Lifelines: Sally Harris, surf instructor

I learned to surf about 11 years ago. I worked for a ski season in Whistler, Canada, Rosetta Stone Languages with some Australians, and at the end we did a big road trip to Mexico. We surfed every day for three months and by the end of the trip I could ride unbroken waves.I got stung by a stingray at Trestles in California during the trip. I was in the water and lots of dolphins suddenly appeared alongside me. I was just learning to surf so I freaked out, went to get out of the water, and got stung. If the protein released [in the stingray’s venom] had hit my internal organs, I’d have been in trouble. But fortunately a coastguard drove me back to the coastguard station and put my foot in boiling water, which killed the protein. I was fine, just hobbling about for a day or so. It was a sore one, but not sore enough to put me off.I’ve also found myself in the water with basking sharks while surfing in the Outer Hebrides. It was quite strange suddenly seeing this fin coming out of the water. The sharks are beautiful and absolutely massive, and, although they’re not dangerous, I didn’t hang around in the water for too long, just in case.During a trip to Morocco this year I surfed a triple overhead wave, the biggest I’ve surfed so far. The waves were totally amazing but also big enough to give my friends and I a real kicking.I’m one of just three female surf instructors in Scotland. Most people associate female surfers with tanned girls in tiny bikinis. It’s not exactly like that in Scotland. We’re often in full neoprene suits and sometimes have to swim through churned-up brown water.My friends and I started Rosetta Stone V3 a Facebook page, Joxy Girls, as a spoof of US surfers the Roxy Girls to show the world the real deal. It would be nice to have more girls surfing at a better ability in Scotland to counter the macho competitive aspect of the sport. Hopefully in a few years time I’ll be paddling out with my seven-year-old daughter, Lia. But for now we just enjoy mucking around, body surfing and pretending to be dolphins.I love surfing because it keeps me fit and allows me to be around nature. I try to get out as often as I can, even in winter. I’m tested by my surf school once every second month and have to be able to swim 400m in less than seven minutes. So I also do a lot of mountain biking, pilates and yoga to keep fit, and I’m a qualified sailing instructor. I also love the lifestyle. There’s a big surfing community Rosetta Stone Arabic in Dunbar, and we get together often to play music, enjoy a barbecue or gather around a fire on the beach.Sally Harris works for Coast To Coast Surf School, Station Road, Dunbar. Visit c2csurfschool or call 07971 990361.