Still Raining, Still Dreaming...

A bit melodramatic, but I've always been a bit of a drama queen!

The wave thing is actually coming on quite well actually - it should be, with trips to Cabo Verde and Maui already this year, and one planned to Ireland in the near-autumn before it gets cold. This weekend I was down at Hayling, nice F4 or so, who needs more? All this Cribby-originated minimum kit thing is sticking, I like days when it's windy enough to plane on 80 litres with a 5-something and no more, no less.

I suppose I should really enter a wave comp, as my mate Damien did. That would really sharpen things up, pressure! Hmm, I'll see what's happening around the UK, not sure what the org is called, BWA?

A New Year!

Here it is 2010 already, and how is the drive to waveride going?

Well, pretty well I'd say, albeit years behind the non-existent schedule. The biggest step forward was the trip to Baja's Punta San Carlos, with Cribby last September. The easy, regular wave (in those conditions anyway) and the proper DTL setup, together with Guy's excellent coaching showed me how it all works. Result!

Then I put it to work in the UK - Hayling, chasing the slow short waves out over the sandbar is incredibly hard work, especially if you're yet to work out how backside riding goes... Spoilt me, eh? Then Pagham, but this time armed with the correct approach to backside, moderate winds, but relatively big surf - hey, I can do this!! Damned hard work, though, on lots of bits of body, but exhilarating.

But I also now understand why Baja is such a special place, which perhaps fortunately I didn't at the time. And I'll be looking for some more wave action in 2010 - not sure where yet, but maybe the upcoming "It's not a windsurfing holiday, darling" trip to NZ will prove interesting. I'll be taking wetsuit and harness just in case! Pungarehu looks interesting, along with lots of other spots around Taranaki...

The Waiting...

Not much activity recently, in fact none since 31 Jan, the day of the club bash at Hayling. On that day, arrived at the IotB, having just realised I'd left my boots and palmless gloves at home. Boo. So went and bought some more at Andy Biggs, on the basis that these things wear out and they're really good, so some spares wouldn't hurt.

Back at the beach, rigged up a 5.5m, but the Easterly wind made it hard to get out, since it's slightly cross-off and the beachbreak was hefty. Anyway, had a couple of runs and stuff, but I was astounded by the effect the cold has on my brain - it's like the cold causes the electrons to slow down. Coupled with the general debilitation caused by age vs. cold (my excuse!) and a munching in the break, I decided that Caution was the better part of Valour (that well-known maker of paraffin stoves) and since I wasn't actually enjoying myself, stopped. That also involved walking back upwind several hundred yards, so at least I got SOME exercise. Bah.

At least the bash was good. 

And now I'm waiting excitedly for the Cabo trip - only a week to go!

Winter waves? Bah...

Today's simple plan: 

• Check forecast early - looks ok
• Leave early for Poole area to meet Graham
• Get some good waves off Sandbanks

WRONG!! 

Get there 10.30, kinda windy, go to Graham's, return to beach, nothing. 

Wait a long time, have lunch (cheers dude), chat to Kat, stuff.

Pile up rig, board, change into wetsuit, carry to beach (this is the coolest part of the day actually - incredible to live by the beach!!).

Rig up 6.5, 102 FSW. Blob out. Fall off. G also falls off mid-gybe. Nobody remounts apart from occasional up haul attempts. Swim. Eventually arrive through beachbreak 45 minutes later. Fortunately on-lookers have cancelled coastguard call, but I'm glad they thought to make one. 

Derig. Coastguard 4X4 arrives, give name address and age. (Age??). Walk to G's, shower, load van, drink tea. 

Bollocks. Next time!

Cabo Verde - exciting!

Having been to Margarita a couple of times, I know how good it is to be somewhere hot, windy and rather pleasant on Feb/March. Rather than go to Margs again, however tempting a full-on Cribboday might be, I've booked two weeks in Cabo Verde with a few of the Ocean Motion people.  Adam's my room mate for two weeks, he's laid back enough to be livable with, with Gen and Beth coming for a week. I rather suspect Beth is looking for more challenging waves than me, but we'll see. She sailed at Punta Preta last time she went there, and that's THE wave spot.  

So what are my aims for this trip? 

• Gybing - yup, wanna nail this much better
• Proto-freestylee - defo going to try some moves here, even if it's as simple as switch stance and heli-tacks
• Waves - the main beach (Santa Maria) has ok waves in places

Of course, we can always take the option of getting a taxi to a different beach! And somehow I'm tempted to try kitesurfing... Nah!

Yay indeed...

And it was a lovely day, went down to Westward Ho!, surfed, ate fish and chips, came home tired but happy.

Fortunately I have two winter wetsuits, so the girl was able to borrow one. The only drawback was she forgot her swimsuit, so ended up buying a rather nifty black bikini in a local shop - thanks Dad! Also purchased a polypro rashie for later winter use.

Were we good? Nah... used the Bic popout and my Naish Playmate with a leash and no footstraps to do the business. I have to say, with its width and volume, the Naish proved pretty effective as a beginner board. We both got rides, before retiring for tea and cake. 

Then we went for a walk, across the huge beach, under an enormous sky. 

Yay!!

It appears that my daughter might be around for the holiday week... and she's potentially up for a surf trip! Excellent. Hope she's got her wetsuit, come to think of it,  maybe she needs something more solid for the conditions. In the meantime, I'll be checking out the Welsh beach list on Forces of Nature. 

Autumn's here...

And it's been a long windy summer. Too bad that September sucked, rather than blew. The enforced break from a concussion suffered (whilst surfing - bah!) on the August Bank Holiday, coupled with no wind to speak of, meant that last weekend (4th Oct) was the first time out for 6 weeks. And that was in a F7, gusting F9, down at Avon Beach. Given those conditions, I sailed pretty well, and was relatively relaxed especially in the hands, which is a Good Thing.

So now I'm considering windsurfing holiday options for October - Tiree, well it's a long way and the ferry isn't cheap. Ireland - very tempting, but also a long way and not cheap. Brandon Bay sounds great but it's 300km across Ireland. However, it would be sensible to go somewhere where other people are around in case something happens, which it surely will. Tarifa/Canaries - yeah... those too. And there's always West Wales, some gorgeous beaches there. I expect I'll end up at Hayling...