The wind before the storm

Swell: 1.1m
Wind: A lightening W
Tide: HT @ 9am - 9 metres
Period: 7.9 seconds, underlying is poor though at 4.8 seconds

Not much to report so far today.

The wind got up last night towards the end of Brazil v Chile game so I was hoping for some fresh swell this morning but it's a little premature.

The wind was still blowing as I quietly opened the bedroom window at 5am to check the direction but was immediately blasted with a face full of westerly, so went back to bed.

Gull junior however had other ideas and has the ears of an owl! So I ended up playing toy cars with him instead. It's becoming increasingly difficult to sneak past his room, downstairs and out the front door for a surf these days...

I may have to invest in a rope ladder out of the bedroom window soon.

The wind is definitely easing now though and Rest is currently around 1-2ft and trying to clean up its act. There's a wave for grockles and mals but that's about all.

Talking of mals - I saw a lot at Llangennith on Sunday morning - a god awful wave and all the mal riders were old and fat.

Now what's that all about? Why don't older surfers try and stay in shape?

Anyway...moving on.

The barometer reading is still high - around 1015 so I'm not expecting any decent surf until Weds night/ Thursday morning at the earliest really, when the next proper low arrives on our hallowed shores.

Feast your tired, summer surfer eyes on this little beauty:


Finally a proper swell to sort out the wheat from the chaff and wash away all those wannabe summer surfers into the inside shore dump, where they belong :)

We should have 4-5 days of swell of this 980 before high pressure resumes again next week so make the most of it. I suspect there will be a lot of tired shoulders by Monday morning.

Gull

Zombie dawn of the dead

Swell: 1.2m
Wind: Light ssw
Tide: Rising - HT was at 8.25am, 9 metres
Period: 7 seconds, underlying 5 seconds

The title of today's blog says it all. After 2 days of power drinking on a stag weekend down Gower I surfed like a zombie today.

I was too tired to sleep last night - a theory I'm working on but one which may hail me as a genius to the scientific world at large in years to come - watch this space.

Awake at 4am, awake at 5am I decided to get up and check the local wave data...

Rest was looking nice and clean and around 2-3ft:


I stumbled out of the house 'sans tea'(always a mistake) at 5.30am and made my way to the beach. It was a beautiful morning - with plenty of mist over the fields and wildlife central with meadow pipits, tits, fly catchers etc all flying around eagerly catching the first insects of the day.

I'd arranged to meet the h-man for a dawnie but knew that with an England defeat hanging over him, he'd probably had one too many beers last night and opted for a lie in. Correcto mundo!

So I had it to myself, not a soul in sight as I jogged the mile or so to the beach. Birds twittering everywhere and a warm sun beating down on my de-hydrated brow.

I arrived at the beach to find it looking a bit smaller than I would have liked. In my head it would be 3-4ft+ and hollow but in reality it was 2-3ft and a bit lumpy looking as the rip swirled up and down the bay.

The wind though was light cross offshore and as the tide pushed in, things began to take shape.

The first thing I noticed was how warm the sea had become! It's nudging 16 C now so very pleasant on the head and we've got a bit more summer left in the tank me thinks.

I caught a few little rights and was really trying to concentrate on my pop up today and had a few where I felt good.

My 'ickle 5'10" board definitely needs more powerful waves to make things a little easier/forgiving for this old sea dog but it still rides nicely once I'm up!

My backhand was shoddy though, too loose and chaotic and I began to get increasingly annoyed with my surfing and the waves!

I began to reach the stage where you're spending more time chasing ghost waves than actually riding them. Lovely looking bigger set waves seemed to be magically appearing wherever I wasn't and I was beginning to get a bit frustrated.

Another local turned up around 7am and we shared a few waves and some chat before I finally called it a day after going over the falls on a bigger left. LOL

The surf had begun to deliver 3ft peaks with a bit more shape and I was in two minds whether to stay... but work beckoned and I figured I'd be on better form tomorrow after some much needed sleep!

I was mercilessly mobbed by flies on the return leg and the only way to keep them at bay was to swing my aqua-pac around my head whilst I walked - making me even more tired! :(

As I arrived at the car, surprise surprise - h-man stepped out of his pink clio and into his day-glow wetty having decided he'd have a lie in ;0

Looks like surf all week long culminating in a nice weekend so we'll hopefully have some overhead waves to talk about (at last).

Hope you like the new format and layout. Tough luck if you don't!

cheers

Gull

Was sup?

It was only a matter of time before the Americans began to kick some ass. Forget BP - this is serious! ;)

Interesting read over on surfermag which outlines new regulations being brought in which will classify SUP's as 'vessels' putting them in the same category as wave ski's and kayaks which I believe is absolutely the right thing to do.

I'm not sure we have the same rules and regs over here though...

For those who want the summary:

"On April 1, 2010, the Orange Coast District passed an order that would prohibit the launch of standup paddleboards at San Onofre Surf Beach from Dog Patch to the Northwest border of the Military Enlisted Men’s Beach as well as in areas of Crystal Cove State Park and Doheny State Beach".

"Standup Paddlers will still be permitted to launch in the area between Trail 6 and Dog Patch at San Onofre as well as south of Thor’s Hammer in Doheny, but must stay 1,000 feet beyond the high tide line in non-designated areas.

"Additionally, because standup paddleboards have been officially classified as “vessels” by the Coast Guard (a grouping dating back to 2008 that includes kayaks, surf skis, and wave skis), they must remain at a distance of 100 feet from swimmers and surfers, which ultimately makes the act of riding a wave that much more difficult for standup paddlers – a ruling many surfers find appealing".

I never understood what all the fuss until I had one particularly nice session at the river mouth ruined by two SUPPISTS intent on hogging every single set wave that came my way. I say came my wave but they covered such a wide area so quickly that they hogged every single set wave - period.

Will the sun finally set for SUP riders in the UK?


They patrolled the bay like seasoned prison wardens, covering vast distances with just a few strokes of their paddle. Even if you saw a set they were already back in time to snag it before you could shout "stand up paddle boarder!".

Eventually enough was enough and I began to try and hassle for my share of the waves. I even bagged one eventually but it's not easy hassling an 11 foot board that moves so damn fast and can sit so deep. They even get to spot the sets appearing first as they're so high up.

The only way for this to work is for surfers to evolve. No longer can we be selfish predatory wave hunters. The shark must become the hyena.

We must learn to hunt in packs and take it in turns at riding the spoils as man on man - a decent SUPPER will always win.

Don't get me wrong - I think in the right hands and in the right conditions they're fine. I've even considered getting one myself for flat days and for fishing from but in decent, crowded surf - do they really have a place in the lineup?

I don't think so.

Laird Hamilton has a lot to answer for and not just for his appearance as the villainous pro surfer in North Shore.

You can tell it's been flat for a while eh? ;)

Low pressure coming in from around the middle/end of next week so I should have some surf to talk about soon!

After eights

I tempted fate yesterday and went in again. Don't ask me why?!

Arriving at Rest Bay I found the tide well in and hoards of surfers surfing in a small zone opposite the slipway.

I decided to find a bit of solitude and surf elsewhere and come back once the tide had dropped back to catch the same banks I'd surfed on in the morning.

With a dying swell, I managed to find a fun, bowly 2ft wedge breaking over shallow rocks - I was scraping my hand on reef whilst paddling back out!

But the sun was out, the sea was warm and I had a nice little wave all to myself :)

Other than a rip running like a river being emptied into a bucket it was good fun and I even managed a few top turns on each wave.

Curiosity got the better of me around 7.30pm though and I decided to paddle back and see what rest had on offer - mistake!

I was expecting the rip to lend a helping hand but it stopped working so I had to get there under my own steam which was pretty hot and tiring work.

Arriving back with the pack, I found a disappointingly small, weak wave around 1-2ft flopping onto the sand so I called it a day.

I raised my stoke by calling into 'Beales' for a round of fish & chips on the way home - they've raised their prices for the summer chav fest! (doh) but it tasted nice all the same.

Looks like that's it now until around the middle of next week. There might be some small stuff over the weekend for the longboards though.

Lines galore

Swell: 0.8m
Wave Period: 11.8 secs
Winds: very light SE
Tides: Surfed on the drop. LT @ 10.35am, 2.5m

I missed yet another good session last night apparently, with clean 3-4ft surf...according to my sponger friend, Harv.

I was racing a dropping tide today but there were nice corduroy lines stacked to the horizon when the sets came through. Scarweather banks were breaking and the world seemed a better place for it.

If you were on the right peak then you reaped the rewards today. I didn't have the energy to do too much chasing and feel a slight 'lurgy' coming on (I hope not!)

Rest Bay on the drop, 2ft and clean:


I only had a quick 40 min dip before work but had one lovely right and managed to blast four otl's as I worked my way along a fast, clean 3ft face.

Very warm and muggy today. The sea temperatures have shot up recently to a balmy 14 degrees so my summer suit will be wrestled back of the 'garage spiders' any day now.

Today I saw chris, ollie, sven and aran in the water. Chris had one really nice right as I walked down and performed 3 nice high scoring manoeuvres on it ;0

If the swell holds then it will be nice later...It's meant to drop off though :(

Baby dawn

No need for an alarm clock when you've got a 10 month yr old baby but at least he's consistent!

4.45am he began gurgling and kicking his bed and I was planning on checking the surf at 5am anyway, so got up and eventually powered up the laptop (after switching off mid boot twice by mistake! I was tired...)

The surf was up slightly - 0.8m if my memory serves me correctly and the winds were light offshore but the underlying wave period was a slack 4-5 seconds giving us 1ft gutless looking lines at Rest Bay.

Looks like it's picking up a little bit now though but the tide is on the way out now so don't bother unless you're desperate and can afford the petrol.

Tomorrow's another day.

Magical Gower

Swell: 1.3m
Wave period: 10 seconds
Winds: Light NW
Tide: 8m, LT at 6.30am

I spied a potential pulse on Friday night so arranged to meet up with Doc for a Saturday morning dawn patrol on the Gower reefs.

The alarm went off at 5am and checking my mobile, saw that I already had 3 messages from Doc telling me to get up! LOL

Lovely start to the day I think - hard to say as Porthcawl and the M4 were shrouded in fog but for once - the steelworks @ Port Talbot looked beautiful.

The 'cooling lake' was shrouded in mist as I drove past and I half expected the lady of the lake to rise up holding a shopping trolley aloft.

I knew it would be good as I turned off for Swansea. I guess every surfer checks this part of the estuary, as you get an enticing glimpse of the surf just as you turn off and head down the hill at J42?

There in front of the river mouth were clean, glassy lines! It's normally just onshore white water. Needless to say I ignored the speed limit, hit green lights all the way through and was at Doc's place in record time.

We loaded up complete with surf dog - Roger who snuggled up and kept my lap warm for the ride down to the reefs.

After a quick change it became apparent that we were not alone - 7 cars already parked up but the big question was where was everyone?

As we walked along the cliff tops, we watched nice lines rolling in down at Sumpter's and got more excited at what lay ahead...

Pete's had 6 surfers already on it and was only really working on the inside but we could see occasional head dips and cover ups.

All around us, perfect lines were rolling in but the ocean didn't seem to be delivering when the waves eventually broke. Had we got the tide wrong? Or was this just the start of the swell pushing in?

Gower in winter time:


After much deliberating - mainly on my part we paddled out at a reef doc assured me would be good. I was less than convinced as it looked small and slow from up the top but I eventually decided to trust his judgement and was glad I had - it was the right call!

After a few wrong turns ending in steep rocks, I made it to the waters edge. Doc had gone walkabout as Roger the dog had gone AWOL chasing rabbits again but eventually joined me.

Paddling over the shallow inside section I was greeted with sparkling 3ft+ barrels reeling along the reef towards me. I was aware that I was now grinning like a fool and could hear my heart pumping hard through my ear plugs. Nearly there...

A set came through and I was a little confused as to where to sit as there were now 3 separate peaks all within range and all looking lovely.

I kept paddling and lined myself up with a big indicator rock and waited.

A few waves came through and I realised doc hadn't been joking when he said I'd enjoy a nice fast take off and walling right. I let the first few go so I could get in position and see where the rocks were. Then I took my first wave.

The peak jacked up considerably and I dropped into a nice hollow, walling right.

My board was absolutely flying and I bashed 3x lips as I raced down into the inside section, wondering if I should have pulled into to the various barrels that were on offer?

Each section made and bashed provided another one up ahead to race. Should I kick out now...keep going...now...keep going...a little bit more, before eventually kicking out into knee deep water on the inside rocks. What a ride!

I'd been after something of that quality for about 3 months and had finally gotten my fix.

Doc joined me in the line-up and snagged his first on big red and away we went, sharing the peak and getting some nice rights.

A couple of lads including Dan from Progress Surf paddled over and joined us. Doc had the set waves wired and sat patiently further out on big red.

Dan was smiling and chatting and throwing plenty of spray around despite his dinged board and foot from an earlier incident with the reef.

Doc made some serious drops on his plank, easily 4ft, jacking up quickly and probably only fell off two or three in total.

He was definitely committed and I gave up trying to play the positional card on him ;) so the rest of us snagged the smaller waves which turned out to be holding up nicely.

As the tide raced in the wave began to throw out nicely a few cover ups were had but none made.

It was time to go so Doc, Dan and I paddled in...to find roger the dog had gone?
He must be chasing rabbits again...

Doc went off up the hill to find him and we parted company with Dan who offered to tie Roger up to the van if found.

Not a problem we thought - he's bound to turn up but 3 hrs later and there was still no sign of him. We walked high and low until our legs could carry us no further.

Doc's family joined in the search and Port Eynon and Worm's Head were covered. Ramblers and runners were canvassed but no sign of him anywhere?

I had to get back home but Doc continued the search and handed out flyers.

At present Roger is still missing so if anyone is reading this and has seen a small brown and white beagle/terrier cross on Gower wandering about with his lead attached - please leave your details or call the number on the collar.

You can find a pic and details here.

It would be good to reunite Roger with his family soon.

Another great start to the day

Swell: 3ft
Period: 7-8 seconds
Winds: Light ESE
Tides: Mid tide on the push. HT @ 11.11am

It's at times like these that I can almost imagine I'm living back in Australia - sunshine and surfing before work.

But the surf rolls on...I've pretty much got my morning routine with Jnr sussed now. I drop him off at nursery @ 7.30am which gives me a good hour of surfing before I, like 90% of the other surfers in the water have to don the work attire and hit the M4...slowing for that mysterious accident that always occurs between J33-34?

The winds were light SE and offshore and there was a fast, clean wave running at around 3ft on the better sets. The board and I connected today and I finally found a few sweet spots, hitting some lips and laying down a few high speed cutbacks.

I even survived a double drop in from two chubby longboarders, one of whom proceeded to try and decapitate me with his flying board. Luckily I learnt to duck as a young child.

I have therefore decided that longboarding IS a crime! and will be buying the t-shirt ASAP ;)

A good vibe and crew out there today though and plenty of smiles all round. I missed Big Wednesday last night but was shattered after surfing in the morning and every other day this week.

Rumours are circulating of overhead and clean at some spots, and 100m+ hollow rides at others - there will be other days!

If I keep telling myself that - it makes the pain bearable...just.

Claire Beach was out snapping yesterday and despite my surfing being poor, still caught me on a couple:





Photographers eh? Never around when you're ripping it up like Kelly Slater are they? ;)

More waves on the way so I'd better get some ice packs on the old shoulders!

Gull

Man on fire

Well, my own personal wave demons have come to an abrupt end. The surf was firing last night as were the wnw winds but I completed my dad duties around 7.30pm and went to make peace with the ocean.

Rest bay was looking chunky and nudging 5ft on the sets with plenty of shape despite a pretty strong cross shore wind.

The rain and squall passed over leaving us with blue skies and sunshine and as the minutes ticked by, the wind gradually swung more northerly and lightened considerably.

I picked off a handful of really nice rights and lefts and finally managed to get to grips with my firewire - getting it to bottom turn without spinning out. Result :)

Sven was out there with me and stroked into a few nice ones himself catching one peach of a left around 3ft and clean as a whistle.

I'm finding the firewire nice to use up and around the lip and had a few nice late bashes last night. My bonzer would hang in certain situations but the speed would power me through whereas this board just flies through sections, showering spray as she goes.

I did notice the wind was an issue with such a light board but to be honest, most of the guys out were struggling with it earlier on in the session so I'll hold off on my judgement for the time being..

As the tide pushed in the inside section near the rocks began to work, producing a few lovely looking A frame peaks and super hollow at times. A lone 4-5ft rogue left came my way and sven screamed me in. I made the drop and turned just as the lip pitched out, well over my head as I dropped down into the inside section.

I was already slightly out of control so opted to dodge the lip rather than pull in which was probably a mistake. The lip exploded on the tail of my board catapulting me skywards. I actually felt like I'd been blown up! LOL.

What it felt like to me:


I landed on my fins ass first and then went into the spin cycle before bashing my board once more for luck! And then finally some air :)

We paddled in happy with our lot as the waves began to back off towards high - not classic but not a bad session.

This morning:


Did it all over again this morning only with ESE offshore winds. The waves were 3-4ft and clean but backing off in places but a fair few before work surfers were out. I scored one or two nice rides but I was in and out within 45 mins and on my way to work.

More tomorrow...

Asturias

Well, the surf pretty much sucked the whole time I was out in Spain but we had a great trip anyway.

I love the area and we spent our days exploring amazing beaches and coves and discovering all sorts - brontosaurus footprints, secret caves, lovely seafood and amazing views.

The day we arrived and Rodilles looked okay, nothing huge but there were swell lines. As we'd just arrived and had to unpack and sort out jnr, my missus didn't really want me buggering off so I waited for day 2 - flatish...and so it continued.

Rodilles:


Clean 1-2ft in the mornings followed by onshore winds in the afternoons and increasing winds in the evenings which surprised me!

By mid week I was desperate so had a dip at Playa de Vega- a spot I remembered surfing some years ago on a surf trip.

It was tiny but I snagged a few 2 footers. The sun was out and the waters were crystal clear but still chilly - colder than Wales!

Fin enjoying the ocean:


The views from our apartment over the Picos mountain range and estuary flowing into Rodilles were breathtaking though and changed all day long with the different stages of the tide and day.

We were surrounded by nature on all sides with wild boar and deer below us and black kites and hawks circling in the skies above.

Fresh lemons were a nice accompaniment to the 'Cruz Campo' which I regretted buying, especially as the local cider festivals were in full swing...

You'd buy a bottle and the waiter would pour. They'd pour from a height - overhead with the bottle.

What didn't hit the floor, made it into the glass. The technique is known as 'escanciar un culín'

The small, measure of cider is then given to the customer who proceeds to drink half and throw the rest on the floor?!

Apparently it's done to get bubbles into it which only last a short time...

My lad 'Fin' has well and truly discovered the beach and went berserk whenever we neared a beach which was every single day so he went in regularly up to his knees for some paddling.

I've now learnt that babies don't really feel the cold so pulled him out once his feet turned red! ;)

I've worked out that for every beach shown on the map, there are about 4 more tucked away around the corner. Northern Spain has so much potential - it hurts.

And whilst I was away, Wales enjoyed 3-4 days of hot sunny weather and waves! Can't win 'em all...

Room with a view at sunset - low tide:


This estuary would fill up each tide and was the same colour as the sea with sandy beaches along it's banks. Why do we get lumbered with low tide stinky mud in Wales!? ;0

It's not cheap though. One seafood lunch for two cost me 70 Euros! And be warned - the locals don't speak English, so it's well worth brushing up on your "buenos dias" before you go. On the plus side, you'll not see any tourists!

My fav saying was "porque pork?" I say 'saying'...It was actually something just I said, in my best Spanish accent - to keep myself amused whilst driving around.

Can't wait to go back. I'll be taking my fishing rod next time though - just in case!