Swap building sandcastles for surfing and going to the beach will never be the same again

The "A" word is banned in our house, because the overuse of "awesome" was driving us all to distraction. As a reward for getting this errant adjective under control, I decided to book the girls a surfing lesson.

My heart hit my boots when Eve asked if I would come as well. To be clear, sports which involve getting cold and wet are at the bottom of a very long list of parental activities I feel I must take part in. The North Sea is not a risk-free environment, so Coast to Coast surf school in Dunbar came highly recommended. They have all relevant insurance, disclosures, and in addition all the staff are qualified British Surf Association instructors and lifeguards. Children have to be at least seven years old and able to swim 50 metres confidently. This meant Eve's younger sister Hope, at five, wasn't able to surf, so we drafted in Eve's school chum, Joe, to swell our numbers.

We easily found the bronzed figure of Sam Christopherson at Linkfield car park, Belhaven. The owner of the Coast to Coast surf school was briefing staff, dishing out consent forms, wetsuits and making sure there were enough surfboards on the beach for the next class. Our group was a petty mixed bag, with some of the students part-way through a four-day course and some of the adults and children, reassuringly, beginners like ourselves.

After squeezing into the wetsuits, we took the short walk to the beach where we joined in the gentle Baywatch-style warm-up to make sure we wouldn't injure ourselves. Then it was time for a basic run-through of the surf essentials. Overnight the waves had washed up what looked like a million moon jellyfish, but luckily they're non-stingers. Who would have thought that squishing jellyfish between your toes could feel rather pleasant? Finally it was time to head for the waves, the best of the week according to our fellow surfers, and try to put into practice what we had learned. I was expecting to be met by an icy blast of cold water as we entered the sea, but the wetsuits provided are super warm. The first aim is lying down on the board and after a while, when we had got the hang of that, we returned to dry land to learn how to stand up on the board. I'd like to claim I was a natural but I know my limits. Lying down is the new upright.

Eve was having a great time until the surfboard crashed onto her fingers, bending them back painfully. She quickly composed herself, but opted to spend the rest of the session boogie boarding with the smallies. Joe was beaming from ear to ear and loved every minute of it, managing to stand up on the board three times. I'm more beached whale than beach babe but even I conceded it was totally ... awesome.

Junior Whitewater Surf Courses run during school holidays over four days and cost 85, including all equipment hire. A two-hour Junior Whitewater Surf Lesson assumes no previous knowledge and includes the hire of all equipment, 25. Tel: [phone], www.c2csurfschool.com

This article was first published in The Scotsman on Saturday, August 28