Big game hunting

Saturday:
The weekend is looking great for surf in South Wales.

Light winds and a medium to small swell for Saturday followed by something altogether more boisterous for Sunday and southerly winds for the morning before swinging more onshore.

Who cares if summer is over? Lets crack on with some autumnal swells!

Next week looks really promising too with some 2.5-3m swell on the horizon so I might have to take a day off work at this rate...

The weekend low - a 990 deepens and becomes nicely wedged between us and a high pressure sitting off the East coast.

I never get bored of seeing nicely packed isobars develop around a nice circular onion shape sitting off the coast.

It slowly drifts NNW and back towards Ireland before the next low rolls in for Tuesday night/Weds morning.

My low pressure 'big toe' is twitching like hell at the moment so we're in for a good run!

Big Wednesday:
The next low looks like another nice one, but the hit will fairly short n sweet.

Huey has given me the ultimate bitrhday present this year and he doesn't even need to gift wrap it :)

The low deepens rapidly into a 995 but drifts more NW with the epicentre being more over W Ireland but we'll get plenty off it.

It just won't deliver such a nice long period swell as the first. I think we're getting spoilt to be honest.


Wax up those rhino chasers boys and girls.

J bay higfhlights

The Billabong comp was awesome this year with classic surf for most of the event.

Nice to see Tom Curren still going strong after all these years!

Here are some edited highlights:

J-Bay Goes Haywire from grindtvdotcom on Vimeo.

Thursday dawn patrol

Swell: 3-4ft+, cleanish but onshore and not much shape initially.
Tide: Big tides, 10m+ with HT around 8am
Winds: Moderate SW

Well I finally got into something bigger than 3ft today - Just!

The still air and blue skiesat 5am got my big toe wiggling in anticipation but a quick view of the Rest Bay cam put some doubt into my head...13kts onshore.

Oh well I was up anyway...and had arranged to meet werg, hooper and rattz at our usual.

The boys were already on it when I arrived and it looked much better than I'd expected, 3-4ft+ and clean on the face but quite windy and no definable lines.

The tide was racing in and the big tides meant there was plenty of water moving around out back.

Some nice late drops were on offer but it was tough trying to snag a really good one until about an hour before HT.

I had 2 nice long rights, connecting up at high speed all the way through to the inside but I was steering clear of manoeuvres and just trying to hang on!

Tried my 'Donavon' soul arch BT on one crumbly one, much to johnny Rainbow's amusement and the craic was high in the water today! :)

The inside cleaned up nicely and fast bowly rights and lefts pushed through, often reforming from larger set waves breaking out back.

A re-enactment of our wave in:


The death defying pebble bank was in full swing so we knew the exit would be fun as it involves riding a wave in as far as you dare - jumping off quickly into the air, landing and then running full pelt up a 10 ft bank of large moving pebbles.

These then suck you back downwards under foot and leave you stranded in No Man's Land ready for the next wave behind to crucify you.

No fatalities today although Hooper did take off way too late on one, not seeing the pebbles until he was on his feet leaving himself a millisecond to bail and take the pain.

I'm feeling warm, tired and have blocked sinuses from one too may face plants!

I've not gotten used to single fin surfing just yet...I think it will take a few more surfs before I find my mojo properly on my OP.

Gull

Solar eclipse of the heart

We've got some serious tide at the moment here in Wales due to a new moon phase.

High tides are nudging 10-12m currently so this will effect things at your local spot and either make things alot better or alot worse!

They've also had an amazing solar eclipse over Asia too, although as usual it clouded over just before it all kicked off.

At least the weather is predictably bad where once in a lifetime 'events' are concerned...

I remember trying to see Hayley's Comey...maybe next year?



We're finally in for some surf that might be over 2ft providing the swell doesn't drop right off as the sw winds ease up. The low is pretty weak but at least it's in the right place.



My wetsuit is bone dry - never a good sign! and my lovely single fin board freshly waxed after some lovingly repaired ding work, courtesy of 'twts' on Gower.

Drop your damaged sticks into the On Board shop for collection and you'll not be disappointed.

I'll update once I finally get wet tomorrow morning (hopefully)

And now for a cartoon...

By Josh Rufford


pretty cool eh?

Alternative boards

I'm spoiling you this week. Another great clip coming up from....I don't know what - a new film perhaps, perhaps not.

Those first few carving turns make me feel hot under the collar though.

I need a wave!



Currently waiting on The Present - the new Thomas Campbell movie to arrive safely through my letterbox.

Gull

Single fin 'tooob' riding in Africa

Looks like the sort of wave you draw on your text books as a kid and as an adult during dull meetings ;)

Coney beach

After last night's curry the only surfing I seem to be doing to today is 'toilet surfing' but I won't go into details!

Decent swell out there but as usual in Welsh summertime, we have plenty of wind to accompany it...and it's onshore south westerly :(

The weather seems to float from heavy rain to sunshine and blue skies at the moment?

I might have to take a dip at the dreaded 'cone house' later something I try and avoid at all costs normally due to the dirty water, hoards of longboarders and kooks not to mention a wave that generally just delivers a quick drop before exploding around your ears.

In it's favour it is one of the few beaches in S Wales that offers some shelter from an onshore and something vaguely rideable.

My yearly conehouse vists generally number around 1 or 2 so this will be no 2 of 2009.

Let's hope it's a good one. I might add a synopsis later.

One the plus side, it is quite an insane place to surf from a visual perspective with an outdated amusement park to the rear which has been going since about 1920 and due for demolition. I wish they'd get a move on!

To the right, is the harbour wall where on big days, the waves coming crashing into and over it while surfers sit underneath, blissfully unaware of the carnage happening on the other side.

which came first - coney island or coney beach?

The Surfing Tribe

The lads chat up a local wahine in Ireland:


Some cracking pics in Roger Mansfield's new book about surfing in the UK.

The Surfing Tribe, is the first book to document the rise of surfing in Britain from the 1930s to modern day.

1960's dawn patrol in Pembrokshire - Nice single fin!


Buy the book at the Orca shop

Surfing mobility

Could this be the future?

They say water resistant...does that mean it's shower proof and more importantly - does the darn thing float or come with a wrist leash or something as my hands get slippery when wet! ;)

It does look tasty though and the G-shock enthusiasts out there are bound to want one.

Imagine sitting out back..it's perfect and you're late home.

A call to your significant other might just keep you out of trouble and in the water for another hour...

"Hi, honey, look - it's 6ft and hollow and only one other guy out. I'm going to be an hour late for tea - okay?"

Well it might just work!

The flip side would be when the guy next to you takes out his phone and says:

"Hey, I'm down the reefs and it's pumping! - Just one other guy in. Tell the boys to get down here ASAP!"

I guess they'd come in handy for accident and emergency calls too as we all end up surfing some quite isolated places at some times in our lives and only heed the safety advice once something has already gone wrong!

I doubt there are many of us who take first aid kits with us when we traipse off somewhere on foot?

Don't get too excited though - it's only available in the U.S.A. at the moment!

Billabong Pro @ J bay - live

Technology is amazing eh?

who'd have thought years ago, that in the future you'd be able to log onto your 'puter and watch guys getting slotted in perfect waves on the other side of the world in real time?

Now you can...


http://www.billabongpro.com/jbay09/live.php

Flotsam and jetsam

A perfectly formed piece of twisted twine I found and photographed on a beach at low tide:

I was sat thinking about all the things I've seen, over the years in various oceans drifting past me as I sit waiting for a wave...

It's a funny old expression so I googled it and this is what arrived:

“Flotsam,” goods found floating on the sea after a a wreck.
“Jetson,” or Jetsam, things thrown out of a ship to lighten it. (Anglo-Saxon, flotan, to float; French, jeter, to throw out.)

I've seen dead animals - cows, sheep, a baby dolphin, a minke whale, a dog, various jellyfish in all shapes and sizes..

beer barrels, crates, rope, fishing lines, wood in all shapes and sizes, plastics, flip flops, sunscreen bottles, car seats, toilet lids...

It never fails to amaze me what people throw away and throw overboard from ships.

Seen anything weird floating out there?

Super Pod

A 'super pod' of of dolphins has been captured on film off the Pembrokeshire coast.

We're talking hundreds of our flippery friends here, not just one or two.

Great to see and know they're out there among us :)



Find out more about Dolphins and watch some great clips on my BBC Wales Nature portal

Gull

Wave drought over

well as predicted the swell has finally shown it's colours and the weekend is shaping up nicely :)

Off to a wedding on Saturday so will have to organise and early dip or make the most of it on Sunday...

The last few days have been small and clean in the SE with bigger waves out West towards Gower and Pembrokeshire with reports coming in off 3-4ft + and clean.

It's really warm here too currently with temps in the mid to high 20's - yes that's warm for us!