It's snow bother

Not much to report on the surfing front as we've had a 10 day flat spell now. The only mild excitement has come in the form of snow, a few inches here and there which caused widespread panic for no apparent reason.

It doesn't seem to snow very often in Porthcawl but there was a light shower as I left for work today which confused the hell out of my son, who wasn't quite sure what he was seeing - white rain?

The winds are bitterly cold with more of the same for next week. Temperatures should get a little milder for the weekend according to Derek Brockway in his latest blog over on my BBC Wales Nature & Outdoors website.

The surf forecast is poor. If I didn't know better, I'd swear someone had gone out and bought a new surfboard? thus inducing Huey's wrath and subsequent flat spell...Rattz!

I'm planning on doing the Coney Xmas swim this year. I thought it would be on Boxing Day but have been reliably informed that it's not so Xmas dinner might be delayed if I go into shock - not from the water temp but from going to Coney for a swim!

I've just purchased a suitable outfit on flea bay so if anyone fancies joining me this year - get in touch in the comments area below.

So there's no surf but at least it's cold and dry with the odd bit of snow making it feel very seasonal.

Gull

Friday feeling

I took Friday afternoon off and scored some nice clean surf at my local spot with the Porthcawl duo known as blods & evil and Jon Stoneman joined us later on.

The surf was around 1.7m on the wave buoy and 9 seconds with a light SE wind.

Fun, clean lines rolled in - a bit smaller than we would have liked but I was having fun and getting plenty of speed out of the quad.

The peaks were nicely groomed offering short rides but the occasional hollow one and I snuck my fringe inside one nice one and blasted a few lips so it was good fun.

The 'locals' burned me on a few, with blods dropping in on my 2nd wave claiming he didn't think I'd make it as I was deep in the lip. I told him I always make 'em ;) and got my own back on his next wave.

And so it continued for 2 more waves with the final score being 2-2. Evil got one up on me but left early before I could repay him! LOL... next time ;0

The dreaded shin cramps struck again! :( so I think I'm going to have to go to the docs and see if they can advise as it's very odd and really starting to get on my nerves now as I have to leave the water and run around on the beach until the pain subsides and then paddle back out.

I'm now wondering if it's caused by build up of lactic acid in my legs from surfing a bit too hard? I'm probably talking utter tripe here but I do tend to go at it hell for leather, catching everything I can and giving 100% on every wave so maybe it's time to slow down a bit and surf more sedately now I'm no longer a grom? ;)

Once back in, I tried to throw everything I had into each wave in case the cramps came back but caught some nice waves. I stuck one nice left with a little tail twist right in the sweet spot and threw a little bit of rooster so I'll have to try and replicate that more often if I remember.

The waves were a lovely shape despite blods saying they were "slow and fat"?! I'm not sure if he WAS talking about himself, his board or the waves but they were not what I'd call slow and fat! ;0

It just needed another 2ft on it and it would have been perfect. Rest Bay on the other hand was apparently "rammed and disappointing" so I definitely made the right call.

A light crowd thinned out even more as the tide pushed in and by the end we were left with 5 guys sharing two peaks and the one more wave syndrome kicked in with me having about 7 more waves before I called it a day.

I donned the winter rubber for the first time and apart from a quick fight with my aqua pack - it doesn't seem to go inside my (Xcel winter suit quite so easily)it was fine. I definitely felt more tired than usual once I was home but my wave count was high and that's the main thing!

Saturday night came and I was happily sitting down, mug of tea in hand ready to sit through another painful X-Factor when the phone rang. It was Will asking me if I wanted to go along and support the 'Elusive Movember' event in Porthcawl....

The competition for 'Mr Movember' hots up as the boys are shamed into taking off their shirts. The girls however kept theirs on....?

A quick check with the wife led to me getting a pass and off we went along with Will's wife Jo.

The guys laid on an good night at the Fairways Hotel- complete with cover band ' Jasper' who played everything from Pearl Jam to Kings of Leon and they also had a smoke machine that seemed to be coming out of Matt Hapgood's drumkit?! LOL

All for a good cause and there were some amazing moustaches on display. Mine wasn't a very good effort but tbh - I'd forgotten it was on so only had a weeks worth of growth to work with!

Good to meet up with everyone and had a nice chat with Matt and Emma etc - see you out back sometime!
My last ditch effort:


Surfing prospects are poor for this week with a NE swell so it will be flat here (The East coast could be good though!) but turning much colder with a few light dusting of snow in places, so it might be time for me to wrap up the palm tree in my garden.

Gull

Mammalian diving

It's been a good couple of days here in South Wales. Yesterday saw nice fast punchy clean waves hurtling into Rest Bay at a good 3ft with light offshore winds and apparently there was more of the same today but slightly smaller.

Gull and Fin's surf safari yesterday morning:


And now onto other matters: The mammalian diving reflex present in all of us:

As the reflex kicks in, three changes happen to the body, in this order:

1. Bradycardia is the first response to submersion. Immediately upon facial contact with cold water, the human heart rate slows down ten to twenty-five percent.

Seals experience changes that are even more dramatic, going from about 125 beats per minute to as low as 10 on an extended dive.

Slowing the heart rate lessens the need for bloodstream oxygen, leaving more to be used by other organs.

2. Next, peripheral vasoconstriction sets in. When under high pressure induced by deep diving, capillaries in the extremities start closing off, stopping blood circulation to those areas.

Toes and fingers close off first, then hands and feet, and ultimately arms and legs stop allowing blood circulation, leaving more blood for use by the heart and brain.

Human musculature accounts for only 12% of the body's total oxygen storage, and the body's muscles tend to suffer cramping during this phase.

Aquatic mammals have as much as 25 to 30% of their oxygen storage in muscle, and thus they can keep working long after capillary blood supply is stopped.

3. Finally there's the blood shift that occurs only during very deep dives. When this happens, organ and circulatory walls allow plasma/water to pass freely throughout the thoracic cavity, so its pressure stays constant and the organs aren't crushed.

In this stage, the lungs' alveoli fill up with blood plasma, which is reabsorbed when the animal leaves the pressurized environment.

This stage of the diving reflex has been observed in humans (such as world champion freediver Martin Štěpánek) during extremely deep (over 90 metres or 300 ft) freedives.

Cold winds blow

Not bad a weekend all things considered!

The wind was howling on Saturday morning so I took a rare dip at Coney and was pleasantly surprised. I've slagged this spot off over the years (as has just about everyone) but like a faithful old dog - she sometimes delivers!

It was wasn't epic but it was fun and for once, the odd wave held up allowing for a few moves. The waves were in the 3-4ft region with a nice fast, steep drop followed by a wallowing middle section ending in a fast bashable shorey on the inside.

Claire turned up and took a few pics so cheers for that. Check out that backdrop!
The first hour was a lot of fun as Aran and I shared a few rights. One thing I did notice was the water temp but I'd opted to wear winter boots for the first time and it made a big difference.

After that it began to get a little more crowded and the longboarders arrived sitting deep and snagging all the nice ones early.

I was gagging to get one in before my fond memories of Coney faded and finally spotted a cheeky right. I paddled and was suddenly joined by a long haired blonde grom prob in his early teens.

The wave was a right, I was going for it and was not in the mood to be hassled by some young punk! I shouted and he gave me some garbled back chat at which point I lost my rag slightly and told him where to go as I jumped to my feet. Luckily this was my last wave in or I'd probably have paddled back out and throttled him! ;0

I had a quick chat with Claire Beach who was taking snaps on the beach and she confirmed that said grom and his posse were local gobshites who thought they owned all the beaches, so I'll be keeping an eye out for them in future and 'burning them' at every opportunity until they learn some respect! ;0

Funnily enough I mentioned it in passing to Malc and Aggers the following day, at which point they both errupted in laughter and said "yeah, we call them the WQS as they think they're something special!" LOL

A different kind of floater at Coney...

Sunday was lovely. The wind had dropped to practically nothing - just a whisper of a Northerly wind. I got on it early and was in the water by 8am still thinking about wearing my winter suit...I decided not to as I wanted a good surf and it was the right decision.

Every now and again I have a surf where I feel like I'm actually surfing well. Most f the time I'm prob only 70% satisfied but Sunday was a def 90% after my first 3 waves.

There were only a handful of guys in - I saw Malc and Guto a bit further down but the middle peak was practically empty. Glassy faces jacked up delivering steep 4ft set waves.

I stroked into my first wave, just about clung on to a very drop and went screaming along, smacking the lip and sending plenty of spray towards the heavens. I however went in the opposite direction but it felt good!

I paddled out and caught 2 consecutive waves, both a good size and holding up nicely :) As the tide pushed, it went a bit deep so I paddled inside and found a super bank all to myself.

It was at this point that I took a few beatings as the wave turned into a bit of an angry mutant, contorting this way and that. I copped a board in the head and was ragged dolled a few times for my troubles but that's half the fun - right?!

But the drops were steep and fun and I snagged some lovely short, bowling rights curving into the gold course.

Rest then went into overdrive and stepped up a gear delivering 4ft+ and clean sets?!

The crowd grew but there were waves breaking everywhere! I saw Aggers catch a few and crossed paths with Malc again on the inside - he's off to California shortly - lucky bugger!

The cold was setting in after 1.5hrs surfing, so I caught one more nice left, whacked the lip and called it a day - done and dusted by 9.30am :)

The wave cleaned up even more later apparently but I'd had my fill. Looking nice again today with clean 2-3ft fast and hollow walls unloading at mid tide.

The wind is still light offshore and there were only 4 in when I checked with Fin at 8am.

I think short, fast, 100% power surfs are the future, this winter. It's getting colder...

Prowlers video

Storm force

8am....

Not much to report in South Wales today apart from gale force westerly winds and an angry sea - angry at being flattened by the wind!

And the reason for all this? A nice little 951 perched off the coast:

Coney is rideable if you're really desperate but only just as a mushy 3-4ft wave spills in but once that tide drops - forget about it.

It's 2.9m on our wave buoy as I type this with a 7 sec wave period and 40 mph WSW winds which will probably strengthen!

More strong W winds tomorrow so Saturday looks like our best bet for surf at the moment with the winds easing.

Meanwhile the Pembs buoy is registering 4.4m so BHS and Tenby will be off their faces!

Looking forward to seeing some pics from lensman - Adie :)

Aileen's crazy Asbo brother

Just when you though it couldn't get any bigger those big wave chargers off Ireland's West coast have been at it again!

Ladies and gentlemen...allow me to present - 'Prowlers'

Thanks to longboarding sensation - John Fitz for the heads up on this story.

Big Gower reef

Swell: 11-12ft
Wind: Light WNW
Tides: Large tides, HT was around 1pm so we surfed the dropping tide
Reefs: 6-8ft

A solid swell with light NW winds = a solid 6ft+ with the odd eight foot rogue thrown in for good measure.

Luckily my recent Ireland trip had served up bigger so I was feeling fairly relaxed on the inside and feeling quite comfortable to begin with.

It started off nice enough and the sun even put in an appearance but it was only when Mike, Kev and I paddled out that we realised the fast hollow right we were aiming for was going to be too big. The right looked amazing so one to check and none of us had ridden it before.

It was a long, fast wall followed by a heaving barrel on the inside - no doubt concealing a slab of some sort.

As we picked our way through the reef large waves pounded the inside making for a heart pounding paddle out as large glassy waves reared up.
Eventually we allowed it out and paddled over to what had lookups a more manageable peak...

Lovely waves were jacking up in deep water but it was hard to know where to sit as it was all quite random. A steep right pushed in and the boys shouted me in.

A long range view from the fields above. You can't actually see the reef from here, just some lines:


The lip reared up and off I went, getting a nice air drop for my troubles. After that the wave flattened out so I kicked out and went back for more.

Kev was next going late and going down but he was soon back in the saddle and beginning to dominate the session, taking off on a nice big right followed up with a dredging left. Hoots all round!

Larry meanwhile was scouring the inside wave picking off the odd one but it was hard to catch a decent one.

The swell began to build as the tide pushed in and we were soon scurrying around trying our best to avoid the bigger 8ft set waves that came through once in a while. One however caught us out. Larry in front didn't quite manage to get under.

My 'Firewire' board is stupidly light so invaluable when you've got to go that little bit deeper, fast!

I felt the serpent grabbing my legs trying to pull me backwards and down but just squeaked through and wriggled free. Phew!

Larry however wasn't so lucky. I surfaced to find he'd been dragged back a good 100 yards or so underwater, behind me and was covered in white foam with a thousand yard stare for good measure.

On the inside 'Crofty Cowboy' had recently joined us after an eventful paddle out asking us "where's the f***s the channel then boys?"

To which we all replied "Errr...There isn't one!" at which point we all had a good chuckle.

Another big set loomed. I let the first one go as positioning was key on this wave and lined up for the 2nd wave. I'd only had 3 waves in about an hour and was getting cold and wave starved so needed some adrenalin to warm me up.

I paddled hard into a nice hollow right and made a nice steep drop, flashing Larry a 'V' for victory sign as I went. This one had a bit more face to it and let me throw in one nice cutback before kicking out into the channel.

Larry and Crofty were paddling back out as was I when we all turned to watch Kev taking off on another bomb. Time stood still as I watched Kev late in the lip, bailing as the beast pitched over.

I saw Kev, in a stretched foetal position going down with the ship on a solid 8 footer - the sort of image you see in Surfer magazine as 'wipe-out of the month' LOL

We are calling it wipe-out of the year...so far anyway!

I later remarked that he didn't look like he was diving for lobster - more like groping for sand eels! ;)

Board vertical, below him and Kev in an awkward position meant that he didn't land deeply and got what can only be described in the business as 'a proper pasting' followed up by another big set wave for good measure.

It took him a while to rejoin us and talk us through his moment of pain and darkness! ;)

Crofty picked off a few smaller waves inside and had already equalled our wave count!

After that it all got a bit uneventful. Larry decided to quietly paddle down to another left hand reef and try his luck there whilst we scratched around trying to pick off waves which were by now getting a bit deep.

I was freezing my tight little derriere off at this point! Dressed in a 5/3 wetty and reef slippers with a cold N wind blowing, along with rain and dark cloud....it was time to go.

I'll be donning full winter clobber soon me thinks - definitely boots anyway.

We all paddled inside to scope out the exit and try to pick off a wave to shore. I went first catching a left and milked it as far as I dared and jumped off...still too deep!

With my feet a long way off bottom I paddled in but quickly realised I was getting pushed over towards a rocky slab of jagged rocks with good sized waves pounding through the inside where I was now walking in waist deep water.

Each time the tide surged back I was pushed in closer towards the jagged rocks on the inside. Gulp...I was trying to hold my nerve but at the same time thinking - this could get a bit nasty if I get washed onto dry reef in these conditions...

I was desperately trying to stay on my feet, avoid being dragged over rocks and keep my board ding free - but I eventually succumbed when a large wave engulfed me!

I had no choice but to go with the flow and let nature take it's course. Luckily the white water shielded me from reef below; washing me in to shallow water where I could finally scramble out of the danger zone.

Just to my right was a nice gentle cove - much wider than the narrow inlet I'd gone for but which was invisible from the sea. I shouted Kev into this one; giving him and his nugget a nice gentle exit :)

Meanwhile...Crofty was perilously close to having the same treatment as me, only slightly further down the reef. He didn't seem to realise the imminent danger he was in so we shouted at him to head in our direction and he somehow made it over intact.

Everyone out safely - job done.

Not many waves ridden but plenty of heart pounding action and some good adrenalin rushes on the ones we tamed. Getting back to the van, my whole body was chilled to the core.

It took me far too long to locate my car key as my fingers had turned into lobster claws. As I stood naked, shivering in the back of the van - my brain couldn't compute which item of clothing to put on first - beanie, uggs or sweatshirt?! I went for beanie and dressed from the toes up! ;0

Driving home I stopped for much needed energy supplies but came across a crazy lady who asked for a lift back to Swansea. All I wanted to do was scoff food and whack the heating on full but it was cold and wet and her bus hadn't arrived...so I did the decent thing.

I then felt bad as I'd not got anything for her to eat?! So had to wait until she'd stopped talking and hopped out (half and hour later) before I could feed.

More big waves on the horizon but I've got to shake off this head cold first...

Pembrokeshire puddles

Gales, gales and more gales followed by a bit more rain for good measure.

Welcome to winter in Wales! it's not all bad though - last winter was actually very good - combining solid swells with more than a few offshore days which left us all dumbfounded?!

I'm off back to my spiritual heartland of Pembrokeshire with the family this weekend and the forecast is looking mixed. There's plenty of swell about but howling NW winds so we'll see if some of my old haunts are still up to it!

Leg cramps

"Cramps are often caused by a lack of potassium, resulting in an electrolytic imbalance. Strenuous exercise with sweating and diarrhea or other bowel disease may cause loss of potassium and other important minerals. It is very important to replace them with supplements. Some people get leg cramps at night for no apparent reason. This is called restless legs syndrome." Health 911


I've never suffered with leg cramp whilst surfing before. BOLLOX - That's a complete lie as I have, but not on a regular basis and we've all suffered from cramping up during a long cold winter session now, haven't we?

But I've been getting them a lot this year. I've no idea why - but perhaps it's down to the fact that I'm not in winter rubber yet and my summer suit is too thin or maybe I'm just lacking some vital nutrient? I eat well enough though...

I drink plenty of milk and have been a cereal addict since a young age and rarely visit the dentist although I probably should - so calcium deficiency isn't a problem.

My better half has suggested 'magnesium tablets' so I'll try them this month starting today and see how I get on.

There's nothing worse than cramping up, just as you stand up on a nice wave and feel like you've been shot as that shooting pain grinds up your leg. You fall off without an ounce of finesse, clutching your contorted leg and try to straighten it as best you can whilst floundering your way in until the sand below gives some relief.

Yesterday I ended up getting out and running up and down the beach. I felt particularly stupid as on the opposite side to me were 3 lads doing athletics training and we kept passing each other - me in a full wetsuit and them in shorts and vests!

But you know when you've had a bad cramp as your leg still feels cramped the following day/s (like mine does right now). Leg cramp is becoming my own personal man flu ;0

I even tried the old pre-surf isotonic drinkies yesterday but to no joy. One thing I didn't do was stretch as I was too busy gassing away to blods but I don't think that would've made much difference as I normally stretch religiously and still cramp up after a couple of hours surfing.

Perhaps the snickers bar cancelled it out?

Into autumn with a bang

Plenty of groundswell at the moment. The WCSC Surfers Ball went off on Sat night with the 'Screamin' Halloween' event and judging from the photos - a good time was had by all! The costumes get better every year. LOL

One benefit of not being able to go was a clear head on Sunday morning so I hit my usual and had nice 2-3ft clean surf with a moderate E wind.

Good fun as a large OTL contingent(old surfing message board I used to run) turned up so although a little crowded, there were plenty of party waves, drop ins and good vibes.

In attendance were: john rainbow, harv, grant, geth, ceri, wilks, blods, rick, aran and chris.

The winds were making for slow rides but if you caught a set wave and took off in the curl then it was good fun.

Harv and I shared a nice long right together and I managed to go straight over him as he duck-dived in front me as I took my last wave in - a nice long left.

This morning's perfection. Pic by Catherine Tanner:




It's pumping out there today with a solid groundswell and wave period and light winds - the calm before the storm.

9am: 1.3m, 10 seconds and a light N wind which is veering sw today.

Already getting reports of Gower reefs being 6ft and glassy but crowded. Read Doc's report from this morning.