e-mail to:
neundoerfer-laura@web.de