16th December 2011
Surf 70/35
Wow what a day, what a week, imagine a surfer from a good/well known surfing destination from abroad came to visit a long lost family member in Bournemouth arriving last Sunday and leaving again on Saturday, this 'imaginary' person may actually go home thinking Bournemouth is not a bad place to live, lots of clean swell and actually a few good shaped waves, if you timed it right and avoided the obvious place to surf you could even have a few uncrowded sessions... Ok it is rare to get 5 days in a row of... yes I'm going to say it... good waves at the pier, but I think it may have just happened. It may have been a bit chilly but the sun has been out, the sky has often been blue and the wind has been quite light and mostly cross/off. We've been getting so much swell that the sand banks are starting to produce much better shaped waves, the classic right (super bank) which I first experienced a couple of years ago is just starting to show, (I remember Guy at the time said it hadn't been like this for 20 years) and shall we just for a minute just think about about that left!......... I always loved that inside left towards the pier but now it's gone mental. It actually feels almost Hossegor-ish, sucky and seriously punchy, several times I've wiped out on it I've hit the sand and got nicely worked in a very French way. (minus the warmth).
This has been a very good Autumn and beginning of Winter, I've surfed 35 times since September! I reckon I must have missed at least 10 sessions due to illness and babies etc and some of them quite good by all accounts, also I've mostly only surfed once in a day! I'm feeling it today, my body is sore, my head is fuzzy and the rash on my neck is very raw. But what am I to do when the waves keep coming and I have very few excuses not to surf them, saying that my wife did actually comment that I'm 'taking the piss' today!
Bit of a mixed bag today, got the early calls and decided to jump in the van with Dan and go exploring most of Dorset, possibly a bad move as when leaving my house my (lovely) wife irritatedly said 'I thought you might take me out for coffee today being the last day before the kids are off school'.... why is it women like to go out for coffee when we have a perfectly good kettle at home? (I instinctively thought).. anyway a couple of hours later I was back at home and very dry... I took my wife out... Then got the kids an early finish at 1.30pm... Then I went surfing at the pier.... I had a fantastic session mostly on my own or with just a couple of others on the west side, it was clean 3/4ft and very fun, I got loads of waves, mainly rights... and my new board, which I haven't even talked about in this blog yet, was working like a dream!
I think there is more surf around the weekend, I may actually have to do some work so I'm not sure of my chances of getting wet... ah well.... Let the good times roll....
Friday 16 December 2011
Thursday 15 December 2011
SURFED OUT... More Pier and Magic D
14th December
68/33
Better born lucky than rich, and I'm a long way from rich, maybe if I did a bit more work and less surf it may help my financial situation. Anyway apart from being healthy/married/kids/house bla bla bla yeah very lucky.. I have lovely friends who phone me of a morning giving me very early on the spot surf reports. Happy days and they keep coming. Each evening I go to bed thinking I'm too tired to surf tomorrow my limbs ache, I can't think straight and my wife keeps saying I'm acting weird... I'm not acting weird I'm just too knackered to answer back I have 'winter surf brain' the cold draws more energy and my brain cells aren't getting fuelled. Even writing this is like some kind of mission.
So when the morning call came and Gary was talking longboards, and mellow small waves I thought great a rest day, 2 hours later "Mate it's classic" came down the phone and "I can't remember having a surf that good at the pier".... oh 'ass wipes' I thought, I have to go!
Actually I did have a lot of fun mostly surfing the west side of the pier with Mason, Matt and Greg. Good fun punchy lefts with inside wally sucky barrels were had before the wind got up. Going over to the east side I saw Kim get some stonking sucky lefts towards the pier, although it was mentioned that it possibly wasn't 'the best pier ever', I wasn't the only person to hear from Gary and as Guy quipped 'It doesn't count on a long board' hehehe
15th December
69/34
Another day another surf, rotating wetsuits at least has meant always a dry one to put on although my Xcel is a let down after the Snuggly Snug. I had 2 calls this morning, both telling me the same thing, 'Pier going off and biggest ever!!' I had my 5 year old sons school play in the morning and I didn't really fancy a crowded close out pier so I text Gav, 'what you doing today? I think Magic D on, I'm free from 12'. Gav who likes to talk about pre-webcam/dickheads on Blogs, surf days, and surfing K alone 25 years ago is always up for bit of an adventure and although not local will always make the effort to get his ass down here from Surrey when it looks good.
Gav picked me up at 12pm and we were in the water alone at Magic D for 1pm shortly followed by Deane, Woody and a couple of other guys. The waves were inconsistent, sometimes great and then long waits between sets, but super clean, head high when they came and always good when there is only a friendly few out.
It's looking on again tomorrow.. The rash on my neck is horrendous, I can't I keep this up... ok I might :-)
Boards Boards Boards at super cheap prices and they really are tasty... If you want the list email me... benmottram1@yahoo.co.uk
68/33
Better born lucky than rich, and I'm a long way from rich, maybe if I did a bit more work and less surf it may help my financial situation. Anyway apart from being healthy/married/kids/house bla bla bla yeah very lucky.. I have lovely friends who phone me of a morning giving me very early on the spot surf reports. Happy days and they keep coming. Each evening I go to bed thinking I'm too tired to surf tomorrow my limbs ache, I can't think straight and my wife keeps saying I'm acting weird... I'm not acting weird I'm just too knackered to answer back I have 'winter surf brain' the cold draws more energy and my brain cells aren't getting fuelled. Even writing this is like some kind of mission.
So when the morning call came and Gary was talking longboards, and mellow small waves I thought great a rest day, 2 hours later "Mate it's classic" came down the phone and "I can't remember having a surf that good at the pier".... oh 'ass wipes' I thought, I have to go!
Actually I did have a lot of fun mostly surfing the west side of the pier with Mason, Matt and Greg. Good fun punchy lefts with inside wally sucky barrels were had before the wind got up. Going over to the east side I saw Kim get some stonking sucky lefts towards the pier, although it was mentioned that it possibly wasn't 'the best pier ever', I wasn't the only person to hear from Gary and as Guy quipped 'It doesn't count on a long board' hehehe
15th December
69/34
Another day another surf, rotating wetsuits at least has meant always a dry one to put on although my Xcel is a let down after the Snuggly Snug. I had 2 calls this morning, both telling me the same thing, 'Pier going off and biggest ever!!' I had my 5 year old sons school play in the morning and I didn't really fancy a crowded close out pier so I text Gav, 'what you doing today? I think Magic D on, I'm free from 12'. Gav who likes to talk about pre-webcam/dickheads on Blogs, surf days, and surfing K alone 25 years ago is always up for bit of an adventure and although not local will always make the effort to get his ass down here from Surrey when it looks good.
Gav picked me up at 12pm and we were in the water alone at Magic D for 1pm shortly followed by Deane, Woody and a couple of other guys. The waves were inconsistent, sometimes great and then long waits between sets, but super clean, head high when they came and always good when there is only a friendly few out.
It's looking on again tomorrow.. The rash on my neck is horrendous, I can't I keep this up... ok I might :-)
Boards Boards Boards at super cheap prices and they really are tasty... If you want the list email me... benmottram1@yahoo.co.uk
Wednesday 14 December 2011
Shock Horror Good Surf At the Pier!!!!!
13th December
Surf 67/32
Amazing scenes of glory as I left the water after a surprisingly fun session at the pier, chunky solid lefthanders into the pier sucky and punchy really really fun. only about 8 out and no hassles... crazy scenes. I nearly got chopped in half a few times. Had loads of waves. HAppy days!
A friend of mine has 45 brand new shiny very high quality boards for sale all shapes and sizes by top UK surfboard brands at silly cheap prices, so if you need a board or even if you don't but want the bargain of the century, email me benmottram1@yahoo.co.uk
Surf 67/32
Amazing scenes of glory as I left the water after a surprisingly fun session at the pier, chunky solid lefthanders into the pier sucky and punchy really really fun. only about 8 out and no hassles... crazy scenes. I nearly got chopped in half a few times. Had loads of waves. HAppy days!
A friend of mine has 45 brand new shiny very high quality boards for sale all shapes and sizes by top UK surfboard brands at silly cheap prices, so if you need a board or even if you don't but want the bargain of the century, email me benmottram1@yahoo.co.uk
Monday 12 December 2011
Bourne-busy-mouth Classic
I received this picture at 7.55 this morning to my Mobile...
There are several annoying things about this picture, firstly, the waves are looking good, empty and I am not riding them. Second, pictures like this lead to vastly exaggerated high expectations of my potential surf in Bournemouth which on most occasions, including today's will be dashed by the reality that a handful of waves every set will be fought for by about 20+ other surfers all sitting in the same small tight take off zone!
Ok I'm coming across very grumpy and I'm sorry, I can't help it. But what should have been a great little session I found extremely frustrating. At least the vibe was generally good and friendly, there was chatter, banter and laughs all round, but is it just me or doesn't any surfer in Bournemouth actually have a normal job that surfing on a winters morning around 11am would make impossible? Of coarse they do and that is why weekends have now become insane. Surely the worst thing about the current economic crisis is that more people will not be working and making cold winter mornings in the sea even more crowded. So please Mr Cam and your Gay Lib Lover, could you please stop kissing each others butts and find some jobs for a few wastiod surfers so I could go back to surfing mellow cold winter mornings on my own......
Ahh glad to get that off my chest.. Maybe its because I haven't been in the water for a while, had a nasty cold for at least 5 days but think I am clean now. I went for full hood and gloves today, towards the end of the session my feet started to get cold, I think my boots are leaking and I may have to regally start using my SNUG suit.
Surfed a new board today, a lovely Fluid Juice Quad Rocket 6'1, bloody lovely board shame I didn't have a few more waves on it
This was Surf 66/31
A friend of mine has 45 brand new shiny very high quality boards for sale all shapes and sizes by top UK surfboard brands at silly cheap prices, so if you need a board or even if you don't but want the bargain of the century, email me benmottram1@yahoo.co.uk
There are several annoying things about this picture, firstly, the waves are looking good, empty and I am not riding them. Second, pictures like this lead to vastly exaggerated high expectations of my potential surf in Bournemouth which on most occasions, including today's will be dashed by the reality that a handful of waves every set will be fought for by about 20+ other surfers all sitting in the same small tight take off zone!
Ok I'm coming across very grumpy and I'm sorry, I can't help it. But what should have been a great little session I found extremely frustrating. At least the vibe was generally good and friendly, there was chatter, banter and laughs all round, but is it just me or doesn't any surfer in Bournemouth actually have a normal job that surfing on a winters morning around 11am would make impossible? Of coarse they do and that is why weekends have now become insane. Surely the worst thing about the current economic crisis is that more people will not be working and making cold winter mornings in the sea even more crowded. So please Mr Cam and your Gay Lib Lover, could you please stop kissing each others butts and find some jobs for a few wastiod surfers so I could go back to surfing mellow cold winter mornings on my own......
Ahh glad to get that off my chest.. Maybe its because I haven't been in the water for a while, had a nasty cold for at least 5 days but think I am clean now. I went for full hood and gloves today, towards the end of the session my feet started to get cold, I think my boots are leaking and I may have to regally start using my SNUG suit.
Surfed a new board today, a lovely Fluid Juice Quad Rocket 6'1, bloody lovely board shame I didn't have a few more waves on it
This was Surf 66/31
A friend of mine has 45 brand new shiny very high quality boards for sale all shapes and sizes by top UK surfboard brands at silly cheap prices, so if you need a board or even if you don't but want the bargain of the century, email me benmottram1@yahoo.co.uk
Thursday 1 December 2011
The Standard... Windy Pier
How many times has it been windy and you find your self in some kind of social situation with people who don't surf and they say to you 'you must be loving all this wind great for waves.' And then you find yourself trying to explain to them that local winds are no good and what 'us surfers' really need is.... bla bla bla... As I explain the same old spiel I can see their eyes glazing over and what they are really thinking is 'I don't really give a fuck, I was just trying to be friendly'...... I would like to say 'yeah it's great' but I can't help myself, my wife always says I talk too much and give way more information than I need too.
I think I'm actually speaking bollocks anyway, we love wind in Bournemouth, wind is like our life blood, without wind we would virtually have no waves. Whenever we do get the rare decent ground swells which make it up the channel the waves tend to closeout anyway! Maybe in my head I live in some alternate universe where we get regular ground swell and we surf in board shorts, the reality is most of our surfing is done in winter in howling cross/onshore gales and we love it (well kind of).
So next time the wind is blowing a hoolie and some friendly person tells me I must be loving all this wind, I'll say 'yeah there is a bit of 'Wind Swell' around and I had a few good waves earlier.'
29th/30th November
Surf 64/29
Surf 65/30
I had a small amount of fun surfing the messy 'Wind Waves' at the pier. At least the crowds were down which is some consolation!
We seem to be blessed with a constant supply of swell, I now have a very sore throat and feel a bit ill, I may have to have a few days off.
I think I'm actually speaking bollocks anyway, we love wind in Bournemouth, wind is like our life blood, without wind we would virtually have no waves. Whenever we do get the rare decent ground swells which make it up the channel the waves tend to closeout anyway! Maybe in my head I live in some alternate universe where we get regular ground swell and we surf in board shorts, the reality is most of our surfing is done in winter in howling cross/onshore gales and we love it (well kind of).
So next time the wind is blowing a hoolie and some friendly person tells me I must be loving all this wind, I'll say 'yeah there is a bit of 'Wind Swell' around and I had a few good waves earlier.'
29th/30th November
Surf 64/29
Surf 65/30
I had a small amount of fun surfing the messy 'Wind Waves' at the pier. At least the crowds were down which is some consolation!
We seem to be blessed with a constant supply of swell, I now have a very sore throat and feel a bit ill, I may have to have a few days off.
Monday 28 November 2011
Pier Surf…. Pandemonium, Chaos, Mayhem, Madness…. Er Bedlam?
Crazy Surf 63/28
I was never planning to surf the pier today, I was thinking with the winds coming from the north west in the afternoon, plenty of spots will be working so no need to surf the Pier. My mind was changed when I received the below picture with the accompanying text message which basically said... 'pier now nobody out!'
So what was I to do? Really I had no option... My most basic and fundamental rule in surfing is: if it looks good go out and surf it... I know from experience, especially on the south coast, that 'waiting' until things may improve is a fools game as swell can just vanish in a breath.
So plans were re-arrange, My wife is thankfully very (maybe that should be VERY VERY) understanding of my predicament and tends to be quite open to my last minute changes of plan to go surfing... About 40 minutes after the picture was taken I was in the water with about 5 other... 10 minutes later about 15 others.... 10 minutes after that about 30 others and things were getting scary. One of the main problems was the waves were relatively small and the take off zone was very tight with an almost A-frame peak breaking left and right from one very small area. I tended to sit inside and take the smaller weaker and crappier waves as it at least meant I got waves... Every time I would paddle back I could see 3,4,5,6 people all taking off on the same wave and about 10 others paddling and missing, so it was inevitable that boards would soon get smashed and I wasn't the only......
I was never planning to surf the pier today, I was thinking with the winds coming from the north west in the afternoon, plenty of spots will be working so no need to surf the Pier. My mind was changed when I received the below picture with the accompanying text message which basically said... 'pier now nobody out!'
So what was I to do? Really I had no option... My most basic and fundamental rule in surfing is: if it looks good go out and surf it... I know from experience, especially on the south coast, that 'waiting' until things may improve is a fools game as swell can just vanish in a breath.
So plans were re-arrange, My wife is thankfully very (maybe that should be VERY VERY) understanding of my predicament and tends to be quite open to my last minute changes of plan to go surfing... About 40 minutes after the picture was taken I was in the water with about 5 other... 10 minutes later about 15 others.... 10 minutes after that about 30 others and things were getting scary. One of the main problems was the waves were relatively small and the take off zone was very tight with an almost A-frame peak breaking left and right from one very small area. I tended to sit inside and take the smaller weaker and crappier waves as it at least meant I got waves... Every time I would paddle back I could see 3,4,5,6 people all taking off on the same wave and about 10 others paddling and missing, so it was inevitable that boards would soon get smashed and I wasn't the only......
This happened to me about 40 minutes into the session, I ran back to the car, got another board and was quickly back out, but things had started to get even more crazy and very dangerous. What was briefly a mellow, sunny, chilled out and enjoyable surf, was quickly turning into hell. Boards were flying everywhere, people were arguing, shouting, dropping in was now the norm, if it wasn't so dangerous it could have been quite comical. It is unbelievable nobody was seriously hurt, and if everybody continues to surf like this, it wont be long before we have a serious injury or worse to contend with.
There were some nice waves ridden... not by me.. But I saw Mason get slotted just under the lip, Oli was looking pretty smooth on a longboard, as I stood on the beach looking back and assessing the mayhem I saw Guy get a lovely right hander. But apart from the few good rides there were so many close calls. I would really like to know what other people felt about this session. Is it me or are things getting just a little out of control?
I think in future I may be a bit more selective about my surfs at the Pier (is that like saying 'I'm not going to drink any more' when hungover?). Give me a chunky lone surf with double overhead 'Y' any day over this for my adrenalin rush.
I didn't feel upset or annoyed or frustrated walking away from this session, it was strange, a smashed board and only few crappy waves ridden when the potential was looking so good to begin would normally make me feel very disappointed and hungry for more waves elsewhere. Maybe today I was just happy to leave with my life!!
Check Guys feelings of the same surf... http://houseofbonzer.blogspot.com/2011/11/carnage-at-pier.html
Wednesday 23 November 2011
Big K Little k Big K Little k Big K Little k Big K Little k
I'm official announcing that we've had a good November, which is probably a precursor to a bad December but hey don't blame me I'm not that powerful! But if there was ever a weekend to demonstrate my point about the fickleness of K it had to be this one.
19th November61/26
I arrived at K around midday thinking the wind maybe a bit more favourable in the afternoon and the swell was due to increase. I was greeted to lovely big thick looking sets with lots of waves. The conversation between me and several other surfers was where best to surf, with the 5 obvious spots all pumping and fully at our disposal we all opted to go in different directions and 10 minutes later I found myself struggling to paddle out back at 'Y' on my own. The first wave I eventually found myself in position for was a monster, a thick dirty right hander was peaking and I called myself in... paddle hard and commit..... a second later I was trying to pull out but it was to late, I was caught in the lip and felt myself being dragged over the falls before that stomach lurching fall into the pit before the deep washing machine wipeout ensued.... I stayed relatively calm, probably helped by my recent underwater swim training session with Gary, but as I found my way back to my board the shakes kicked in and I suddenly felt very alone.
It was 25 minutes before I caught my first wave and this was a smaller inside one, I found my way to the right side of the peak and managed to pick off the smaller left handers that came through, I kept bottling the bigger set waves and then I would slap the water in anger and frustration with being a woss! I did go for another big one but the drop was late, I found myself free falling for a bit only to hit the bottom and lose control and take another beating.
I did get on some nice long walled up left handers, I had a back door barrel opportunity which I completely bottled and skirted around the bottom. It seemed to be a day of missed chances and pusying out! and and after an hour and a half of quite an intense session on my own I paddle over to the more popular spot and found the waves to be a lot more mellow and cleaner. With people around and the waves suddenly seeming quite easy I had a handful of fun rides before calling it a day.
I met my wife and kids at our beach hut after 3pm and was surprised by the size of the waves coming into the bay, the swell looked quite meaty even here no wonder I thought the bigger sets needed a big board, Maybe Guy is onto something with that 7'6 Bonzer Gun he is sometimes seen out on!
20th November
62/27
The wind had dropped and the swell had only dropped by a couple of feet on the wave buoys so things were looking pretty good a 6am as I dragged my self out of bed.... Turned up at K and it was tiny, well ok I have seen it smaller but it was week and about 2ft. The drop off from the day before was massive. Needless to say my session was rather disappointing and bit of an anticlimax. Maybe if I hadn't been expecting so much I may have had a bit more fun but after the adrenalin filled session of the day before I was wishing I had gone west! Oh well where we go I thought today was going to be classic all signs were good Buoy reeding were good, tides were good, wind was good... crowds were bad and waves were weak!
I arrived at K around midday thinking the wind maybe a bit more favourable in the afternoon and the swell was due to increase. I was greeted to lovely big thick looking sets with lots of waves. The conversation between me and several other surfers was where best to surf, with the 5 obvious spots all pumping and fully at our disposal we all opted to go in different directions and 10 minutes later I found myself struggling to paddle out back at 'Y' on my own. The first wave I eventually found myself in position for was a monster, a thick dirty right hander was peaking and I called myself in... paddle hard and commit..... a second later I was trying to pull out but it was to late, I was caught in the lip and felt myself being dragged over the falls before that stomach lurching fall into the pit before the deep washing machine wipeout ensued.... I stayed relatively calm, probably helped by my recent underwater swim training session with Gary, but as I found my way back to my board the shakes kicked in and I suddenly felt very alone.
It was 25 minutes before I caught my first wave and this was a smaller inside one, I found my way to the right side of the peak and managed to pick off the smaller left handers that came through, I kept bottling the bigger set waves and then I would slap the water in anger and frustration with being a woss! I did go for another big one but the drop was late, I found myself free falling for a bit only to hit the bottom and lose control and take another beating.
I did get on some nice long walled up left handers, I had a back door barrel opportunity which I completely bottled and skirted around the bottom. It seemed to be a day of missed chances and pusying out! and and after an hour and a half of quite an intense session on my own I paddle over to the more popular spot and found the waves to be a lot more mellow and cleaner. With people around and the waves suddenly seeming quite easy I had a handful of fun rides before calling it a day.
I met my wife and kids at our beach hut after 3pm and was surprised by the size of the waves coming into the bay, the swell looked quite meaty even here no wonder I thought the bigger sets needed a big board, Maybe Guy is onto something with that 7'6 Bonzer Gun he is sometimes seen out on!
20th November
62/27
The wind had dropped and the swell had only dropped by a couple of feet on the wave buoys so things were looking pretty good a 6am as I dragged my self out of bed.... Turned up at K and it was tiny, well ok I have seen it smaller but it was week and about 2ft. The drop off from the day before was massive. Needless to say my session was rather disappointing and bit of an anticlimax. Maybe if I hadn't been expecting so much I may have had a bit more fun but after the adrenalin filled session of the day before I was wishing I had gone west! Oh well where we go I thought today was going to be classic all signs were good Buoy reeding were good, tides were good, wind was good... crowds were bad and waves were weak!
Friday 18 November 2011
Guy Penwarden very funny Bournemouth Pier Blog
Check this very funny blog... http://houseofbonzer.blogspot.com/2011/11/bournemouth-pier-survival-kit.html
Also....
you still do not understand why you upset so many locals. still advertising spots and tide times,
My response...
I have given a lot less information away than is freely available on Magicseaweed or several other websites I could name. I thought I'd been quite ambiguos with what I've said and I've never given tide times, not that they are particualy hard to find anyway. I may have said the tide was at this point when I was surfing but I've never suggested the best times/tides to surf. And I would hardly want to encourage people to surf at the same time as me anyway! Also I'm not sure what best tide times are for my local spot!
Please feel free to comment...
Monday 14 November 2011
Best Surf Since France.....
What a few weeks it has been, actually I think we've had consistent surf ever since Cody was born, I rarely have the opportunity or inclination to pick and chose surfs, letting some days and waves pass by unridden but over the last few weeks I have. Obviously some good days were unavoidably missed due to new babies, illness and death but apart from Thursday 10th which looked to be a good day at K but coincided with my grandfathers funeral I don't think I missed any stand out sessions.
The funeral was.... well I want to say good but feel like it is the wrong thing to say? I didn't drop the coffin but it was a very nervous moment. The subsequent church services (one at the crematorium and one at a church later) were a good chance to hear some about the great life my grandfather had led, but if I have to hear another hymn I may go slightly insane.
November 11th
Surf 58/23
Surfed the west side of the pier in the afternoon, waves were in the 3ft region with a strong south easterly cross onshore wind, the paddle out was hard and if you didn't stick close to the pier you were quickly swept down the beach, the waves were hard to surf and if I went left I had to get out and try to paddle back out next to the pier. It wasn't the best surf I've ever had!
November 12th
Surf 59/24
Woopie doodaa happy days, it has been a long time since I really enjoyed a surf like this. I had book marked today as potentially good for a while, but as we all know, especially on the south coast, things don't always go to plan. I nearly had the in-laws down for the day and they had planned to get here for 8am! But by some strange piece of luck Billy my 5 year old son was horrendously sick the night before so we thought we should cancel the parents thinking we didn't want to spread any germs, also our house smelt of sick. This then left me free to surf, although Char wanted me to go early and get back early.
Getting up was hard and I felt strangely unmotivated and very tired, I met Gav before 7am in the car park and he said the waves were in the shoulder high range, 'that's a shame' I thought, as I was expecting bigger, so I decided to take my 6'2 shortboard. We were the first to paddle out, the sun was low in a clear sky and there was virtually no wind with consistent regular swell pumping through in the head to head and a half range! 3 friendly guys from Brighton were next to paddle out and seemed very impressed with the conditions. After taking a couple of waves I soon realised I was on completely the wrong board and needed to change, my 6'2 felt like a match stick and very unstable in the big swooping drops and the now nice long walled up waves, also the crowd was just starting to pick up so Gav and I decided to move spots.
Paddling out on my 6'6 Lynch gave me so much confidence and I started to go for every wave that came my way no matter how late I was, I had some absolute stonking rights, some exciting big drops and and a few washing machine moments when I really was just a bit too late (or slow!), 2 hours into my session Gary and Dan Taylor paddled out with big grins and whooops, it took Dan a little while to find his feet but when he did he got some of the best waves of his life. 3 hours passed quickly and although my legs were cramping and I had a weird pins and needle feeling in my arms and my shoulders were burning, I was still hungry for more waves, but my late take offs were now unmake-able from the pure fatigue in my body and I was now mainly only able to observe others getting great waves. I saw Gary get a stonking right just before I had a mellow wave home, and with the tide dropping and swell increasing I think things were only likely to get better.
These are the days we live for down here, they don't come very much but when they do the stoke is so high I can go without for a few days after.... err ok maybe one day to recover.... err actually if it was like it the next day I would go again.... I'm speaking crap aren't I!
Driving home, during the time I was trying to work out how I would explain myself to my wife, I got a text from Dan Magee saying he was in hospital with an unknown illness. It put a bit of a downer on things as how exactly was I going to brag about this session to him now! Hopefully he will be back in the water soon.
November 14th
Surf 60/25
Another session at K nothing great the waves were 2/3ft but fun on my fish and nice and clean only a couple out which made things mellow.
Wow and that is 60 surfs since I started this blog and 25 surfs this Autumn.
The funeral was.... well I want to say good but feel like it is the wrong thing to say? I didn't drop the coffin but it was a very nervous moment. The subsequent church services (one at the crematorium and one at a church later) were a good chance to hear some about the great life my grandfather had led, but if I have to hear another hymn I may go slightly insane.
November 11th
Surf 58/23
Surfed the west side of the pier in the afternoon, waves were in the 3ft region with a strong south easterly cross onshore wind, the paddle out was hard and if you didn't stick close to the pier you were quickly swept down the beach, the waves were hard to surf and if I went left I had to get out and try to paddle back out next to the pier. It wasn't the best surf I've ever had!
November 12th
Surf 59/24
Woopie doodaa happy days, it has been a long time since I really enjoyed a surf like this. I had book marked today as potentially good for a while, but as we all know, especially on the south coast, things don't always go to plan. I nearly had the in-laws down for the day and they had planned to get here for 8am! But by some strange piece of luck Billy my 5 year old son was horrendously sick the night before so we thought we should cancel the parents thinking we didn't want to spread any germs, also our house smelt of sick. This then left me free to surf, although Char wanted me to go early and get back early.
Getting up was hard and I felt strangely unmotivated and very tired, I met Gav before 7am in the car park and he said the waves were in the shoulder high range, 'that's a shame' I thought, as I was expecting bigger, so I decided to take my 6'2 shortboard. We were the first to paddle out, the sun was low in a clear sky and there was virtually no wind with consistent regular swell pumping through in the head to head and a half range! 3 friendly guys from Brighton were next to paddle out and seemed very impressed with the conditions. After taking a couple of waves I soon realised I was on completely the wrong board and needed to change, my 6'2 felt like a match stick and very unstable in the big swooping drops and the now nice long walled up waves, also the crowd was just starting to pick up so Gav and I decided to move spots.
Paddling out on my 6'6 Lynch gave me so much confidence and I started to go for every wave that came my way no matter how late I was, I had some absolute stonking rights, some exciting big drops and and a few washing machine moments when I really was just a bit too late (or slow!), 2 hours into my session Gary and Dan Taylor paddled out with big grins and whooops, it took Dan a little while to find his feet but when he did he got some of the best waves of his life. 3 hours passed quickly and although my legs were cramping and I had a weird pins and needle feeling in my arms and my shoulders were burning, I was still hungry for more waves, but my late take offs were now unmake-able from the pure fatigue in my body and I was now mainly only able to observe others getting great waves. I saw Gary get a stonking right just before I had a mellow wave home, and with the tide dropping and swell increasing I think things were only likely to get better.
These are the days we live for down here, they don't come very much but when they do the stoke is so high I can go without for a few days after.... err ok maybe one day to recover.... err actually if it was like it the next day I would go again.... I'm speaking crap aren't I!
Driving home, during the time I was trying to work out how I would explain myself to my wife, I got a text from Dan Magee saying he was in hospital with an unknown illness. It put a bit of a downer on things as how exactly was I going to brag about this session to him now! Hopefully he will be back in the water soon.
November 14th
Surf 60/25
Another session at K nothing great the waves were 2/3ft but fun on my fish and nice and clean only a couple out which made things mellow.
Wow and that is 60 surfs since I started this blog and 25 surfs this Autumn.
Wednesday 9 November 2011
Evening Little Sloptastic Stoke
9th November
Surf 57/22
I had to go into town and buy myself some smart shows for my grandfathers funeral tomorrow, checked the pier after said purchase and was greeted with a sloppy messy 2ft of uninspiring waves. I felt surprisingly enthusiastic to surf it and ended up having great fun on my 5'10 fish, had some fun waves I even got a couple of nice turns in! A few other friendly surfers were out, I didn't recognise them, but the stoke was shared and we all surfed until it was impossible to see the waves any more.
My fish felt buoyant after my shortboard and catching waves was easy although the drops were slippy and felt a little sketchy, speed came easy and I managed a couple of full cutbacks in sloppy slow messy waves. I think it's good to change boards and then come back to old favourites, it felt fresh and new again. I also think the little gym workout I had with Gary on Monday paid some dividends.
Slightly stressed for tomorrow, I and the 5 other grandsons have been asked to carry the coffin, I'm having nightmares of dropping or laughing as walking into the crematorium. I'm sure it will be ok...........
Surf 57/22
I had to go into town and buy myself some smart shows for my grandfathers funeral tomorrow, checked the pier after said purchase and was greeted with a sloppy messy 2ft of uninspiring waves. I felt surprisingly enthusiastic to surf it and ended up having great fun on my 5'10 fish, had some fun waves I even got a couple of nice turns in! A few other friendly surfers were out, I didn't recognise them, but the stoke was shared and we all surfed until it was impossible to see the waves any more.
My fish felt buoyant after my shortboard and catching waves was easy although the drops were slippy and felt a little sketchy, speed came easy and I managed a couple of full cutbacks in sloppy slow messy waves. I think it's good to change boards and then come back to old favourites, it felt fresh and new again. I also think the little gym workout I had with Gary on Monday paid some dividends.
Slightly stressed for tomorrow, I and the 5 other grandsons have been asked to carry the coffin, I'm having nightmares of dropping or laughing as walking into the crematorium. I'm sure it will be ok...........
Sunday 6 November 2011
First taste of winter
5th November
Surf 56/21
I woke at 4.15am with a kick from my wife... 'Cody Needs Changing and I've been up all night feeding' she said in an irritated way. The last time I checked my watch it was 11pm.... woho that was 5 hours of solid sleep! I crawled out of bed and grabbed my screaming baby, a heavy nappy, but thankfully my smelling sensors seemed to be switched off. Handing Cody to Char to feed, I grabbed my phone to check the buoys... 6ft, 10sec and 7 mile an hour northerly wind! Game On!
Going back to sleep was now futile, although with first light at around 6.30am I had to wait, I was left to imagine perfect empty waves peeling off some of my favourite spots. I put 3 boards in the car and looked at my lovely new dry Snug wetsuit, that can stay at home, surely it's not cold enough for that suit yet. Driving west on the empty dark roads I felt that buzz of excitement, anticipating some quality waves somewhere along Dorset's Jurassic Coast, I was thinking the usual spots would be busy, it was Saturday and everyone knows these days!
I pulled up, got out of the car and the wind was howling, it was freezing and my hands were quickly turning white. The thought of putting my very wet old Xcel suit suddenly felt like a nasty proposition. Grit your teeth, do it and don't hang around. The suit was very wet and was getting stuck around my knees wile the cold wind blasted my naked chest, for a second I thought 'can I do this', it's only November 'come on Ben man up'
Just as I had changed, Spanish Ben (as I'm now going to call him) and Gav turned up, Gav reminded me I hadn't seen him for about 9 months, time does fly as it didn't feel that long. Getting to the sea the strong cross-off-shore wind was making a nice mellow swell look a bit bumpy and hard to get on, the waves on my preferable spot were looking slow and weak, the swell wasn't quite big enough and the wind was holding it up a bit too much.
We ended up surfing spot "S" and completely avoided the massing crowds at the more obvious spots, just the 3 of us had a golden 40 minutes where the wind was holding up the heavy fast lefts just enough to make them makable. Wooping each other into every wave our confidence was growing, after witnessing some deep thick barrels we all wanted to sit a bit deeper and attempt one, but the swell started to drop, the tide started to push and just after we felt we'd got started the waves disappeared. On the long paddle and walk home my hands started to freeze again and a quick change and full heaters were needed to warm up.
Driving home I passed lots of locals, regulars and recognisable vans on the pilgrimage, but they were to be disappointed. It was only 9.30am and the game was over.
Surf 56/21
I woke at 4.15am with a kick from my wife... 'Cody Needs Changing and I've been up all night feeding' she said in an irritated way. The last time I checked my watch it was 11pm.... woho that was 5 hours of solid sleep! I crawled out of bed and grabbed my screaming baby, a heavy nappy, but thankfully my smelling sensors seemed to be switched off. Handing Cody to Char to feed, I grabbed my phone to check the buoys... 6ft, 10sec and 7 mile an hour northerly wind! Game On!
Going back to sleep was now futile, although with first light at around 6.30am I had to wait, I was left to imagine perfect empty waves peeling off some of my favourite spots. I put 3 boards in the car and looked at my lovely new dry Snug wetsuit, that can stay at home, surely it's not cold enough for that suit yet. Driving west on the empty dark roads I felt that buzz of excitement, anticipating some quality waves somewhere along Dorset's Jurassic Coast, I was thinking the usual spots would be busy, it was Saturday and everyone knows these days!
I pulled up, got out of the car and the wind was howling, it was freezing and my hands were quickly turning white. The thought of putting my very wet old Xcel suit suddenly felt like a nasty proposition. Grit your teeth, do it and don't hang around. The suit was very wet and was getting stuck around my knees wile the cold wind blasted my naked chest, for a second I thought 'can I do this', it's only November 'come on Ben man up'
Just as I had changed, Spanish Ben (as I'm now going to call him) and Gav turned up, Gav reminded me I hadn't seen him for about 9 months, time does fly as it didn't feel that long. Getting to the sea the strong cross-off-shore wind was making a nice mellow swell look a bit bumpy and hard to get on, the waves on my preferable spot were looking slow and weak, the swell wasn't quite big enough and the wind was holding it up a bit too much.
We ended up surfing spot "S" and completely avoided the massing crowds at the more obvious spots, just the 3 of us had a golden 40 minutes where the wind was holding up the heavy fast lefts just enough to make them makable. Wooping each other into every wave our confidence was growing, after witnessing some deep thick barrels we all wanted to sit a bit deeper and attempt one, but the swell started to drop, the tide started to push and just after we felt we'd got started the waves disappeared. On the long paddle and walk home my hands started to freeze again and a quick change and full heaters were needed to warm up.
Driving home I passed lots of locals, regulars and recognisable vans on the pilgrimage, but they were to be disappointed. It was only 9.30am and the game was over.
Thursday 3 November 2011
Hell paddle for very little
3rd November
Surf 55/20
Surfed a very disorganised onshore pier, only 3 others out but that was kinda understandable under the circumstances. I had a couple of good waves and lots of not so good ones. It was very hard work and I pretty much paddled for the whole session with very few breaks. Getting on a wave was very hard and unpredictable, I found myself wiping out in the take off on many occasions. The one bit of joy I can take from the session is I am starting to love that 6'2 fluid juice shortboard, it feels great to surf and I feel like I have loads of control, if something goes wrong recovery is possible. I did a couple cutbacks which felt good, I could really dig the rail in and the board would accelerate out of the turn and I didn't lose my balance where I normally would on a fish. The only downer about the board is it takes a lot more effort and paddle power to get it on a wave, I have been used to much higher volume boards and with this board the later take-offs need to be timed well, otherwise I come a cropper!
Surf 55/20
Surfed a very disorganised onshore pier, only 3 others out but that was kinda understandable under the circumstances. I had a couple of good waves and lots of not so good ones. It was very hard work and I pretty much paddled for the whole session with very few breaks. Getting on a wave was very hard and unpredictable, I found myself wiping out in the take off on many occasions. The one bit of joy I can take from the session is I am starting to love that 6'2 fluid juice shortboard, it feels great to surf and I feel like I have loads of control, if something goes wrong recovery is possible. I did a couple cutbacks which felt good, I could really dig the rail in and the board would accelerate out of the turn and I didn't lose my balance where I normally would on a fish. The only downer about the board is it takes a lot more effort and paddle power to get it on a wave, I have been used to much higher volume boards and with this board the later take-offs need to be timed well, otherwise I come a cropper!
Wednesday 2 November 2011
Birth Death and Jelly
What a crazy life changing few weeks I've had, I have so much I want to say but I think I'll keep it concise.
Sadly my Grandfather died on Saturday 29th November, after looking like he was pulling through a nasty illness, suddenly his body started to give up. At 83 he was young in mind and full of life, who lived life to the full.
My Grandfather was an amazing person, I would be best describe him as full of love and energy. He was a Ships Captain and sailed every sea and to every country that had a port. He was an Author and a Painter but most importantly of all he was a Family man who cared for everyone in his large and extended family. He showed an interest in all of us and would always help any of us out where he could. And there is a lot of us! He will be greatly missed.
As a 37 year old bloke, I have always considered myself extremely fortunate to have all of my Grandparents still alive, in some ways I imagined they would all go on forever, as we know nothing last forever. It's a bugger we have to die!
Cody is 2 weeks old today and I am getting used to living with broken sleep. Babies don't give much back, kinda like feeding-pooing machines. Cody is putting on weight and all appears healthy and well. Half-term week was a little tricky, having our other 2 kids off school, with me still ill and Charlotte with a nasty breast infection, I have to say it wasn't the easiest week of our lives but we got though it with a surprising amount of humour, as yet Charlotte's hormones seem to be reasonably balanced!!
and onto the surf..
I felt slightly frustrated missing 6 days of waves during half-term but I was still ill and under the circumstances I think it would have been pushing my luck with Char! With the famously big swell predicted for Sunday the 30th I saw that as my chance to get back on the board.
Sunday 30th October
Surf 52/17
18 seconds and 2.6 metres was probably the best biggest buoy reeding I saw. But as we all know long range ground swell and the Bournemouth Pier don't usually sit well together (apart from the super bank which appeared for a few weeks 2 years ago). As I expected long waits between big close out sets greeted us on a crossshore windy Sunday morning. As well as about 100 surfers on the east side of the pier. I started my surf off on the west side with about 6 surfers out and Gary, after faffing for 20 minutes and no waves caught I went to the east side faffed a lot more, caught 1 wave, got dropped in on, some how avoided being killed by lots of out of control surfers and went back to the west side where for most of the rest of the session I had it to myself, actually got a few ok-ish waves in the head high range although a bit closey, sometimes the wave would reform on the inside to give a punchy fast ride. I was riding my 6'2 fluid juice shortboard (test board) and it felt really good and especially nice to be on a thruster again (it's been a while). Chatted to some dude about being a sheep and today it felt good not to be one!
surf 53 18
The wind suddenly dropped off in the afternoon, some how I persuaded Char to let me go for a second surf! Sadly the swell had dropped off as well and the west side of the pier was now the place to be (according to about 30 other surfers), so after catching a couple of small waves there I went east and surfed a very week super low tide small wave with a few others. Not exactly inspiring but there we go, I was at least back in the water.
1st November
surf 54/19
A bit of KY but no Jelly, I had a lot of fun first at K with some dude I got chatting to on a fish and then for 2 hours on my own at Y, I got some lovely long rides and the crossshore wind wasn't really effecting the wave much (good for your front side airs... I dream :-0) I saw Kim briefly who said "I'm surprised you've been aloud out here" possibly in reference to the lynch mob on my back. I was surprised not to see a few more of the usual suspects. I heard later on that the wind messed things up a bit. I think I got lucky! Surfed for 3 hours and was completely shattered. It made last night even harder work with Cody waking every hour. Oh Joy!
And finally it has been rumoured that Dan Magee has been seen riding and enjoying himself on a "proper" shortboard! I just thought I'd let you know, if you see him on a minimal tell him to get off.
Sadly my Grandfather died on Saturday 29th November, after looking like he was pulling through a nasty illness, suddenly his body started to give up. At 83 he was young in mind and full of life, who lived life to the full.
My Grandfather was an amazing person, I would be best describe him as full of love and energy. He was a Ships Captain and sailed every sea and to every country that had a port. He was an Author and a Painter but most importantly of all he was a Family man who cared for everyone in his large and extended family. He showed an interest in all of us and would always help any of us out where he could. And there is a lot of us! He will be greatly missed.
As a 37 year old bloke, I have always considered myself extremely fortunate to have all of my Grandparents still alive, in some ways I imagined they would all go on forever, as we know nothing last forever. It's a bugger we have to die!
Cody is 2 weeks old today and I am getting used to living with broken sleep. Babies don't give much back, kinda like feeding-pooing machines. Cody is putting on weight and all appears healthy and well. Half-term week was a little tricky, having our other 2 kids off school, with me still ill and Charlotte with a nasty breast infection, I have to say it wasn't the easiest week of our lives but we got though it with a surprising amount of humour, as yet Charlotte's hormones seem to be reasonably balanced!!
and onto the surf..
I felt slightly frustrated missing 6 days of waves during half-term but I was still ill and under the circumstances I think it would have been pushing my luck with Char! With the famously big swell predicted for Sunday the 30th I saw that as my chance to get back on the board.
Sunday 30th October
Surf 52/17
18 seconds and 2.6 metres was probably the best biggest buoy reeding I saw. But as we all know long range ground swell and the Bournemouth Pier don't usually sit well together (apart from the super bank which appeared for a few weeks 2 years ago). As I expected long waits between big close out sets greeted us on a crossshore windy Sunday morning. As well as about 100 surfers on the east side of the pier. I started my surf off on the west side with about 6 surfers out and Gary, after faffing for 20 minutes and no waves caught I went to the east side faffed a lot more, caught 1 wave, got dropped in on, some how avoided being killed by lots of out of control surfers and went back to the west side where for most of the rest of the session I had it to myself, actually got a few ok-ish waves in the head high range although a bit closey, sometimes the wave would reform on the inside to give a punchy fast ride. I was riding my 6'2 fluid juice shortboard (test board) and it felt really good and especially nice to be on a thruster again (it's been a while). Chatted to some dude about being a sheep and today it felt good not to be one!
surf 53 18
The wind suddenly dropped off in the afternoon, some how I persuaded Char to let me go for a second surf! Sadly the swell had dropped off as well and the west side of the pier was now the place to be (according to about 30 other surfers), so after catching a couple of small waves there I went east and surfed a very week super low tide small wave with a few others. Not exactly inspiring but there we go, I was at least back in the water.
1st November
surf 54/19
A bit of KY but no Jelly, I had a lot of fun first at K with some dude I got chatting to on a fish and then for 2 hours on my own at Y, I got some lovely long rides and the crossshore wind wasn't really effecting the wave much (good for your front side airs... I dream :-0) I saw Kim briefly who said "I'm surprised you've been aloud out here" possibly in reference to the lynch mob on my back. I was surprised not to see a few more of the usual suspects. I heard later on that the wind messed things up a bit. I think I got lucky! Surfed for 3 hours and was completely shattered. It made last night even harder work with Cody waking every hour. Oh Joy!
And finally it has been rumoured that Dan Magee has been seen riding and enjoying himself on a "proper" shortboard! I just thought I'd let you know, if you see him on a minimal tell him to get off.
Monday 24 October 2011
Mock Me....
My friend Ben, (Language Teacher, I often met in France at VVF. see August blog entries) is a stickler for perfect spelling and good grammar so he often gives me grief about mine... Ben is currently in Cornwall for the week and will often like to update me with his surfs, this afternoon he sent me a funny email which I thought I would share...------------------------------------------------------
Alternative Blog
Dei 1 - Sunday
Met Gavlaaa at 7am to check south fistral. Too small so headed for Mawgan Porth, low tide off the rocks. Great 2 hour session 2 to 3 ft and only 5 out, also saw a seal really close. Got message from Andy who was grovelling in 2 foot slop at Croyde!
Dei too - Mundei
Bit bigger but headed for Mawgan again. Wave was heavy, closing out a bit and rippy. Got some solid drops, sketchy on fish! 4 ft, perhaps more on sets. Gavlaa fed up with heavy paddle out. Saw seal matey boy again, I think she fancies me! 2 hrs again and got 2 or 3 very fast and long hollow rides. Weather crap but stoke is good! Hope mie spelin is ok.
Luv
Ben
Dei thri - Choosedei
Gavin and I are both feeling the two hour session we did in Mawgan Porth yesterday, which was a 2 hour paddle against the current session. So we welcomed a 3 to 4ft South Fistral early. Jumped off the rocks so a dry haired paddle out was on the menu. After his first wave Gavin maid the decision to change his board!! He swapped the egg for a fish, yes we were surfing and not doing a Rick Stein cookery course,
It was a good decision as he later court a corker of a right all the way to the rocks. In the end we staid in four too and a half hours! Sun came out too, scorchio!
So far, been here. 3 days and had 3 good sessions! Still waiting for a super session but it's coming JC, it's coming...!
Cowabunga!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I think he's Mocking me...
Alternative Blog
Dei 1 - Sunday
Met Gavlaaa at 7am to check south fistral. Too small so headed for Mawgan Porth, low tide off the rocks. Great 2 hour session 2 to 3 ft and only 5 out, also saw a seal really close. Got message from Andy who was grovelling in 2 foot slop at Croyde!
Dei too - Mundei
Bit bigger but headed for Mawgan again. Wave was heavy, closing out a bit and rippy. Got some solid drops, sketchy on fish! 4 ft, perhaps more on sets. Gavlaa fed up with heavy paddle out. Saw seal matey boy again, I think she fancies me! 2 hrs again and got 2 or 3 very fast and long hollow rides. Weather crap but stoke is good! Hope mie spelin is ok.
Luv
Ben
Dei thri - Choosedei
Gavin and I are both feeling the two hour session we did in Mawgan Porth yesterday, which was a 2 hour paddle against the current session. So we welcomed a 3 to 4ft South Fistral early. Jumped off the rocks so a dry haired paddle out was on the menu. After his first wave Gavin maid the decision to change his board!! He swapped the egg for a fish, yes we were surfing and not doing a Rick Stein cookery course,
It was a good decision as he later court a corker of a right all the way to the rocks. In the end we staid in four too and a half hours! Sun came out too, scorchio!
So far, been here. 3 days and had 3 good sessions! Still waiting for a super session but it's coming JC, it's coming...!
Cowabunga!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I think he's Mocking me...
Sunday 23 October 2011
BIG WEDNESDAY ! !
Wednesday 19th 2011
After being in the deepest, darkest, barrel for 9 months, Cody Beau Mottram yelped for joy as he clawed onto life seconds after his first breath! The after spray from the barrel was intense, but Cody managed to stay on his feet for a perfect 10. Cody may take some time to recover and when he's next on a wave, (about 5 years time) the biggest barrel of his life will be a forgotten moment, although for all who witnessed (well mainly his Mum), it will live in memories forever.
------------------------------
Ok so that was a bit contrived, but hey what's a bit of artistic licence between friends....
And the long version of what actually happened for anyone who might care...
My Mum was due to arrive Monday night and the plan was that she would look after the kids, take them to school and generally help out on Wednesday (planned Caesarean birthday). Both Charlotte and I have no family locally and our parents live 200 miles away, so a 'known' birth date had massive advantages for us. But towards the end of last week and into the weekend my Grandfather (Mums dad) suddenly fell gravely ill and was seriously looking like dying just in time for my new babies birth. My Mum was obviously in a bit of a state and was needing to be with her Mum, siblings and her Dad.
Charlotte and I thought fine, we can adapt, the new plan will be drop Char at hospital at around 7am, I get back and get the kids to school and then rush back to the hospital hopefully in time for the delivery of Cody. Both our other children were delivered by C-section around 9am but depending on where on where Char fell on the list it could be as late as midday so we felt we had plenty of time.
Monday night we heard the news that my Grandfatherhad was in a stable state and although in ITU the doctors said nothing was likely to change for a while so my mum said she would come down Tuesday Night and the original plan could go ahead.
I woke up Tuesday Morning with two golf ball sized lumps sticking out of my neck... apart from my obvious discomfort and feeling slightly scared about my predicament the reaction from Charlotte was understandably quite extreme, by 8.50am I was sitting in our doctors surgery waiting to be examined.
After answering a list of questions, most of which I answered "no" and explaining my predicament (my wife giving birth tomorrow) the doctor gave a bit of a smile and said "I hope you weren't planning on being in the theatre tomorrow" and "I'm not sure what's wrong with you, maybe Glandular Fever, you need a blood test". So two pieces of great news to tell my wife, I wont be at the birth of our 3rd child and I might be ill for the next few weeks. She'd be cool!
So my Mum arrived Tuesday night, I dropped Char at the hospital Wednesday morning and we showed/explained to the Nurses and Doctors my illness and they gave Char a private room (bonus!), away from the other new Babies and Mums and the medical staff suggested I didn't get too close to the baby when it came or Charlotte who was about to get cut open! I then rushed home took my kids to school, gave my mum the sat-nav and the keys to my other car and rushed back to the hospital. Char was still waiting and had been put to 3rd on the list. We had about an hour to wait and time seemed to start warping into slow motion and the longest hour of our lives slowly ticked by.... Eventually a midwife turned up and said "Do you want to walk to Theatre or ride on the bed?" Charlotte opted to walk and I sort of waved good bye and said I'll be back in a couple of hours to meet our new baby. Very very weird experience not even kissing or hugging my wife goodbye before she had one of the biggest and scariest experiences of her life.
I had 2 hours to kill and sitting in Charlotte's room may have driven me insane so I went to meet my mum in Bournemouth town centre for some coffee. I drove from Poole Hospital quite erratically, my mind was best described as confused. As I walked through Bournemouth town centre I had the strangest sense that I was in the wrong place, it felt like a weird dream where you can't get to a place you want or you have missed something for being in the wrong place. My trippy mind was probably not helped by my fever but it was one of the strangest sensations I've ever had.
I returned to the Hospital after about 2 hours and Charlotte wasn't back from recovery. I sat... well when I say sat I was pretty twitchy, my adrenalin was pumping overdrive and I started to worry... 10 minutes passed and eventually Charlotte and Cody arrived........... they both looked happy, Charlotte looked a bit yellow and felt very sick but she was smiling. I felt my tension and stress slowly drain away.
I brought Imogen and Billy to come and meet their brother at about 6pm and all seemed good in the world. Charlotte only stayed the 1 night in hospital and by Thursday afternoon I had a very full home. Happy days.
So now I need to get better because I need a surf!
After being in the deepest, darkest, barrel for 9 months, Cody Beau Mottram yelped for joy as he clawed onto life seconds after his first breath! The after spray from the barrel was intense, but Cody managed to stay on his feet for a perfect 10. Cody may take some time to recover and when he's next on a wave, (about 5 years time) the biggest barrel of his life will be a forgotten moment, although for all who witnessed (well mainly his Mum), it will live in memories forever.
------------------------------
Ok so that was a bit contrived, but hey what's a bit of artistic licence between friends....
And the long version of what actually happened for anyone who might care...
My Mum was due to arrive Monday night and the plan was that she would look after the kids, take them to school and generally help out on Wednesday (planned Caesarean birthday). Both Charlotte and I have no family locally and our parents live 200 miles away, so a 'known' birth date had massive advantages for us. But towards the end of last week and into the weekend my Grandfather (Mums dad) suddenly fell gravely ill and was seriously looking like dying just in time for my new babies birth. My Mum was obviously in a bit of a state and was needing to be with her Mum, siblings and her Dad.
Charlotte and I thought fine, we can adapt, the new plan will be drop Char at hospital at around 7am, I get back and get the kids to school and then rush back to the hospital hopefully in time for the delivery of Cody. Both our other children were delivered by C-section around 9am but depending on where on where Char fell on the list it could be as late as midday so we felt we had plenty of time.
Monday night we heard the news that my Grandfatherhad was in a stable state and although in ITU the doctors said nothing was likely to change for a while so my mum said she would come down Tuesday Night and the original plan could go ahead.
I woke up Tuesday Morning with two golf ball sized lumps sticking out of my neck... apart from my obvious discomfort and feeling slightly scared about my predicament the reaction from Charlotte was understandably quite extreme, by 8.50am I was sitting in our doctors surgery waiting to be examined.
After answering a list of questions, most of which I answered "no" and explaining my predicament (my wife giving birth tomorrow) the doctor gave a bit of a smile and said "I hope you weren't planning on being in the theatre tomorrow" and "I'm not sure what's wrong with you, maybe Glandular Fever, you need a blood test". So two pieces of great news to tell my wife, I wont be at the birth of our 3rd child and I might be ill for the next few weeks. She'd be cool!
So my Mum arrived Tuesday night, I dropped Char at the hospital Wednesday morning and we showed/explained to the Nurses and Doctors my illness and they gave Char a private room (bonus!), away from the other new Babies and Mums and the medical staff suggested I didn't get too close to the baby when it came or Charlotte who was about to get cut open! I then rushed home took my kids to school, gave my mum the sat-nav and the keys to my other car and rushed back to the hospital. Char was still waiting and had been put to 3rd on the list. We had about an hour to wait and time seemed to start warping into slow motion and the longest hour of our lives slowly ticked by.... Eventually a midwife turned up and said "Do you want to walk to Theatre or ride on the bed?" Charlotte opted to walk and I sort of waved good bye and said I'll be back in a couple of hours to meet our new baby. Very very weird experience not even kissing or hugging my wife goodbye before she had one of the biggest and scariest experiences of her life.
I had 2 hours to kill and sitting in Charlotte's room may have driven me insane so I went to meet my mum in Bournemouth town centre for some coffee. I drove from Poole Hospital quite erratically, my mind was best described as confused. As I walked through Bournemouth town centre I had the strangest sense that I was in the wrong place, it felt like a weird dream where you can't get to a place you want or you have missed something for being in the wrong place. My trippy mind was probably not helped by my fever but it was one of the strangest sensations I've ever had.
I returned to the Hospital after about 2 hours and Charlotte wasn't back from recovery. I sat... well when I say sat I was pretty twitchy, my adrenalin was pumping overdrive and I started to worry... 10 minutes passed and eventually Charlotte and Cody arrived........... they both looked happy, Charlotte looked a bit yellow and felt very sick but she was smiling. I felt my tension and stress slowly drain away.
I brought Imogen and Billy to come and meet their brother at about 6pm and all seemed good in the world. Charlotte only stayed the 1 night in hospital and by Thursday afternoon I had a very full home. Happy days.
Cody 2 Hours Old
Imogen and Billy Meet Cody
Cody Home
So now I need to get better because I need a surf!
Tuesday 18 October 2011
Freaky Tuesday
Freaky Me Golfball Throat
I was thinking I may get a surf today but waking up this morning my throat felt a bit strange, looking in the mirror I was confronted with a freak show! My throat has 2 massive golfball like bulges sticking out of it. I thought I'd been feeling pretty strange lately but I'd put that down to stress. - - I've had some tricky issues with my work, general money worries with our overall house income about to massively drop, I'd had a call from some debt collectors about a debt my brother had ran up in my name! My Grandad has suddenly started dying, my mum has now cancelled coming to help us with our immanent babies arrival due to being with her dying dad, and there is the small matter of my wife having a Caesarian Section tomorrow.
So my question.... Is my throat thing (the docter doesn't know what it is and I need a blood test) a result of stress or have I been feeling a bit more stressed lately because I was obviously about to come down with this wierd illness?
It makes the whole K thing seem rather insignifficant. I still have idiots sending me anonymous threatening emails. Think they need to get a life!
Friday 14 October 2011
The Truth About K!!!!!!!!!!
I've had some abuse, it's not surprising, I've put myself out in 'webland' for all to read and you can never be quite sure how things will go down. Mostly people seem to be getting annoyed with my reference and reports regarding "K".
Now lets get a few things straight....
1) K, (not its real name) is not a secret spot, not even close. Fearing I might put some peoples noses out of joint who seem to be under the delusion that it is secret, I have referred to it as K. How can a spot be secret (or protected) when every surf spot guide has detailed guides on directions waves and best conditions. And that is not to stop the mass internet information available on when K will be working!
2) As a travelling surfer it would be complete madness to chose to travel to K. It is without doubt one the most fickle spots in the country. It basically only works on very clean groundswell which is coming in from a very limited direction. Also it is very exposed and is very badly effected by even the gentlest onshore winds, and if anybody thinks they understands the tide situation they are probably lying. I have turned up on 50% of occasions and driven home dry and I am relatively local and it can still be an hour and a half round trip.
3) The waves at K... Well the best waves are off limits 5 days a week.... The 'Bay' is only worth a look in the HUGEST of swells when you would definitely be better off elsewhere, and the other spot can be a paddle mission on a good swell but on most occasions is best left to Longboarders.
Being local, K sometimes provides joy and maybe that joy is somewhat exaggerated in our minds as we haven't had to drive to Cornwall that day to get some good waves. Because lets be brutal, the pier isn't really that good even on a good day. I think the anonymous comment left on my last K report sums things up....
"K, is a state of mind not a place my child.
The beautiful ketamine induced euphoria south coast surfers use to convince themselves it's firing.
Speak t'vetniary for more detailsand with respect people should not eyeball the very well known yet private K experience"
So I think less of the abuse and more of the stoke and reality check needed I think! I am happy to publish anybodies arguments or grievousness but I wont publish rudeness.
13th October.
Surf 51/16
Had a stoke filled mellow 2/3ft sunny warm glassy session at K only 4 out! I thought it might be flat when I turned up and a friend thought it would be overhead! We got somewhere in-between. Long waits between sets which varied between 1 and 4 waves. Tide moved extremely quickly from high to low. When it was low about 15 surfers turned up but the best had already been ridden.
Now lets get a few things straight....
1) K, (not its real name) is not a secret spot, not even close. Fearing I might put some peoples noses out of joint who seem to be under the delusion that it is secret, I have referred to it as K. How can a spot be secret (or protected) when every surf spot guide has detailed guides on directions waves and best conditions. And that is not to stop the mass internet information available on when K will be working!
2) As a travelling surfer it would be complete madness to chose to travel to K. It is without doubt one the most fickle spots in the country. It basically only works on very clean groundswell which is coming in from a very limited direction. Also it is very exposed and is very badly effected by even the gentlest onshore winds, and if anybody thinks they understands the tide situation they are probably lying. I have turned up on 50% of occasions and driven home dry and I am relatively local and it can still be an hour and a half round trip.
3) The waves at K... Well the best waves are off limits 5 days a week.... The 'Bay' is only worth a look in the HUGEST of swells when you would definitely be better off elsewhere, and the other spot can be a paddle mission on a good swell but on most occasions is best left to Longboarders.
Being local, K sometimes provides joy and maybe that joy is somewhat exaggerated in our minds as we haven't had to drive to Cornwall that day to get some good waves. Because lets be brutal, the pier isn't really that good even on a good day. I think the anonymous comment left on my last K report sums things up....
"K, is a state of mind not a place my child.
The beautiful ketamine induced euphoria south coast surfers use to convince themselves it's firing.
Speak t'vetniary for more detailsand with respect people should not eyeball the very well known yet private K experience"
So I think less of the abuse and more of the stoke and reality check needed I think! I am happy to publish anybodies arguments or grievousness but I wont publish rudeness.
13th October.
Surf 51/16
Had a stoke filled mellow 2/3ft sunny warm glassy session at K only 4 out! I thought it might be flat when I turned up and a friend thought it would be overhead! We got somewhere in-between. Long waits between sets which varied between 1 and 4 waves. Tide moved extremely quickly from high to low. When it was low about 15 surfers turned up but the best had already been ridden.
Monday 10 October 2011
Desperado Pier
10th October
50/15
Had a bit of a surf at the pier, waves were in the 1/2ft and very sloppy range but the tides was super low and there was a bit of a wedge into the pier which I sat on. Gary was out... longboarding! I was quite happy on my lovely 5'10 which I still think if there is a wave which is surfable I can surf it on this baby! who needs longboards :-) Ok it was a bit of desperado surf but it was warm and I have not surfed since last Friday......
50/15
Had a bit of a surf at the pier, waves were in the 1/2ft and very sloppy range but the tides was super low and there was a bit of a wedge into the pier which I sat on. Gary was out... longboarding! I was quite happy on my lovely 5'10 which I still think if there is a wave which is surfable I can surf it on this baby! who needs longboards :-) Ok it was a bit of desperado surf but it was warm and I have not surfed since last Friday......
Thursday 6 October 2011
New Surfboard on Test!!!
I have a lovely new surfboard to play with. Basically I am involved with a new online surf shop which will soon be going live and this board has been given to me to be used as a demo/test board which is still for sale. All surfs on this board will be documented on this blog, so if you like the sound of it you could break my heart and buy it for a complete bargain.
The board shaped by Adrian Phillips for Fluid Juice is pretty much a standard shortboard, 6'2 x 19 x 2 4/10 with a thruster set up, A squash tail with hard rails for the first 1/3 of the board which taper off into smooth round rails from about the mid point of the board. The boards bottom shape is single concave into double concave. The board has a subtle yet attractive spray job of what looks like grass growing from the tail fading into the middle of the board with the Fluid Juice logo in its usual top 1/3 of the board.
I have put LBX2 fins in this board as the board comes with the ever popular LokBox Fin System. I do love the solidness of the LokBox Fin System and the advantage of being able to move the fins forward or back depending on preference or surf conditions, but I often find I start to fall into the dilemma of where best to put the fins! I have set the fins up in the middle position. I have put an unbranded white tail pad on this board which has been given to me from a new surf brand which is depending on tests results maybe manufactured. The tail pad is a classic shaped 3 piece with the branded 3M sticky on the back.
This board would normally sell new for £425.
I am so excited about surfing this board and I have to admit I do especially love Fluid Juice boards. Like all Fluid Juice boards there is a nice solid feel about it and the glassing is maybe slighter thicker than other surfboard brands, the finish smells of pure quality and there is an artistic feel and look to the board. It has been a while since I have surfed a standard thruster short board and I am looking forward to getting on this baby.
The board shaped by Adrian Phillips for Fluid Juice is pretty much a standard shortboard, 6'2 x 19 x 2 4/10 with a thruster set up, A squash tail with hard rails for the first 1/3 of the board which taper off into smooth round rails from about the mid point of the board. The boards bottom shape is single concave into double concave. The board has a subtle yet attractive spray job of what looks like grass growing from the tail fading into the middle of the board with the Fluid Juice logo in its usual top 1/3 of the board.
I have put LBX2 fins in this board as the board comes with the ever popular LokBox Fin System. I do love the solidness of the LokBox Fin System and the advantage of being able to move the fins forward or back depending on preference or surf conditions, but I often find I start to fall into the dilemma of where best to put the fins! I have set the fins up in the middle position. I have put an unbranded white tail pad on this board which has been given to me from a new surf brand which is depending on tests results maybe manufactured. The tail pad is a classic shaped 3 piece with the branded 3M sticky on the back.
This board would normally sell new for £425.
I am so excited about surfing this board and I have to admit I do especially love Fluid Juice boards. Like all Fluid Juice boards there is a nice solid feel about it and the glassing is maybe slighter thicker than other surfboard brands, the finish smells of pure quality and there is an artistic feel and look to the board. It has been a while since I have surfed a standard thruster short board and I am looking forward to getting on this baby.
This board is for sale but please don't buy it yet!
Tuesday 4 October 2011
Beautiful K
29th September
It's always a risk going to K, there must be very few people who actually live close and with virtually no mobile reception down there, trying to get an accurate on the spot check is almost impossible and there is always the issue of the £5 toll road to put your nose out of joint. I must have turned up to find it flat or blowing a gale on at least 50% of occasions. The wave buoys could be showing 6ft and 12 seconds but if the swell is to much from the west things could be flat, and then there is the issue of the tide! I have lived down here and surfed K for over 10 years and I still couldn't tell you what the best tide is, some say high, some say low, some say high dropping some say low pushing some say mid and the fact is I don't think anyone has it truely nailed, the tides don't even run in a normal way, with double lows, double highs or seemingly mid all day! The description of 'fickle' is never more apt than when describing K. Maybe this adds to the stoke, getting it working well is so rare that when we do maybe it's that little bit more special.
Surf 48/13
My brother has lived in Bournemouth on and off for the last few years but has only been to K on 2 occasions, I thought surely today before he moves away again at the weekend he can see K working. The buoys were looking good and the weather was exceptional, windless and about 25c. The drive felt long with road works making us divert and was the beginning of rush hour, we eventually got to the top of the hill with the first view of the bay at about 4.30pm. Looking out it was completely flat, super glassy clean but not a ripple. We had some debate about going down the toll road to have a closer look and eventually decided to go for it. Thankfully the person who collects the money had gone for the day woho, although our happiness was soon tainted when we arrived at the car park to find no waves. Several surfers were milling around watching and waiting.....
A Set with only one wave rolled through, we decided and so did the other 3 surfers that it looked just about surfable and with such amazing weather getting in the water wasn't really a chore. Things could only get better, the tide was due to go from extreme low to extreme high within 3 hours and the swell was due to be increasing into tomorrow. Amazingly things did get better, super clean walled up lefts became longer and more consistent and I found myself on wave after wave, my 5'10 fish was loving it and so was I! We got out when it was dark and my arms were aching, the odd head high although mellow set had been surfed and we both felt seriously stoked!
I got home about 8.20pm and found myself in serious trouble with my (very pregnant) wife. She had planned a romantic dinner and I had forgotten to cancel a squash game with a mate. At 8.45pm I was playing squash and my dinner was in the bin!
Surf 49/14
Getting to bed (spare room!) about midnight after a long surf, squash game and no dinner, I was seriously tired and sore. The alarm went at 5.30am and I had to remind myself this was meant to be fun! I was meeting my good friend Ben (Spanish teacher from VVF sessions who likes to correct me on my bad English) and I new that first light was going to be best for tides and swell.
The countryside surrounding K was simply stunning, the valleys beneath the gentle hills had a thin layer of mist set against a dark blue sky and deep red horizon it looked like one of those rare stunning views you may see from an aeroplane or mountain range. Getting to the car park there was already about 10 recognisable vans and battered cars, and an enthusiastic early crew were checking and changing. Ben hadn't arrived yet and I couldn't wait and I was glad I didn't. I was the third guy on the peak and when a set came I got a stunning long overhead ride, my fish felt extremely loose but fun and fast and it wasn't long before I was on another ride. Lefts were definitely best and I found myself speeding away from the lip onto the shoulder then digging my tail in hard trying to cutback and rebound with varying success. Ben soon arrived and would enthusiastically tell me about each great wave he had, I saw him have a great (backhand) left where he managed to get his board fully vertical out the lip and slash it round beautifully. It was a very rare and stunning day had by all who surfed.
Ben bought me breakfast (did I say my new best friend.... OK I'm cheap what can I say?) and I left him to have a second surf while I went home to grovel!
I managed to make up with my wife and the afternoon was spent at the beach surfing the kids and then Fish and Chips.... Does it get much better?
It's always a risk going to K, there must be very few people who actually live close and with virtually no mobile reception down there, trying to get an accurate on the spot check is almost impossible and there is always the issue of the £5 toll road to put your nose out of joint. I must have turned up to find it flat or blowing a gale on at least 50% of occasions. The wave buoys could be showing 6ft and 12 seconds but if the swell is to much from the west things could be flat, and then there is the issue of the tide! I have lived down here and surfed K for over 10 years and I still couldn't tell you what the best tide is, some say high, some say low, some say high dropping some say low pushing some say mid and the fact is I don't think anyone has it truely nailed, the tides don't even run in a normal way, with double lows, double highs or seemingly mid all day! The description of 'fickle' is never more apt than when describing K. Maybe this adds to the stoke, getting it working well is so rare that when we do maybe it's that little bit more special.
Surf 48/13
My brother has lived in Bournemouth on and off for the last few years but has only been to K on 2 occasions, I thought surely today before he moves away again at the weekend he can see K working. The buoys were looking good and the weather was exceptional, windless and about 25c. The drive felt long with road works making us divert and was the beginning of rush hour, we eventually got to the top of the hill with the first view of the bay at about 4.30pm. Looking out it was completely flat, super glassy clean but not a ripple. We had some debate about going down the toll road to have a closer look and eventually decided to go for it. Thankfully the person who collects the money had gone for the day woho, although our happiness was soon tainted when we arrived at the car park to find no waves. Several surfers were milling around watching and waiting.....
A Set with only one wave rolled through, we decided and so did the other 3 surfers that it looked just about surfable and with such amazing weather getting in the water wasn't really a chore. Things could only get better, the tide was due to go from extreme low to extreme high within 3 hours and the swell was due to be increasing into tomorrow. Amazingly things did get better, super clean walled up lefts became longer and more consistent and I found myself on wave after wave, my 5'10 fish was loving it and so was I! We got out when it was dark and my arms were aching, the odd head high although mellow set had been surfed and we both felt seriously stoked!
I got home about 8.20pm and found myself in serious trouble with my (very pregnant) wife. She had planned a romantic dinner and I had forgotten to cancel a squash game with a mate. At 8.45pm I was playing squash and my dinner was in the bin!
Surf 49/14
Getting to bed (spare room!) about midnight after a long surf, squash game and no dinner, I was seriously tired and sore. The alarm went at 5.30am and I had to remind myself this was meant to be fun! I was meeting my good friend Ben (Spanish teacher from VVF sessions who likes to correct me on my bad English) and I new that first light was going to be best for tides and swell.
The countryside surrounding K was simply stunning, the valleys beneath the gentle hills had a thin layer of mist set against a dark blue sky and deep red horizon it looked like one of those rare stunning views you may see from an aeroplane or mountain range. Getting to the car park there was already about 10 recognisable vans and battered cars, and an enthusiastic early crew were checking and changing. Ben hadn't arrived yet and I couldn't wait and I was glad I didn't. I was the third guy on the peak and when a set came I got a stunning long overhead ride, my fish felt extremely loose but fun and fast and it wasn't long before I was on another ride. Lefts were definitely best and I found myself speeding away from the lip onto the shoulder then digging my tail in hard trying to cutback and rebound with varying success. Ben soon arrived and would enthusiastically tell me about each great wave he had, I saw him have a great (backhand) left where he managed to get his board fully vertical out the lip and slash it round beautifully. It was a very rare and stunning day had by all who surfed.
Ben bought me breakfast (did I say my new best friend.... OK I'm cheap what can I say?) and I left him to have a second surf while I went home to grovel!
I managed to make up with my wife and the afternoon was spent at the beach surfing the kids and then Fish and Chips.... Does it get much better?
Tuesday 27 September 2011
Love/Hate Croyde
September 27th
A Day trip to Croyde, After some debate Dan And I decided to go on Monday rather than Sunday, the thinking was less people in the water and much better wind conditions and there was even talk that the sun may come out!
46/11
6am text came through... "on my way" 10 minutes later Dan and I were putting the 'world to rights' on religion, psychology and the fact too many people had too much money and didn't know what to do with it. We concluded that If they surfed they may have a better idea!
We decided to head straight for Woolacombe thinking the drive past Sauntan and Croyde would only lead to indecision. ( Indecision .. A trait bestowed to most surfers when searching for waves because of the belief that somewhere else maybe better). Luckily Woolacombe looked crap! sloppy unshapely small waves were making there way slowly to the shore, after 3 hours driving we didn't exactly feel inspired. Croyde was the ONLY option!
How different things can be on adjacent beaches, we parked in the National trust car park towards Baggy Point, looking out across Croyde Bay we could see glassy 3/4ft barrels. The tide was low and still dropping for the next hour or so. I grabbed my 6'2 quad and Dan spent about a minute deciding between his Bonzer short board or his Mini Mal, it wasn't the hardest decision as these waves looked tricky enough on a short board a Mini Mal could have been very hard work.
As we paddled out we saw a guy pig dogging one of the deepest left hand barrels I've seen in years, he must have been 2-3 metres behind the lip and fully dry in an airy chasm, as I paddled over the shoulder I looked back and it seemed quite a wile and looked a long way down the line before the guy re-appeared, "surely he didn't get out of that" I thought, but speaking to Dan a few minutes later he confirmed the guy did get out! Dan had said something to the guy in passing congratulating him on a great wave.... you know sharing the stoke, being friendly, all out here in glassy amazing waves, nobody actually working like most other (normal) people.... Only to get a sneered response turned back and paddled back out!
Now I am, on most occasions, pretty happy go lucky and accepting of other surfers, I've been known to talk to Boogie Boarders, Goat Boaters, I can even accept Wave Hogs and Long Boarders (SUP boarders on anything other than small waves do worry me) and I actually have a good friend who rides a Wave Ski...... But.... attitude, unfriendliness, and generally being a bit 'too cool for school' really gets me annoyed, I think these guys (and girls) are seriously missing the point! It wasn't as if the Twat in question was a stand out surfer either, granted he got in and out of a better, deeper and suckier barrel than I have ever managed, but I saw him on another wave where he was flaring his arms all over the place, standing way to straight legged and about as stylish as... umm... err.... some one not that stylish. So Mister Cool next time you get a great wave or even a not so great one, a laugh, a grin, a smile, a joke, a hand wave or even a nod of the head will go a long way to sharing the stoke and spreading a little happiness in this crazily addictive, beautiful, extremely fun and possible completely pointless sport well call surfing.
OK rant over... back to the the trip..
So the waves were good, steep heavy fast and barrelling, if it wasn't for the brown cold water and surrounding scenery I could have mistaken this place for France! The first part of this session was intense, it reminded me of some of the session I had in the summer at Bunkers. There were 2 distinct yet shifty peaks breaking slightly unpredictably coming from deep water and hitting a very shallow sand bar, I managed a couple of 'warm me up' waves to build some confidence then I found my self in the perfect position to take one of the bigger set waves, jumping to my feet the wave sucked steeper and steeper almost appearing to grow in size as I shot down the line, I could see sand and seaweed sucking up the wall and my thoughts were just gun for the shoulder, I went for a turn off the top as the wave seemed to slow, although this was a bad idea as the wave wrapped round the shoulder and quickly steepened up again and I found my self being catapulted forward into the pit.
I paddled back to Dan and we decided to try the left hand end of the beach where there seemed to be less people. It was a very intense situation on the right hand part of the beach and Dan was yet to catch a wave, feeling uncomfortable on a board he hadn't ridden for a wile in a very crowded line up with heavy waves we thought the other side of the bay looked a little more mellow. This was a massive understatement the waves I would say were under half the size and I found myself hampering after my 5'10. We surfed here for the rest of the session mostly alone and eventually Dan started to catch some waves, he looked quality on a short board and I suggested to him that he should never really take a bigger board out, but his reply was "wave count" and he would often moan when a fatter wave went under him un-ridden saying "I would have got that on my Mini Mal".
I had some nice rights where I felt I really turned well off the top in a way I was unable to do on my front side, later Dan suggested this maybe because I was quite front footed on my forehand which wasn't so conducive to a quad set up but on my back side I was more back footed and pushed much harder through the heal. So maybe a thruster set up would work better for me.
47/12
A large batch of sandwiches and home made flapjacks were consumed before a half an hour chill out and phone calls were made. Looking out, the waves seemed to have mellowed and dropped in size, it was mid tide and pushing, I suggested to Dan he took his Mini Mal and he took my advice, quite frankly I couldn't face the "I would have got that on my Mini Mal" moan and with tired arms and mellower looking waves it seemed the obvious choice. I took my 5'10 fish. As we entered the water the scene of of 3 or 4 rows of white water filled us both with dread of a hard paddle out and we weren't wrong, for some reason I was wearing my 5/3 wetsuit and by the time I eventually got out back I felt extremely hot. The waves were a lot bigger and more powerful than they looked from land and I quickly assessed I was on the wrong board. A lovely looking wave came through and I called Dan on. He took it, dropped in, top turn and then popped off, paddled back to me and complained he was "mid wee!" Haha... Why is it when somebody calls you into a wave you feel strangely compelled to go, forgetting all your own judgement? We surfed for over two and half hours I didn't have any outstanding moments, I found I was hanging on a bit on the bigger drops, early on in the session the waves were showing and then backing off before doubling up or suddenly steepening up and then often closing out, This made it hard to know where to sit, sitting deep and you couldn't get on the waves, sitting inside and the waves jacked up quickly which made me feel uncomfortable taking late big drops on my 5'10. As the tide moved on this stopped happening but by this point my arms and shoulders were shot to pieces. I saw Dan get plenty of waves, pumping his 8ft Mini Mal extremely well making lots of sections and producing a surprising amount of speed.
The drive home seemed long and we broke my most basic rule by stopping at McDonalds... but hey after 5 hours of surfing and feeling extremely hungry and fatigued, surely a moment of weakness can be forgiven?
Croyde Love/Hate?
There is no doubting the quality of Croyde, especially at low tide. I don't know many places in the UK where you truly get that 'French Beach Break' experience (without the warmth, blue water and boobs! Actually I could go on but I wont...). Croyde is one of the best beach breaks in the country but coupled with this is dirty/smelly water, crowds and attitude. Also the waves can be short and sometimes a bit closey. But I will be back and hopefully next time that left hand Barrel can be mine, When it is, I will definitely be sharing the stoke! :-)
A Day trip to Croyde, After some debate Dan And I decided to go on Monday rather than Sunday, the thinking was less people in the water and much better wind conditions and there was even talk that the sun may come out!
46/11
6am text came through... "on my way" 10 minutes later Dan and I were putting the 'world to rights' on religion, psychology and the fact too many people had too much money and didn't know what to do with it. We concluded that If they surfed they may have a better idea!
We decided to head straight for Woolacombe thinking the drive past Sauntan and Croyde would only lead to indecision. ( Indecision .. A trait bestowed to most surfers when searching for waves because of the belief that somewhere else maybe better). Luckily Woolacombe looked crap! sloppy unshapely small waves were making there way slowly to the shore, after 3 hours driving we didn't exactly feel inspired. Croyde was the ONLY option!
How different things can be on adjacent beaches, we parked in the National trust car park towards Baggy Point, looking out across Croyde Bay we could see glassy 3/4ft barrels. The tide was low and still dropping for the next hour or so. I grabbed my 6'2 quad and Dan spent about a minute deciding between his Bonzer short board or his Mini Mal, it wasn't the hardest decision as these waves looked tricky enough on a short board a Mini Mal could have been very hard work.
As we paddled out we saw a guy pig dogging one of the deepest left hand barrels I've seen in years, he must have been 2-3 metres behind the lip and fully dry in an airy chasm, as I paddled over the shoulder I looked back and it seemed quite a wile and looked a long way down the line before the guy re-appeared, "surely he didn't get out of that" I thought, but speaking to Dan a few minutes later he confirmed the guy did get out! Dan had said something to the guy in passing congratulating him on a great wave.... you know sharing the stoke, being friendly, all out here in glassy amazing waves, nobody actually working like most other (normal) people.... Only to get a sneered response turned back and paddled back out!
Now I am, on most occasions, pretty happy go lucky and accepting of other surfers, I've been known to talk to Boogie Boarders, Goat Boaters, I can even accept Wave Hogs and Long Boarders (SUP boarders on anything other than small waves do worry me) and I actually have a good friend who rides a Wave Ski...... But.... attitude, unfriendliness, and generally being a bit 'too cool for school' really gets me annoyed, I think these guys (and girls) are seriously missing the point! It wasn't as if the Twat in question was a stand out surfer either, granted he got in and out of a better, deeper and suckier barrel than I have ever managed, but I saw him on another wave where he was flaring his arms all over the place, standing way to straight legged and about as stylish as... umm... err.... some one not that stylish. So Mister Cool next time you get a great wave or even a not so great one, a laugh, a grin, a smile, a joke, a hand wave or even a nod of the head will go a long way to sharing the stoke and spreading a little happiness in this crazily addictive, beautiful, extremely fun and possible completely pointless sport well call surfing.
OK rant over... back to the the trip..
So the waves were good, steep heavy fast and barrelling, if it wasn't for the brown cold water and surrounding scenery I could have mistaken this place for France! The first part of this session was intense, it reminded me of some of the session I had in the summer at Bunkers. There were 2 distinct yet shifty peaks breaking slightly unpredictably coming from deep water and hitting a very shallow sand bar, I managed a couple of 'warm me up' waves to build some confidence then I found my self in the perfect position to take one of the bigger set waves, jumping to my feet the wave sucked steeper and steeper almost appearing to grow in size as I shot down the line, I could see sand and seaweed sucking up the wall and my thoughts were just gun for the shoulder, I went for a turn off the top as the wave seemed to slow, although this was a bad idea as the wave wrapped round the shoulder and quickly steepened up again and I found my self being catapulted forward into the pit.
I paddled back to Dan and we decided to try the left hand end of the beach where there seemed to be less people. It was a very intense situation on the right hand part of the beach and Dan was yet to catch a wave, feeling uncomfortable on a board he hadn't ridden for a wile in a very crowded line up with heavy waves we thought the other side of the bay looked a little more mellow. This was a massive understatement the waves I would say were under half the size and I found myself hampering after my 5'10. We surfed here for the rest of the session mostly alone and eventually Dan started to catch some waves, he looked quality on a short board and I suggested to him that he should never really take a bigger board out, but his reply was "wave count" and he would often moan when a fatter wave went under him un-ridden saying "I would have got that on my Mini Mal".
I had some nice rights where I felt I really turned well off the top in a way I was unable to do on my front side, later Dan suggested this maybe because I was quite front footed on my forehand which wasn't so conducive to a quad set up but on my back side I was more back footed and pushed much harder through the heal. So maybe a thruster set up would work better for me.
47/12
A large batch of sandwiches and home made flapjacks were consumed before a half an hour chill out and phone calls were made. Looking out, the waves seemed to have mellowed and dropped in size, it was mid tide and pushing, I suggested to Dan he took his Mini Mal and he took my advice, quite frankly I couldn't face the "I would have got that on my Mini Mal" moan and with tired arms and mellower looking waves it seemed the obvious choice. I took my 5'10 fish. As we entered the water the scene of of 3 or 4 rows of white water filled us both with dread of a hard paddle out and we weren't wrong, for some reason I was wearing my 5/3 wetsuit and by the time I eventually got out back I felt extremely hot. The waves were a lot bigger and more powerful than they looked from land and I quickly assessed I was on the wrong board. A lovely looking wave came through and I called Dan on. He took it, dropped in, top turn and then popped off, paddled back to me and complained he was "mid wee!" Haha... Why is it when somebody calls you into a wave you feel strangely compelled to go, forgetting all your own judgement? We surfed for over two and half hours I didn't have any outstanding moments, I found I was hanging on a bit on the bigger drops, early on in the session the waves were showing and then backing off before doubling up or suddenly steepening up and then often closing out, This made it hard to know where to sit, sitting deep and you couldn't get on the waves, sitting inside and the waves jacked up quickly which made me feel uncomfortable taking late big drops on my 5'10. As the tide moved on this stopped happening but by this point my arms and shoulders were shot to pieces. I saw Dan get plenty of waves, pumping his 8ft Mini Mal extremely well making lots of sections and producing a surprising amount of speed.
The drive home seemed long and we broke my most basic rule by stopping at McDonalds... but hey after 5 hours of surfing and feeling extremely hungry and fatigued, surely a moment of weakness can be forgiven?
Croyde Love/Hate?
There is no doubting the quality of Croyde, especially at low tide. I don't know many places in the UK where you truly get that 'French Beach Break' experience (without the warmth, blue water and boobs! Actually I could go on but I wont...). Croyde is one of the best beach breaks in the country but coupled with this is dirty/smelly water, crowds and attitude. Also the waves can be short and sometimes a bit closey. But I will be back and hopefully next time that left hand Barrel can be mine, When it is, I will definitely be sharing the stoke! :-)
iphone pic not the best but you get the idea
Van with a View!
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