Bollocks...

Why am I so daft sometimes? My super whizzo van has now acquired a large dent, in the tailgate, and the supporting gas strut is also broken. Pants.

How did it happen? Went to pick my son up to take him to get his car from the garage. In a hurry, because it was 20 minutes to 6 and they shut at 6, I hurried reversing. Unfortunately, there was a large (and I mean large - the usual 40+ feet long) semi-trailer parked nearby. So I turned the wheel to roll around behind it, and slapped the back corner into the damn trailer. Now my van is made out of steel, but it ain't the 1/4" plate in a trailer like that...

The insurance company have already got the repair shop to contact me, so I'm off to see them Saturday morning. Hope it doesn't take long to get fixed. Here's the pictures...


Like I said - PANTS!!!

Finally!!

So I am no longer a UK sea virgin... After a weekend of wondering about the wind, I plucked up the courage and determination to go for it potentially on my own, thanks to Wendy Windblows which provided some excellent real-time weather info. Why on my own? Left home about 14.00, not sure if the club would still be there by 16.00, when I arrived.

Headed down to Hayling, found excellent wind, rigged the 6.5 m on advice from a local guy, and took to the water. Sailed for about 45 minutes, since I started to cramp up etc. (too much effort - will refine, and I had already done a 20 mile bike ride at what for me was a record speed today), and better to quit when feeling good. Not even ONE uphaul, just beach starts and waterstarts - aren't they a truly wonderful thing, and my greatest thanks to the Zen Mistress!!

The icing on the cake was that Mike and Helen from the OMWC were on the beach when I came out, and they very patiently listened to the pilled-up* mega-loony raving about EVERYTHING. Even the drive home was spent in a euphoric state, after enjoying the comforts of the van for changing, sorting myself out and the space for just dropping stuff and not losing it. Eek!

Yay. Maybe now I can believe that I'll actually get to do the thing I want to!!!


* "pilled-up" in this context is a personal reference to the statement made by Pete Townshend on the original "Odds and Sods" album sleeve, where he referred to the session guitarist on the first Who record "I'm The Face" as a "pilled-up lunatic". He might have been, I wasn't, but might as well have been for the ludicrous speeded-up speech, gestures and general enthusiasm.

Ah, the kit...

Despite claims to the contrary, needless to say "the kit" is extremely important. And now I've got some.

Went to Robin Hood Windsurfing near Halifax, since I happened to be passing - long story. Spent a long time talking to Matt, super salesman and windsurfer...

and selected a big pile of stuff.
Here's the list, for completists:

• F2 Stoke 125 litre (conservative choice, for max confidence)


• 3 Tushingham sails (7.5/6.5 T2, 5.5 Storm)


• 2 Amex 75% carbon masts (460/430)


• Amex T8 boom


• Liquid 36cm fin (Probably get another when I've checked requirements)


• O'Neill Hammer wetsuit (get you ducky...)


• Pat Love JetSet Waist harness (about time I tried one!)


• Various ropes, extensions, harness lines


• Jez' Knob, a cunning board damage prevention device

Cool huh? Drove it all home, set it up on the lawn, like you do...

All very exciting. Now...

When do I get to use it?!?!

Good times, bad times

Up until now it's been all go, and I've been wound up and raring to go. Today was spent doing van-related things, basically insulating the inside so that it won't be full of condensation. Detailed stuff and necessary, but it felt like a sidetrack or a detour. I realised the task I've taken on, and how much more there is to go, and I've only made progress on something barely relevant like the damn van. Why didn't I just go with a £500 Volvo estate and strap things on the top, saving cash for the crucial things? Couldn't find anywhere to go look at windsurf gear that was open today and close enough to make a trip possible in the limited time available, so didn't even get a blast from that. This adrenaline-charged life is quite risky, because downers can really knock you back.

I must keep reminding myself about how this is going to work.

Whereas previously I've lived off occasional trips to foreign places i.e. Dahab and enjoyed seven days or so solid surfing, that doesn't seem sufficiently regular, frequent or even enough. So, get going windsurfing in UK as much as I can, on the sea, with people who can help me improve. Then take trips to constantly windy, wavy places and get even better. The van helps with this, giving me flexibility and convenience - I can drive to Tarifa for example, or anywhere else for that matter. Cool. Probably won't be doing much of that in reality, because of the limited time available, but the idea's nice to carry around in one's head. Meanwhile driving to the South coast, or anywhere else in the UK when it's windy, is a fine target, and will teach me lots.

It's not just the kit!

It's also the kit user - in fact, that's about all the problem is, I reckon. So I've not been neglecting the inner/outer man. Since my last trip to Dahab, I've recommenced yoga, which I'd let slip over the last 15 years, and have been been doing it virtually every morning since I came back. Feels good, and I have vast amounts of energy which is really brilliant.

In addition, I've started running, not huge amounts, about 20 minutes every day up the hill, round the park twice and back home again. It's a good discipline, and I feel really great when I've done it. Increasingly, I actually feel good doing it too!!

These crap pictures go nowhere near giving the impression of opening out, space and freedom that bursting out into the open land from the woods does every time I go. This is especially true when it's sunny after rain, which it has been a lot recently. Perhaps I'll make a special trip one of these days, and try to capture it better.

Looks good, feels good ...

So it must be good right?

After suffering agonies of doubt (possibly a bit melodramatic, but hey, this is a blog, not real life) during the week, I picked up THE VAN yesterday morning. And here's the picking up in progress...



Thanks guys, let's hope it works out huh?

And here's some more happy pictures, taken on the lovely sunny day that was Saturday. This is a CLEAN vehicle, amazingly so for a commercial. Took it round to my son's house last night, and we spent an hour driving around the local area, appreciating the smoothness of ride, the lack of rattles and squeaks, the brakes, the general good quality and relative newness. Help. But there, he's a van aficionado too, who has had to wean himself off during the course of his last two white collar jobs, where before he WAS "White Van Man", driving his tools, replacement windows and conservatories around the UK.







And it really does feel good. Perhaps I'll have to be careful that I don't lose sight of the purpose of this whole exercise...

WANNA SAIL WAVES BEFORE I DIE!!!

Boards, Sails... It's all too exciting!

Hey, I know there's lots of exclamation marks in this sad effort, but hey, I'm an exclamatory guy. So live with it, I have to.

Now, boards. I should ideally hang in for a good used board, but I'd buy new if I had to expedite things. Sails? Well, new is probably better, unless one knows the degree of use etc. Monofilm is tricky stuff after a couple of years of UV exposure, and if I intend to use them in salt water, other people will have too.

Boards... I like the new "scaled up short board" or the "wider style freeride" jobbies. Lots of examples around - Starboard Carve, JP XCite Ride, F2 Stoke. What size? Well, I'm 65kg, so in principle a 100 litre board would be enough IF I was a good sailor. I've used 130-125 litre boards in Dahab, and they were ok - the width is probably the most critical factor in respect of a board being relatively relaxed to sail for those of amateur footwork capability. I guess a conservative choice would be 125 litre, which will get me going in lighter winds and provide lots of confidence. Might want to trade it up (i.e. down in size) in future, or just keep it and buy something smaller! Hmm, but I COULD just go with 100 litres and make it work...

As far as sails go, everybody needs a quiver i.e. more than one, just to cater for the kind of wind range in the UK. In Dahab one might get away with a couple of small sails, but in the UK... to get planing in lighter winds requires more area of canvas (ok, plastic).

The sensible money is on a one-make, proportional quiver e.g. 15% increase/decrease in sail area between adjacent sails. For example, 15% based on a max sail size of 7.5 sq m gives 3.9, 4.6, 5.4, 6.4, 7.5. Cool huh? Just pick the max from the board manufacturer's instructions, and do your sums. Of course, a sail range that has a wider range of wind strength applicability per sail allows for a smaller number of sails for the same wind range... so the notional 7.5 max list above becomes 3.8, 4.8, 6.0, 7.5 for a 20% difference. Which is only 4 sails!!

Ah, the choices! Can't wait.

Just throw cash...

And it keeps getting bigger... Insurance!! We need insurance!! Before I can even drive this beast (likely to be Saturday now), I have to be insured.

Quotes from the usual suspects... and astoundingly enough, some are twice others. Went for a well known direct brand, who were competitive and had good extras I couldn't get rid of. Ah well. It's only cash. And... I WANNA SAIL WAVES BEFORE I DIE!!!

And now I've addressed the transport issue, well almost, only a question of execution now, I can start thinking about boards, sails, all that good stuff. And that IS interesting...!

Buckingham Does the Business

Right. So there was a van in Buckingham, BIG money, and I wasn't particularly busy at work this morning...

Ninety minutes later than when I started, up the usual M4/A34/A43 trip familiar to anyone who ends up commuting northwards on a regular basis, I'm at the Buckingham Van Centre. Met by Andy?, who it turns out is a speedway fan, so we have something in common. The van - is great. Clean inside (ok, valeting is cheap), looks genuine, good paint, a bit superficially rusty underneath, bonus towbar and electrics, TAILGATE, stereo... and a metal bulkhead. Not sure about that, but it looks removable with a cold chisel to break the spot welds if required to be removed. Engine starts fine, seems to run ok. Good tyres. What else do you look at? Two owners, a leasing company and a guy local to Buckingham who is a landscape gardener or something, who just traded it for a newer MB Vito. Seems genuine. MOT until November, which isn't as long as I'd like... but I did get £250 off the asking, which was a pretty mickey mouse price in reality, asking for an offer.

So now I'm the proud owner of 1/40th of a VW Transporter 1.9 turbo, since I gave all I had in cash as a deposit. Now for the insurance, tax, blah blah blah. This is getting ridiculous... but I was in a crazy state of mind driving home. The rest of the day was equally insane - but more of that in a totally different blog, maybe one day.

Not so cheap vans aka MAD (Mutually Assured Debt)

Looking back over the last few days, because that's all it's been, I've been through so many stages and emotions. Gawd, this is JUST a van I'm looking for here, not spiritual enlightment, a lifetime partner or even just a good time. However, the ups and downs are huge. Let's see...

Went to see a VW Transporter early last week - £1695, with a high roof. Hated the back doors, extended with frameless glass, so very fragile looking. Also a very suspect odometer, reading, I interpreted, 013nnn, which to my mind is 13,000 miles -right? Dodgy junk yard dog man reckons that's 130,000... No thanks.

Next breakthrough was finding a couple of VW Transporter enthusiasts working from a farm business unit in wildest Berkshire. I spent an hour talking to them - great guys, and doubtless the right people to buy from if they have the item you want. I'll certainly stay in touch with them, for servicing or whatever. But they had only two for about £4500 each, low miles (70-80K) which still needed to be sorted before sale, and both with rear "barn doors". Now I wasn't especially particular about the type of rear door previously, but having seen others they had, and also the one owned by the club member, it seems to me that the thing to have is the tailgate. It requires more space to open, but provides a handy place to stand out of the rain, like an extra area to conduct one's affairs. Nice. And I KNOW I'm going to be disappointed if I don't have one of those... But at least I now know that I want, if I'm getting a Transporter
1) A Long WheelBase (LWB), because you could JUST fit a 300cm board in one, so my proposed 260+ (see some point in the future when boards are being considered) will fit ok
2) A tailgate, because it's much cooler than barn doors

Thursday is the day - Autotrader appears, both in paper and online. A fresh batch of vans. But of course I don't call people up on Thursday evening, no... My son comes round and talks for a bit, I lose focus... you know how it goes. So by the time I start calling on the Friday,when I'm supposed to be working for a client, but fortunately there's lots of time sitting around watching things happen at this stage, lots of potential goodies (price reasonable, tailgate, LWB) have been spoken for. Crap. Saturday is spent at a local music festival (Lemon Jelly - dullsville, why not just play tapes?!), with calls going out to various places with little to show for it. I discover that someone near High Wycombe was going to a wedding reception that night and would be woken up by his dog about 6.30 Sunday...

On Sunday the wedding receptionist announced that the van has been taken by the guy he showed it to on Saturday. Meanwhile my trawl through the Autotrader web site continues, with my mesh getting finer and finer (newspeak for "escalating budget", thus capturing greater numbers...). And now, on the following day, I'm looking to go to somewhere near Milton Keynes to see one for £5250 (!), but in alleged good condition with a tailgate blah blah blah. And of course I'm having severe nth thoughts - this is a STUPID sum of money, I could spend a month in Dahab for that and probably improve no end if I have a lesson every day, etc. etc. But let's go see it anyway.