Incredible true story about an old surfer who ends up on the back of a 14ft tiger shark in Hawaii:
Friday 30 April 2010
Monday 26 April 2010
Wave drought
It must be getting on for 3 weeks now. My barometer has been going up lately rather than down which is never a good sign but I'm hanging on in there for something decent.Saturday's reading was 1012 and it's steadily risen to 1019. Despite this I've still been up at dawn's crack to check the waves so have that lovely slightly drained feeling you can only get from missing an hour or so of precious sleep.
It has to arrive soon. The desperado's were down at Rest Bay yesterday, surfing in relatively clean 1-2ft but it lacked any power and shape and with sw/ onshore winds blowing - it quickly turned into mush burgers.
A bit cleaner today from the looks of it but high tide dribble didn't inspire. The outer buoys are looking healthier so fingers crossed it comes in tonight.
The dominant period is there but that low was always tracking North so I hope we get something off it before it evades our swell window.
Tues and Weds look the best followed by a weak low drifting in for Thursday & Friday. I can't see the Welsh Nationals having great waves over the Bank Holiday but it won't be flat either.
Monday 12 April 2010
Big boost for welsh coast and watersports
Not really a surfing blog per say but worth a mention as it's major investment from the WAG - £17.5 million and effects us South coast and Gower surfers.
Find out more in my BBC Nature & Outdoors blog.
Find out more in my BBC Nature & Outdoors blog.
Friday 9 April 2010
Rest Bay comps cancelled this weekend
High pressure was always going to spoil the party I'm afraid so both the Longboard Classic and Inter-Clubs events have been postponed until further notice.
The Welsh Nationals are still set to go ahead @ Freshwater West on the May Bank Holiday (1-2 May) as usual though so I might see some of you down there.
If I can get my hands on a camera, I'll come down and do some filming again.
I managed to get some footage on BBC Wales News last year - first time it's ever been televised to me knowledge?
The Welsh Nationals are still set to go ahead @ Freshwater West on the May Bank Holiday (1-2 May) as usual though so I might see some of you down there.
If I can get my hands on a camera, I'll come down and do some filming again.
I managed to get some footage on BBC Wales News last year - first time it's ever been televised to me knowledge?
Wednesday 7 April 2010
Warmer waters
Good news for South Wales surfers as the much awaited scarweather buoy finally come back online.
No longer will we have to leave the comfort of our homes to stroll down the beach and look...
It's been making up for lost time too and delivering some sweet data lately.
Saturday saw me getting some severe poundings as I battled rather large french style beach break at my usual spot.
After a solid 15-20 minute paddle out I arrived out back (I think? - hard to tell as there was so much water was moving around) to find my compadre - Johnny Stoneman paddling sideways inside of me in the 6ft shoredump....
Needless to say he didn't last long and disappeared inside never to be seen again! ;)
I was determined to get something out of it though and carried on paddling, searching for a wave. The rip was intense and kept dragging me off the peak but I eventually picked off a few nice rides.
One left, saw me free falling down a big angling beast, well over head and preparing to jump off mid face before remembering my old 8.5" skip frye fin would see me right.
It's an incredible thing and the only board I've ever owned that makes such steep angular drops. It just seems to hold the nose and lifts the back end as you go down.
At one point I watched what must've been a solid 6-7ft left hander, barrel for about 100 yards with the thickest lip I've ever seen down there and spit a whole load of air out of the end funnel like 'Pipe'. You probably could have fitted 2 surfers inside it.
The WCSC v Aberavon 'border control' surf comp went down at Aber and Claire Beach has posted a few nice pics on Facebook. This gives you an idea of the swell size we had on Saturday!
Aberavon won it this year. I believe Steve Horn is taking the blame for it this year, having bombed out of his longboard heat with 2 big wipeouts!
Steve told me he only needed something like a 1.4 on a wave for WCSC to win so just standing up would have been enough. LOL
I continued to get rag dolled and have my board wrenched from out of my hands by the 'tiger' before eventually tiring.
A couple more local fellas joined me - blods, wilky and jamie but they didn't get many before giving up too. Relentless 6ft+ sets finished us off.
As we walked back, johnny rainbow, wergil and grant arrived - late as ever guys! and I quickly informed them that they wouldn't be getting out back today (although I did give grant 50/50 odds) ;)
They didn't.. but made a good call and hit the rivermouth afterwards where they scored some nice waves by all accounts.
A pesky SUP rider at the rivermouth on sat morning by Claire Beach:
Monday - met up with Mr Stoneman again who had "found his mojo again" and was stoked that I'd called him. It only takes one good surf to turn it around :)
Despite the onshore wind and smallish conditions, we made the most of it.
Rest bay just after high tide delivered 2-ft rides over the rocks @ golf rights kept us both happy. The rides were surprisingly long!
The crowds were non existent and the wind gradually dropped off to light cross-off shore. With sets nudging 4ft, it turned into a really enjoyable session and John's coaching in Lanza has def paid off.
He was looking like an old pro at times, working the wave nicely and no longer standing like an albatross ;)
The surf was pumping again yesterday as we were hit with a solid 2m+ swell and 12 second wave period. Out west it was nudging 4m! the winds played ball too with SSE winds in the morning.
To round off the week, I got in today at first light with Rattz and we enjoyed punchy 3 footers around low tide. The light nw wind went dead northerly and offered up a few nice long rides for both of us.
Pic courtesy of porthcawlsurf. That may even be my leg going through the wave:
The waves were pretty fast and it was tricky to race sections at times if you chose badly but I managed to throw my old single fin around a fair bit which was good fun. Again no crowds - 4 people in :)
The sea's warming up now though...7+ degrees and I can almost smell the summer crowds already. Won't be long before the hoods and dreaded winter rubber comes off.
No longer will we have to leave the comfort of our homes to stroll down the beach and look...
It's been making up for lost time too and delivering some sweet data lately.
Saturday saw me getting some severe poundings as I battled rather large french style beach break at my usual spot.
After a solid 15-20 minute paddle out I arrived out back (I think? - hard to tell as there was so much water was moving around) to find my compadre - Johnny Stoneman paddling sideways inside of me in the 6ft shoredump....
Needless to say he didn't last long and disappeared inside never to be seen again! ;)
I was determined to get something out of it though and carried on paddling, searching for a wave. The rip was intense and kept dragging me off the peak but I eventually picked off a few nice rides.
One left, saw me free falling down a big angling beast, well over head and preparing to jump off mid face before remembering my old 8.5" skip frye fin would see me right.
It's an incredible thing and the only board I've ever owned that makes such steep angular drops. It just seems to hold the nose and lifts the back end as you go down.
At one point I watched what must've been a solid 6-7ft left hander, barrel for about 100 yards with the thickest lip I've ever seen down there and spit a whole load of air out of the end funnel like 'Pipe'. You probably could have fitted 2 surfers inside it.
The WCSC v Aberavon 'border control' surf comp went down at Aber and Claire Beach has posted a few nice pics on Facebook. This gives you an idea of the swell size we had on Saturday!
Aberavon won it this year. I believe Steve Horn is taking the blame for it this year, having bombed out of his longboard heat with 2 big wipeouts!
Steve told me he only needed something like a 1.4 on a wave for WCSC to win so just standing up would have been enough. LOL
I continued to get rag dolled and have my board wrenched from out of my hands by the 'tiger' before eventually tiring.
A couple more local fellas joined me - blods, wilky and jamie but they didn't get many before giving up too. Relentless 6ft+ sets finished us off.
As we walked back, johnny rainbow, wergil and grant arrived - late as ever guys! and I quickly informed them that they wouldn't be getting out back today (although I did give grant 50/50 odds) ;)
They didn't.. but made a good call and hit the rivermouth afterwards where they scored some nice waves by all accounts.
A pesky SUP rider at the rivermouth on sat morning by Claire Beach:
Monday - met up with Mr Stoneman again who had "found his mojo again" and was stoked that I'd called him. It only takes one good surf to turn it around :)
Despite the onshore wind and smallish conditions, we made the most of it.
Rest bay just after high tide delivered 2-ft rides over the rocks @ golf rights kept us both happy. The rides were surprisingly long!
The crowds were non existent and the wind gradually dropped off to light cross-off shore. With sets nudging 4ft, it turned into a really enjoyable session and John's coaching in Lanza has def paid off.
He was looking like an old pro at times, working the wave nicely and no longer standing like an albatross ;)
The surf was pumping again yesterday as we were hit with a solid 2m+ swell and 12 second wave period. Out west it was nudging 4m! the winds played ball too with SSE winds in the morning.
To round off the week, I got in today at first light with Rattz and we enjoyed punchy 3 footers around low tide. The light nw wind went dead northerly and offered up a few nice long rides for both of us.
Pic courtesy of porthcawlsurf. That may even be my leg going through the wave:
The waves were pretty fast and it was tricky to race sections at times if you chose badly but I managed to throw my old single fin around a fair bit which was good fun. Again no crowds - 4 people in :)
The sea's warming up now though...7+ degrees and I can almost smell the summer crowds already. Won't be long before the hoods and dreaded winter rubber comes off.
Thursday 1 April 2010
Whas da craic?!
Just got back to tropical Wales after an artic endurance in Northern Donegal with my old mucka mark patterson.
Talk about brass monkeys! We've had gale force N winds all week, coupled with snow blizzards (nearly 200 people were rescued from their cars on weds night) and power cuts across much of the North.
I was sat in the back of a campervan seeing my own breath, wrapped in a duvet and still feeling it!
A castle near Portrush:
Sadly the swell took too long to kick in and when it did; was killed off by N winds. I managed a few surfs up north near Portrush though and was lucky enough to catch up with renound Irish big wave charger - Al Mennie and offered him a few pointers - 'Don't go left at 'Aileens, Al!' - that kind of thing ;)
I went back and watched 'Driven' later and that man has serious balls! Al's a gentle giant and lets his surfing do the talking.
It was a real pleasure chatting to him about what it's like to actually surf 20ft Aileens and get a first hand account of what that revered inside section is really like - basically there's no channel and if you surf there then, YOU WILL eventually be washed onto and across the boulder sized rocks!
Al surfs in anything from 2ft slop to 60ft barrels - hardcore to his very soul, paddling out in horrendous looking giant waves and having a go which is probably why guys like Occy have been singing his praises and Billabong XXL are sittng up and taking notice.
The journey contined - we drove north, we drove south, we drove sideways but everywhere was affected by that damned wind.
Not a surfer in sight! I did however manage to surf 2 new spots and had a fun surf at both.
Left hand point break:
We found a fun beachie which was eventually 2-3ft and pretty clean with a cross off wind on it. Al joined us and paddled out on his 9ft SUP and proceeded to show us how a big wave surfer can fall off in style ;)
I caught a few nice rights on my single fin and was beginning to enjoy my board again.
By the end Al was doing some crazy sideways take offs but holding his rail and chucking it around a bit.
Mark meanwhile was struggling on his McTavish long axe - not having surfed for a few weeks but eventually stroked into a few nice long rides and was well and truly stoked by the end!
Next stop was the Bushmills HQ.
The following day we hit a nice left hand point break which breaks in an unexpected place and as a result is fairly quiet so I won't be naming it on here.
We watched it for a while, thought about it, tried to imagine it was bigger than it was and searched some more before returning to find 4 guys already on it - damn!
Despite this we paddled out and got amongst it. I'd literally just reached the line-up when a nice 4 footer jacked up. No-one else was near so I stroked in and took the drop. A steep little beast but I made it and gathered some nice down the line speed, kicking out way inside - More please!
Onshore Easkey:
This was nice and just what I needed. The rip at this spot is insane and at times I was paddling for a solid 20 mins just to get back to the shifting peak that was the take off.
The winds were blowing us every which way but the waves held their shape and I bagged a few more nice long lefts before it was time to go.
Nearby, a mutant sponger wave was contorting into all sorts of vicious shapes and apparently it does get ridden occasionally!
The forecasts all showed a big N swell hitting but it never really materialised. We went out west to Bundoran country for a couple of days and scoured a few reefs.
Pollacheeny Harbour trying it's hardest:
Some old favourites were firing but the tides were against us so we opted for a seaweed bath in an old victorian bath house at Enniscrone!
Which is run by the mum of an Irish ripper who kindly gave us a discount - thanks Christine :)
A great craic to be sure, and made even better by a cool can of the black stuff.
The snow got heavier, the roads became impassable and my flight was cancelled but I made it back eventually. My flight the following day was delayed :(
Other highlights included a welcoming in the spring bonfire party where we burnt an effigy and narrowly avoided setting a garden shed on fire.
I also saw an up and coming band in Derry called 'And so I watch you from afar' - keep an eye for them...they may go big or stay underground!
No lead singer, but I've not heard noise like it and came out of the gig with bleeding ears. Amazing!
Muchos gracias to mark for putting me up and to sharon and col for the loan of their motorhome - thanks guys.
My 5th trip to Ireland and the first one where I've not scored decent waves so it had to come sooner or later. Next time!
At least the weekend looks nice for Wales and the temps are in double figures.
The Wilkinson Sword interclubs is on next weekend along with a retro surf comp which I'm going to enter so come down and have a go as we're short of entrants - it's only a fiver!
This weekend sees the 'border control challenge' comp between Porthcawl and Aberavon at Aberavon on the dropping tide, so pop over and watch if you have some spare time. There's a party afterwards too.
Gull
Talk about brass monkeys! We've had gale force N winds all week, coupled with snow blizzards (nearly 200 people were rescued from their cars on weds night) and power cuts across much of the North.
I was sat in the back of a campervan seeing my own breath, wrapped in a duvet and still feeling it!
A castle near Portrush:
Sadly the swell took too long to kick in and when it did; was killed off by N winds. I managed a few surfs up north near Portrush though and was lucky enough to catch up with renound Irish big wave charger - Al Mennie and offered him a few pointers - 'Don't go left at 'Aileens, Al!' - that kind of thing ;)
I went back and watched 'Driven' later and that man has serious balls! Al's a gentle giant and lets his surfing do the talking.
It was a real pleasure chatting to him about what it's like to actually surf 20ft Aileens and get a first hand account of what that revered inside section is really like - basically there's no channel and if you surf there then, YOU WILL eventually be washed onto and across the boulder sized rocks!
Al surfs in anything from 2ft slop to 60ft barrels - hardcore to his very soul, paddling out in horrendous looking giant waves and having a go which is probably why guys like Occy have been singing his praises and Billabong XXL are sittng up and taking notice.
The journey contined - we drove north, we drove south, we drove sideways but everywhere was affected by that damned wind.
Not a surfer in sight! I did however manage to surf 2 new spots and had a fun surf at both.
Left hand point break:
We found a fun beachie which was eventually 2-3ft and pretty clean with a cross off wind on it. Al joined us and paddled out on his 9ft SUP and proceeded to show us how a big wave surfer can fall off in style ;)
I caught a few nice rights on my single fin and was beginning to enjoy my board again.
By the end Al was doing some crazy sideways take offs but holding his rail and chucking it around a bit.
Mark meanwhile was struggling on his McTavish long axe - not having surfed for a few weeks but eventually stroked into a few nice long rides and was well and truly stoked by the end!
Next stop was the Bushmills HQ.
The following day we hit a nice left hand point break which breaks in an unexpected place and as a result is fairly quiet so I won't be naming it on here.
We watched it for a while, thought about it, tried to imagine it was bigger than it was and searched some more before returning to find 4 guys already on it - damn!
Despite this we paddled out and got amongst it. I'd literally just reached the line-up when a nice 4 footer jacked up. No-one else was near so I stroked in and took the drop. A steep little beast but I made it and gathered some nice down the line speed, kicking out way inside - More please!
Onshore Easkey:
This was nice and just what I needed. The rip at this spot is insane and at times I was paddling for a solid 20 mins just to get back to the shifting peak that was the take off.
The winds were blowing us every which way but the waves held their shape and I bagged a few more nice long lefts before it was time to go.
Nearby, a mutant sponger wave was contorting into all sorts of vicious shapes and apparently it does get ridden occasionally!
The forecasts all showed a big N swell hitting but it never really materialised. We went out west to Bundoran country for a couple of days and scoured a few reefs.
Pollacheeny Harbour trying it's hardest:
Some old favourites were firing but the tides were against us so we opted for a seaweed bath in an old victorian bath house at Enniscrone!
Which is run by the mum of an Irish ripper who kindly gave us a discount - thanks Christine :)
A great craic to be sure, and made even better by a cool can of the black stuff.
The snow got heavier, the roads became impassable and my flight was cancelled but I made it back eventually. My flight the following day was delayed :(
Other highlights included a welcoming in the spring bonfire party where we burnt an effigy and narrowly avoided setting a garden shed on fire.
I also saw an up and coming band in Derry called 'And so I watch you from afar' - keep an eye for them...they may go big or stay underground!
No lead singer, but I've not heard noise like it and came out of the gig with bleeding ears. Amazing!
Muchos gracias to mark for putting me up and to sharon and col for the loan of their motorhome - thanks guys.
My 5th trip to Ireland and the first one where I've not scored decent waves so it had to come sooner or later. Next time!
At least the weekend looks nice for Wales and the temps are in double figures.
The Wilkinson Sword interclubs is on next weekend along with a retro surf comp which I'm going to enter so come down and have a go as we're short of entrants - it's only a fiver!
This weekend sees the 'border control challenge' comp between Porthcawl and Aberavon at Aberavon on the dropping tide, so pop over and watch if you have some spare time. There's a party afterwards too.
Gull
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