Only now am I starting to count the cost for the gluttony and excess of my least favourite time of year... oh yeah yeah yeah 'Barr Humbug' that is me, and apparently it's now fashionable to be grumpy at Xmas but if so many of us hate it, can't we call an end to the madness? Ok what really gets me frustrated, apart from all the pointless amount of STUFF which changes hands for a reason I'm really not sure why, (seeing my children ripping open yet another present with a response which seems to suggest this is more of a chore than fun, as they eek out another 'thank you' to one of two hundred aunts who've given them yet another piece of pointless plastic crap which they didn't really want and I definitely didn't want, which usually takes more time for me to build, fix or put batteries in than the amount of time that is actually spent playing with said STUFF..) yes this annoys me... But not as much as the fact I have to do all this festive bollocks when I could be surfing... yes I've missed session, quite a few, and at a time when I was effectively on holiday!
I've been trying to think back to when my disillusionment with the festive period first started, I do remember my childhood excitement, but at what point did this dissolve into a pit of cynicism? What feels like another life, in my early 20s I worked for the BBC in transmission and my name was always first on the list to cover the Christmas period, double money, free food and drink and the perfect excuse not to travel to the family, it always seemed like a no-brainier. Or maybe it started when I first went to Uni, I was having such a good time, living away from home for the first time, cheap drinks and all the friends I could ever want was all suddenly interrupted by an annoying long winter break (I actually had maybe too much of a good time as I didn't make it to the second year!). Or maybe it was earlier than that, when I found out that the image of the big fat man in red was thought up by a very clever marketing executive for Cocacola cementing the commercialism of Christmas forever, making us all buy a shed load of plastic crap (STUFF). Or maybe it just gets in the way and that annoys me.
Last year I stayed in Bournemouth with just my wife and our kids, no fuss, no excess, no hassle and lots of fun, I also surfed Christmas eve at the pier and had one of my most memorable surfs ever on Boxing day at K with Gary. Now that was my best ever Christmas.
Forgotten Passport
After just about surviving Christmas with my family, I was happy to get a bit of extra work with Dan in the New Year period, fitting a boat cover in Rotterdam meant a bit of 'real work' for somebody who normally sits at a computer, it feels like a bit of relief to do something physical and there's always the promise of some lovely Belgium beer at our stop over in Antwerp the evening before the job. It meant missing some more surf but hey I wouldn't be the first person to miss a session due to working for once!
We left Dan's unit at around 2pm, the rain was hacking it down and the traffic was very heavy, we had barely driven 10 minutes and we were stuck in a jam on the Wessex Way, it wasn't the end of the world but I think Dan was struggling as he'd done about 48 hours without sleep and already driven several thousand miles in the past week. Anyway the banter was rife and we slowly moved on past a small accident, suddenly Dan decided to magically drop his phone out of his window, the crazy thing was the window was only slightly open with a gap so small it didn't appear possible to get a phone through, crazy panic issued and some how the phone was recovered in full working order.... So we drove on and the banter continued. It took us about an hour and a half to get to the Winchester services a journey which normally takes about 40 minutes, but the road was clearing and all was looking good, we could almost smell the beer..... It was about now I started to get a sick feeling, I'm not sure what made me think of it, and in some ways I was lucky I thought of it when I did, if we were at the tunnel there would have been no turning back. I had forgotten my Passport, Dan stayed relatively calm although I think I did see some steam coming out of his ears. After a short debate the only option seemed to be to turn around and it now meant there was no chance of a Belgium beer tonight.
We finally left for Rotterdam at 12.30am the banter and piss-take was now solely aimed at me and I had no comeback, also Dan now had to drive through the night to get us to the job on time, with no beer to look forward too, I was feeling like.... well the best description would be the opening lyric to the song 'Kill Rock n Roll' by System of A Down.
The massive industry at the huge port of Rotterdam. A lot of STUFF
The job was completed and it was late, so the call was made to stay in Antwerp, our Belgium beer was at last coming... (24 hours late..) But hey it made it taste all the...er.. tastier....
Somebodies million pound boat being carefully loaded onto the Ship
It's just more stuff
Danny Boy
Antwerp is a stunning looking city, fully cobbled stoned with beautiful well kept old buildings, (being an OCD surfer going somewhere with a bit of culture has never been high on my list of priorities). There appeared to be pubs and bars around every small road, alleyway and corner. The people all appear tall, well dressed and the women have an almost 'Parisian Chic' about them which looked out of the league to any scruffy hoody/combat clad Englishman. Even the young guys looked smart with their solicitor/accountant style casual attire, with long coats and scarfs being the standard uniform of choice.
The Stunning 130 Metre High Cathedral in Antwerp
Maybe it was the alcohol or the lack of sleep or the people who spoke a strange drunken yet perfect English or even it was the hordes of beautiful tall slim women who were sending my mind into a tizzy, but I expect what was really tripping me out was the strangest nativity scene I have ever seen. At first glance all looks normal, I thought in a drunken moment 'arr my kids will love this' So I took a picture, but after closer examination like a strange analogy for Antwerp, all is not what it seems!
Antwerp Nativity!?!?
3 whole weeks of dryness for me... 'Oh Poor Ben' I hear you say in sarcastic tones, Yeah well as I earlier said I am OCD when it comes to surfing. I have a surprising amount of people ask me where has the blog gone, well it's here I've just not been surfing.
(pic sent to me by a friend) another session missed!
Surf 36/71 Thursay 5th January
So at last clean off shore lines were filling the bay and I was free... (well as free as I get)... to surf. Surprisingly the pier didn't look that busy when I arrived although the swell was infrequent and tended to have only 1 main take off point which exaggerated the crowd. As I paddled out I saw Geordie and Gary splitting the peak and thought this is going to be a great session. Slightly frustratingly for a short boarder the long borders were dominant and a bit of a tactical game of trying to nab a wave under the nose of a long boarder or trying to be the deepest out back when everyone else had gone and just hoping there was 1 more wave in a set coming through. Drop-ins were rife but to be honest I had my fill, I came out unscathed and I think I had some fun. The rights were holding up beautifully and I got some really long rides, The lefts were short and not quite as punchy as they've been lately, so I decided after a while to leave them to Maison and Oli who were dominant and putting on a show for the pier onlookers!
Guy has loads of pictures of the session http://houseofbonzer.blogspot.com/2012/01/carnage-at-pier-featuring-geordie.html
Surf 37/72 Friday 6th January
Had a little jolly to K with Gary, small and infrequent swell mainly left me frustrated although I got extremely lucky on 2 nice waves which walled up a bit for me.
Now I just need a little bit more.
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