The week just gone looked exceptional for the west country again but work and general life commitments got in the way of me taking full advantage. I spent 3 days in Belgium one day was spent waiting to work which then consisted of eating bad kebabs, shopping trips for shorts, and eventually chilling in a swimming pool and sauna area.
After finding out our job was delayed Dan, Daryl and I decided to go for a lovely drive in the Belgium countryside.. 3 hours later we were bored senseless, amelessly driving with no real direction, flat blandness all around, Belgium seemed very unappealing and the city of Antwerp was calling us back. We decided to upgrade our hotel for one with at least a swimming pool, but then came the problem of no swim shorts, we spent about an hour scouring the town for shorts, we found some woho... 90euro for quicksilver... I don't think so... we looked on... we need a really jippy shop, was the call, but in the most expensive town in Europe where do you find jippy, eventually we did... C&A woho shorts for 9euros, happy days... it has to be matching shorts, but Dan chickened out and went for blue while Daryl and I had a lovely brown pair.
The Hotel was lovely and the the Swimming/Gym/Sauna area was amazing if not a little weird. Strange masked model heads guarded the entrance while legs hung from the ceiling, the black infinite pool was trippy. A swim and a Sauna chilled us out before beer and whisky were drunk in the hotel bar later.
No Barrels but maybe a couple of Barry's!
Surf 47/82 8th March
I think I was too late, the tide was exceptionally low and a pitiful weak 1/2ft of cleaned up wind swell which gave me very little fun surfing. Guy seemed to be doing alright, riding his famous purple Bonzer gun, you may have thought not the obvious choice of boards for such a slack day, but he sat in the corner off the end of the pier taking right after right after right. I think he definitely had the last laugh. Guns are where it is at, especially at the pier! The only thing going for this surf was the exceptional warmth and lovely sun. I was roasting in my snug, I might have to downgrade and break out the Xcel.
Surf 48/83 11th March
Back from an unexpectedly long job in Belgium, surfing was always going to be an issue for me on this Sunday. I had actually written it off, I thought nope, I must be a good husband/dad and do the family thing. But then Gary had to give me a call, and with the sun shinning, the buoys bobbing and the wind not blowing. The thought of risking not surfing seemed more dangerous than the consequences of surfing. As I left the house I knew I was in big trouble but the call of the waves was just too much for me to resist.
Turning up at K Gary announced "It's flat" And it did look pretty small, the odd fat line would come through and break on the rocks, The only other people looking at the Ledges was Daryl, who I'd been working with for the last 3 days, and his mate. "its bound to get better as the tide drops" I suggested and "we've already paid a fiver so we have to go in!". We all agreed and 10 minutes later we were all enjoying the mellow summery waves. 4 out was just about enough but as the tide dropped more people turned up and before we new it we were surrounded by about 20 groms making the 2ft waves look overhead. The waves actually got better and better as the tide dropped out but Gary and I agreed it's was best not to milk it and as the crowds got even bigger we decided to get out. Not before I had one miracle moment, a lovely looking peaky wave jacked up in front of me, I was quite late and the wrong side but went anyway, the next thing I new I was completed slotted seeing the lip throw fully over my head I came out onto the shoulder wooping myself. Gary witnessed the whole thing and said he wished he had a camera. Not as much as I wished he had a camera!
