A set of bagpipes and eight surfboards

While kicking my heels in Kirkwall, waiting for a ferry to the isle of Westray, I followed the sound of Amazing Grace to the magnificent St Magnus Cathedral. There, piping out the tune was the surfer I’d met the day before at Skara Brae, a Neolithic village overlooking Orkney’s best surf spot. He and his chocolate-brown dog have been living in a van for five years, and for 15 he’s been busking for an incredible 30 to 110 quid an hour, but often being arrested for the noise. His homely van was undeniably a surfer’s outfit, neatly packed with eight surfboards, one hundred blocks of Mrs Palmers surf wax and framed photos of the classic line-ups he’s surfed. Still, I made no assumptions and asked him if he surfed, then he invited me in for tea. In place of a passenger seat there was a leather armchair facing into the van space, from where he’d watch dvds or entertain an unexpected guest. He told me all about surfing in Orkney, then said he’d join me for a walk along the sea-cliffs, had nothing better to do, was just waiting for waves.