By Mary Dodge Allen
Agatha Christie is known as the Queen of Mystery, and more than a billion copies of her 80 novels, short story collections and plays have been sold. But did you know she was one of the first British women to master the sport of stand-up surfing?
Agatha Christie and a British naval attache named Ashby on Muizenberg Beach, South Africa, 1922
(Christie Archive)
Agatha was introduced to surfing in 1922, while accompanying her husband Archie on a ten-month world tour, promoting the upcoming British Empire Exhibition. The tour included visits to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and Canada.
Agatha and Archie Christie began the world tour in January 1922. They left their young daughter Rosalind home, in the care of Agatha's mother and sister. Agatha took many photographs during the tour, and her frequent letters to her mother, Clarissa Margaret Boehmer, described her travel adventures in detail. Surfing played a large role in these letters.
South Africa - Muizenberg Beach:
In early February, shortly after they arrived in South Africa, Agatha and Archie began learning how to do prone (flat on your stomach) surf board riding at Muizenberg Beach. They enjoyed it so much, they spent much of their free time surfing together. Agatha wrote:
"The surf boards in South Africa were made of light, thin wood, easy to carry, and one soon got the knack of coming in on the waves. It was occasionally painful as you took a nosedive down into the sand, but on the whole it was an easy sport and great fun."
Hawaii - Waikiki Beach:
Surfers at Waikiki Beach in 1922 (Christie Archive)
Agatha Christie with surf board Fred, in her new emerald green bathing dress, 1922
(Christie Archive)
Prone surfing at Muizenberg Beach seemed easy to learn because the waves were gentle and broke close to shore. But at Waikiki, the waves were much larger, and they broke near a reef a long way from shore, which required long distances of paddling. Experienced surfers warned Agatha that finding the right wave to catch would be a challenge. But she learned quickly. She wrote:
"Even more important, you have to know the wrong wave when it comes, because if that catches you and forces you down to the bottom, heaven help you..."
The first day, Agatha caught the wrong wave and was forced underwater. She swallowed "quarts of salt water" and surfaced, gasping for breath. Even though she emerged bruised and exhausted, she was more determined than ever to master this type of surfing.
Archie and Agatha Christie at Waikiki Beach, 1922 (Christie Archive)
Agatha is wearing her original silk bathing dress.
The second day, the waves tore her long, silk bathing dress off her body. Agatha managed to cover herself and went to the hotel gift shop, where she found a "wonderful, skimpy, emerald green wool bathing dress, which was the joy of my life, and in which I thought I looked remarkably well. Archie thought I did, too."
The Christies moved into a small chalet not far from the beach, and they spent much of their remaining free time learning to surf. The sharp coral cut their feet, so they bought leather boots to wear in the water. And when their skin began blistering from sunburn, they began wearing shirts at the beach.
Agatha Christie relaxing at the chalet, 1922 (Christie Archive)
Over the next several days, Agatha continued practicing. Her arms ached from the repeated paddling to catch each wave, but she persisted, and her skills slowly improved. Then... one day, success! She wrote:
"Starting on my run, I would hoist myself carefully to my knees on the board, and then endeavor to stand up. The first six times, I came to grief... [but] Oh, the moment of complete triumph on the day that I kept my balance and came right into shore standing upright on my board!
"Oh, it was heaven! Nothing like it. Nothing like that rushing through the water at what seems to you a speed of about two hundred miles an hour... until you arrived, gently slowing down, on the beach, and foundered among the soft, flowing waves."
Agatha continued perfecting her surfing skills from August to October 1922. Her surfing accomplishment is even more notable, since stand-up surfing at that time was a male-dominated sport. There were only a few women who preceded her, such as a woman named Nakookoo, who won an 1887 Maui surfing contest. But for many decades after this, surfing remained primarily a man's sport.
The British Empire Exhibition:
Post Card of the British Empire Exhibition Stadium (Public Domain)
Two years after Agatha and Archie Christie returned to Britain, the British Empire Exhibition was held at Wembley Park, London, from April to November 1924 and from May to October 1925. This colonial exhibition was a celebration of the British Empire and its economic achievements and potential.
Surfing in a Mystery Novel:
Agatha's love of surfing soon found its way into her writing. In her novel, "The Man in the Brown Suit," published in 1924, main character Anne Beddingfeld took up surfing in Cape Town, South Africa, and met with failure. In the novel, Anne said, "Nevertheless, I determined to return on the first possible opportunity and have another go. I would not be beaten... I then got a good run on my board and came out delirious with happiness. Surfing is like that."
Later Life:
Unfortunately, Agatha and Archie Christie's marriage failed a few years after returning from their world tour, and they divorced in 1928.
It isn't known if Agatha Christie continued surfing later in life. But she often attended a writer's retreat on Burgh Island in South Devon, England. And the nearby Bigbury Beach is known as a great place for water sports, including surfing.
You can read more about Agatha and Archie Christie's 1922 world tour in the book, "The Grand Tour: Around the World with The Queen of Mystery," edited by Mathew Prichard.
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Mary Dodge Allen is currently finishing her sequel to Hunt for a Hometown Killer. She's won a Christian Indie Award, an Angel Book Award, and two Royal Palm Literary Awards (Florida Writer's Association). She and her husband live in Central Florida. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Faith Hope and Love Christian Writers.
Website: www.marydodgeallen.com
Recent release, anthology devotional: El Jireh, The God Who Provides
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Mary's novel: Hunt for a Hometown Killer won the 2022 Christian Indie Award, First Place - Mystery/Suspense; and the 2022 Angel Book Award - Mystery/Suspense.
Click the link below to buy Hunt for a Hometown Killer at Amazon.com:
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