Rest Needed! Enjoying all the Sun....

30^th Quality Point like Rights

Feeling the pain but still buzzing from yesterdays surf getting up is hurting, as we cycled to VVF we could feel the warm on shore winds in our faces, the string was banging hard against the flag post and we didn’t need a strong reason to turn around and peddle back to bed. Andy had a terrible night, he felt sick with headaches and shivers, he thinks he had too much sun although it could have been general run down tiredness.

I spent the day surfing with the kids at Sports, I have some great shots of Imogen standing on some white water waves which will be uploaded soon, You hardly need any swell to get the kids going. By the afternoon I was getting itchy for a surf so I persuaded Andy to try a late afternoon session, although he wasn’t too keen thinking the tides would be wrong and wind strong.

 Surf 12 Delight in the Right

Mounting the top of the dune at VVF a wonderful sight greeted us, long ride-able and clean high tide right handers were chundering across the beach, the swell had grown since earlier and the wind had dropped, it must have been a solid 4ft and with nobody out on the spot we chose we had plenty of quality ‘yellow’ like waves. Happy days, maybe afternoon surfs weren’t such a bad idea after all, and it appears that VVF was at all tides….. woobillyhoobilly!!

31^st Last Day of July

Surf 13 The Pain.

I hurt in places I didn’t know I could hurt! Getting up this morning had never felt this hard, I didn’t get to bed until long after midnight and my muscles were starting to rebel against my mind. The long long slow cycle to the beach did little to warm me up and although 3/4ft of punchy slightly messed up waves were fun at times I think a rest is now needed! Luckily the out look for tomorrow is for dropping swell, Magic Seaweed have 1ft predicted for the morning and although I know I could find a wave especially as off shore glassy conditions are virtually guaranteed I think the time has come to rest!

We spent the day escaping the heat and the afternoon walking through the old Capbreton Town. St Jean De Luz tomorrow and sleep!

This Is What We Came For!

27^th Sloppy Seconds

Hot and sunny, normal south of France weather resumes... few!

Surf 8

Surfed Les Bourdaines, decided to go north thinking the low tide generally doesn’t work in the south (Although check surf 11 it now does!)

We scored an uninspiring 2/3ft sloppy and slow, this isn’t what we want!

Cycled to Hossegor with kids and pregnant wife 10 mile round.

Surf 9

Bunkers quality punchy 3ft, managed to get right in the zone and hogged the right hand point had a great surf.

28^th Can We Rest Yet?  

Happily the morninjg was blown out, My body felt so fatigued when I crawled out of bed, I was really happy to see the onsure winds blowing at the top of the dune. The 3ft of swell and it didn’t seem worth the effort!

Surf 10

I went for a late afternoon surf, Andy wasn’t around and Char wanted an evening with me! Surfed at VVF 3/4ft slop tastastic high tide with onshores surfed the 5’10 fish. Very warm surfing in the day.

29^th This is what we signed up for!!!!

Surf…. magic number 11

It’s not often I surf for longer than 2 hours but today I surfed for 3.5 hours. I thought the reports for today looked promising but you can never be sure until you turn up, the banks and swell direction can always make things a little closey even if all other conditions are perfect. Luckily it was very good and when it’s that good it’s best to take advantage as tomorrow it may be gone.

We arrived at VVF at 6.45am. I decided on taking my 5’10 fish which I thought was a bit risky after Andy’s assessment of the previous evening but I love the speed it gives, sacrificing some control and risking the odd steep take off trauma but it is always loads of fun..

The waves were in the 3/4ft range off shore, fast and peaky. A pack of about 15 guys were already on the peak to the right of the beach entrance, the sheep effect was already working, Andy and I both agreed that the empty peak to the left of the entrance looked better and after last nights session Andy was convinced that as the tide dropped out it would get better.

For the first hour the waves were breaking very fast and there was a slightly bouncy effect every now and again with a bit of backwash coming from the high tide. I had 1 crazy wave where as I dropped in the backwash jacked the wave up, the next moment I found myself in a deep gaping tunnel, fully stood up straight legged on my board with water all around me. Less than a second later the board slipped up the face of the wave and I found my head being pummelled into the sand. This probably goes down as my deepest biggest barrel, shame I couldn’t hold it and thankfully I was wearing my ear plugs as I would have been clearing the sand out of my ears for years after. As I came to the surface I wooped myself with pure joy.

As the session progressed the tide was dropping and the waves started breaking on a deeper sand bar, at first these waves were a bit slack and backing off, we were better off catching the reforms on the inside. As the tide dropped  further the outside waves started to get better and better eventually producing perfect peaks with long bashable, carvey and at times tubey walls. I found myself dominating the peak taking wave after wave of the biggest sets with little break in-between, I had one wave where I dropped into a barrel and then came out to have a long wall to play with, a guy on the inside gave me a big smile and wooped. On another, half way along the wave I managed to get slotted just under the lip for a few metres before coming out again and popping off the top before the close out. I had so many quality waves, for the third hour surfing became easy and almost effortless, I would paddle into the most perfect peaks time and time again, sometimes I was late other times I would be too deep but some how I still managed to catch every wave I went for and then after popping off or getting hammered at the end, I would quickly find myself back at on the peak . I started to feel a bit conscious and guilty of paddling past the 10 to 15 other surfers in the water and right onto the middle of the peak sitting slightly deeper than everyone else, but it was a friendly smiley and apologetic crowd with no obvious rippers and I think a large contingent were German who always seem friendly, respectful and chilled out.

Andy left the session after 2 hours which was a shame as I think the best waves came after he had gone, but he did have a stonking session last night with just 1 other guy out so I think he was slightly more fatigued than me. I decided to end the session after going on a 10 minute dry spell which coincided with chatting to this German guy who was staying in a van with 4 other guys on a 2 month trip, he said things were tense at times! My hands were shaking with the lack of energy, my shoulders were burning and ignoring them was now not an option and my left ear was hurting due to the plug being slightly too big. So I called (to my self in my head!) ‘one last wave’ unusually it came along pretty quick, jumping to my feet I had a crusey carvey finish which nearly ended in disaster as the wave double up on the inside and sucked on half a foot of water. The board fell away from me, I hit the sand hard, quickly putting my arms over my head, the board then smacked me in the back of my arms with surprising force, luckily the fins missed me. I staggered from the water, bruised, sore, dehydrated and starving. I hardly noticed the early morning sun-seeking gatherings of topless women…. OK I noticed them… But walking up the dune was taking most of my energy and I didn’t need the extra distractions!

This was the sort of session I have come to France for, a text book summers morning, I haven’t had a session this enjoyable since some of the great surfs I had in February and on my stoke factor rating I think it probably gets an 8.5 out of 10. So why not a 10? Well there was more than just me and my mates surfing and it was a shame that Andy left the session early (and before it got really good), so the only way this session could have got a 10 was for a beautiful women to paddle up to me and offer me half time refreshments and then for a topless lady to provide me with copious amounts of food and a massage as I left the water. Sadly this didn’t happen!

I think I have finally arrived in France. I missed the evening session due to pure fatigue. A French guy told me as I was getting changed that it had been a bad summer, the last two months have had a lot of rain and onshore winds and this was the best for a long time. Lets hope it now stays a bit more like this!

My current list of injuries….

1)     Avery sore/stiff neck which I can’t fully turn to the left.

2)     A pain in my chest on the right side which sometimes hurts when I breath. I think it is some kind of rib muscle strain.

3)     A sore ankle where the Fins smacked me on a wipe out

4)     A sore twingy lower right back

The rest of the Day was spent eating and a cycle ride to Hoss Park, kids played in the man made beaches around the lake and I nursed my injuries and had more food!

Full on Bunkers and the rain finally stops.

26^th  Here Comes The Sun

At about 11am midway through our morning surf the rain finally stopped! Possible one of the longest runs of constant drizzly rain I have ever experienced in France, it had more of a North Wales feel to the weather. As soon as the rain stopped a humid warmth was quickly felt giving a slightly tropical feel to the atmosphere.

Surf 6

After yesterdays non event, I was already getting pretty desperate to get back in the water. The swell was quite big and still disorganised although the gentle on shores were having little effect, our best option appeared to be a very crowded Sports 3/4ft of punchy steep waves were quite fun especially in the take off, but positioning and manoeuvring amongst the crowd took away most of the stoke factor, resulting in my least favourite surf of the trip.

Surf 7

Wo there!!! Surfed a very heavy mid to low tide Bunkers with lots of people out, a solid 5ft and fully top to bottom on the take off. Got properly nailed on many occasions had a few full on adrenalin drops and the occasional ride which allowed a turn! It was hard work and you had to be on your toes. The crowd made things even more intense. The on shore winds were making things a little confused as well. If this wave was any bigger I think I would be advised not to go out not really a ‘fun’ surf but definitely a buzz!

First Full Day, Secret Spot and Off Shores

22^nd  First full day

Surf 2

I woke up a long time before my alarm, which was set for 6.20am. Although still completely wasted from the trip down and the late evening surf I wanted to get on the dawnies right away. VVF still had an angry look to it and Sports was looking a bit sloppy so we opted for Bunkers (the spot just to the left of Sports but before La Piste  and to the right of the sinking German bunkers.) The waves were chunky and felt quite sizey with big bowly peaks and heavy fast and at times closey walls. Best described in the 4/5ft range but with some freakish sneaky sets which you’d were wise to avoid especially in the ever increasing crowd. I had great fun surfing my 6’2 quad which liked to straight line it down the super fast walls tucking in to get properly nailed.

The day was spent finishing off setting up the camp, getting some food shopping in and swimming with the kids. The weather was good, warm and sunny but not too intense which was good for Char. Andy arrived at 8pm with surfboard and I was questioning if I could keep up this intensity!

Surf 3

Bunkers 3/4ft had dropped off since the earlier session and as the tide pushed in and the crowds dispersed things seemed to mellow even more. I surfed my Bonzer and I  preffered it in some ways to the quad although I missed the easy paddle in especially on a mellowing wave.

Bunkers is probably my least favourite place to surf in the Hossegor area but it is a great option for a semi sheltered break, picking up a lot more swell than Sports/Towns in Capbreton (Towns is the furthest beach to the right in Capbreton which ends at the jetty wall). The main problem with the place is it gets very crowded mainly because when surfing it, it is probably one of the few options around unless you are inclined to travel down to the Biarritz area.

23^rd  Secret Spot

Surf 4

The alarm woke me up and I was aching, I could have slept another 5 hours and this felt like pain. Andy was waiting outside my van when I emerged and we made what felt like a long slow cycle to the sea. We arrived to feel off shore winds on our back and 2/3ft of swell hitting the main beaches we decided to head for our secret spot which makes a 2ft swell head high. The swell comes in from a completely different angle compared to the swells hitting the normal beaches and unless you are some kind of pro, extremely skilled or a generally psychopathic surfer this break should only be surfed on small swells. You can always tell a heavy wave if the white water after the wave has broken kicks up a lot higher than the face of the wave itself and on this wave the white water kicks up very high. Only 1 guy out and surfing my Bonzer it is safe to say we had a lot of fun!

Day spent chilling, resting, swimming, socialising and eating. We had a shortish bike ride with the kids, Billy gave Char and I some stress as he thinks he is Evil Kanevil on his BMX and tries to pull jumps or stunts where ever possible. He is still only 4! I think we may need some more padding!

Evening surf

I was actually quite pleased to see it soft and sloppy and after the great morning surf there was no way either of us fancied that. At last an evening with some red wine.

24^th Text War

At 6.10am a text from Andy came in ….trees really moving lots of wind… I could hear the rain but had no perspective of wind. After several replies the early was called off… back to sleep.

We all woke to the rain a couple of hours later, A Biarritz day was called! This was not an original idea as I have probably never seen Biarritz quite so crowded. We didn’t last there that long we had a small window of sun and then the rain kicked in really heavy so we decided to head back. There was a fun looking 3ft wave in Grande Plage but with 100 other surfers and family in tow I didn’t fancy it.

Kids, Char and Bump in-between the rain Grand Plage showing a sloppy crowded wave

Surf 5


We drove to the surf today which was rare but the weather was bad and it was getting late. We surfed Bunkers which was chunky and messy and probably 3/4ft. Andy wasn’t that keen but I persuaded him it looked good and kind of reminded me of an intense winter onshore big messy pier session back home although in a shortie! We actually had great fun with only a few out I think Bunkers is best described as fast and furious. I surfed my 5’10 fish for added fun and scary drops!

25^th Rain Rain Rain

Pretty much 2 days of solid rain and today was relentless. The last time we had weather this bad was in 2007, we were camping further up the coast in Cap de Homy. Billy was only 10 months old Imogen was 3, it was our first year back in France after missing a year for the birth of Billy (which was a heat wave year in Bournemouth). We spent 3 weeks in a tent in the woods with some friends C and Al. Storm after storm blew with little rest bite, after 3 weeks of probably the worst weather a French summer has to offer we headed south and stayed in the Acotz area which is somewhere between Biarritz and St Jean De Luz, where yet another storm battered us and finally finished off our tent. Luckily we spent the next 3 weeks with some friends in a Villa in Capbreton where the weather decided to improve and my love for The Capbreton/Hossegor area was born.

Charlotte vowed never to Stay in a tent again and to be fair it was quite unpleasant, so I took a deep breath, had a word with the devil, and bought a caravan. Probably the best purchase I have ever made especially today!

The rain is not so bad when you have somewhere warm and dry to go, the kids played happily in the awning, we had a jolly out in the car to Dax (I wouldn’t recommend the place!) all was quite comfortable and chipper. The same can’t really be said for the Andy crew, (8 adults 3 Kids) long faces and grumpy grownups, the kids all seem quite happy and Andy is upbeat saying he spent many a year camping in Scotland and this reminded him of that.

I still think a caravan would have been a better purchase than Andy's brand new seriously pimped up Bongo, but each to there own!

The surf

We had already decided a dawnie was pointless and frankly unnecessary so that evening we drove to the surf again, considering in the 13 previous weeks I have spent on this campsite I have never felt the need to drive to the surf it may indicate quite how bad the rain was. We got to the sea front in Capbreton to see huge mess of onshore nastiness, a few boogie borders out in Sports and 4 crazy groms trying to pull airs in the heavy shore break close outs at Towns It looked horrible and there was no way I was going out, Andy on the other hand seemed strangely quite keen and a short argument followed where I was must have made some kind statement to the effect of it looks un-surfable and Andy argued that there were people actually surfing it so it must be surfable, I conceded that it was ‘potentially’ surfable but I wasn’t going to surf it, but he was welcome to try!

We drove home together discussing the potential for tomorrow!

The Journey and my first surf

20^th  Ferry to Cherboug and then drive

Got up at 5.30am adrenalin pumping, we had to leave for the ferry at 9.30am and I always worry about getting the caravan off the driveway. Our driveway is on a slight slope which goes onto a pavement where then there is an extremely steep slope onto the road which I can’t take the caravan down, I have to take the caravan about 200 metres down the pavement to where the pavement and road flatten off. Sometimes getting the caravan onto the road has taken me a couple of hours and I didn’t need any last minute rush jobs today.

All went according to plan we got to the ferry with plenty of time although Char was still stressing about the potential for sea sickness. We crossed from Poole-Cherboug on the Barfleu. It was a fantastic crossing, mellow and almost motion free, very few people on the ferry, the kids made a friend and played happily and Char and I both managed a little snooze! Text book! It actually could not have gone better, Char has now vowed never to do the puke condor ferry fast crossing to St Malo again.

Only 550 miles to go! I took the Google route driving from Cherboug to Rennes to Nantes to Bourdeux to Capbreton, Rather than the way my Sat Nav was trying to take us towards Le Mans and down, which I think is a more expensive toll roads route and slightly further. The total cost for the toll roads was 40 Euros and I think I spent about 150 Euros in Fuel.

We spent the night in some service station, it wasn't our best choice of overnight travel stops as there were literally hundreds of articulated lorries coming and going which meant a very un-restful 4 hours sleep before I gave up and got back on the road.    

21^st 235 miles to go.

I was trying to keep an average speed of 50mph so we were looking at another 5 hours of driving, the kids were amazing and just watched DVD after DVD. I’m not sure how we are going to cope next year with a 9 month old baby but I’m sure we find a way! We had heavy rain from the moment we left the ferry until about 30k from Capbreton. We arrived at 3pm and set up camp. 

At 7pm Andy cycled over board on rack and persuaded me to go surfing! I was soooo tired but made the effort!

Surf 1 
Getting on the bike and making the cycle around the back of the campsite took me right back to last year, suddenly 48 weeks felt like 1 week, I was back on my bike, surfboard on rack and already buzzing, I wanted to check VVF first against the advice from Andy who already new it was a ranging angry mess. 1 guy was out and seeing him negotiating the big angry looking closeouts didn’t exactly inspire me to rush down the dune. We ended up surfing Sports (the beach break infront of the sports rehab centre in Capbreton) The waves were a chunky 3/4ft and quite clean with gentle on shores. Every year I am always slightly surprised by the speed of the moving water and the ease of the paddle in, It was great to be back in a short wetsuit and surfing felt quite easy again even after 12 hours of driving and only a few hours sleep I felt energised. I surfed my 6’2 quad which made catching waves easy but felt a bit clumbsy in the fast sections…. Ahh its good to be back!

The Kids were almost having as much fun as me!! 

4 Days To Go...... And My Quiver

The adrenalin is starting to pump, only 4 days until we leave, I still feel like I have loads of packing and organising to do. Over 5 weeks in a caravan with 2 kids a 6 months pregnant wife and all the clobber that we 'think' we need, does pose a few logistical issues! Although as long as I have my kids, wife, a credit card and a surfboard what more do I need?

I've just been organising my surf gear, I'm taking 4 boards this year plus a spongy popout and a couple of boogie boards for the kids, check my quiver..

    
Starting from the left, for my small wave and slop killer I have my lovely 5'10 Fluid Juice quad fish, I was under the delusion that I didn't like quads until Dan Magee lent me this board, it made me throw away all my preconceived ideas about quads, and fishes actually. This board flies like no other and I have a rule, if I can't catch waves on this board and have fun it really is too small to bother. I think this board was based on a Pavel design and after my first wave I new Dan was never getting it back!

Next I have a 6'2 Fluid juice quad, after the success of my 5'10 I wanted something similar which would handle steeper and bigger waves, this board has been good on the chunkier Cornish days when the waves are still quite slow but have a bit of size, It will be interesting to see how this goes in France.

Then we have my Bonzer 6'4, not exactly a discrete looking board which I have grown to love although I only ever tend to surf it in France, with the classic 5 fin set up and only being 18'5 wide this board needs a bit of power to really get it going, it loves super steep faces and hold in really well giving me a lot of confidence. When I take this board out it is usually one of those perfect days.

And finally my Surftech Wayne Lynch 6'6 pin tail thruster set up. This is simply my confidence board, if the waves are big (big for me is head to head and half) or super powerful and I want to get in that bit earlier, this is the board I go for. I had a few big sessions at K this winter and it felt amazing. I first fell in love with this board surfing 'Sports' in Capbreton on a chunky swell (the beach in front of the Sports rehab Centre).

Those are my boards, I think I better get back to organising some other stuff....

Looking ahead at the reports, things are looking huge for the first week. My trusty travel surf buddy Andy is arriving on Monday, looks like he may need a bit of shelter, All being well my first surf will be Thursday evening, The early Friday morning is shaping up just right, with a pushing mid tide VVF could well be cranking...... Wobillyhoobilly .... haha hehe.... deep breaths.... breathe...  ok calm must concentrate... need to drive family and caravan for 10 hours first....