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.

That afternoon...

Feeling a little bit bad for Josh, I opted to surf again with him in the afternoon so we descended onto our local spot - Dunfanaghy.

Josh redeems himself by sneaking into the belly of a nice right. Image by Mark Patterson:


This little spot isn't renound for it's surf but on a solid swell and offshore winds - it was firing!

It reminded me a lot of freshwater east - my old local haunt in Pembs. A beach break with attitude serving up nice hollow waves in shallow, knee height water.

The waves were howling offshore and 2-3ft and clean with plenty of hollow close-outs on offer. Some however held up and allowed Josh and I to squeak in and out of one or two.

Mark had gone off road in the Landrover so chauffeured us along the beach to our chosen peak and offered to take pics (once I'd shamed him into it). ;)

As the tide pushed in, the waves grew. I paddled down to a right I'd first spotted when we surf checked it earlier, but was too lazy/tired to paddle down for!

Bottom turning on a nice right. Image by Mark Patterson:


After about an hour, I'd grown tired of watching a perfect right unload all the way down the beach, throwing the lip over as it went, so decided to paddle down give it a go. It was worth it!

I was a bit knackered after the earlier 3hr session but was determined to get inside at least one and exit.

The first few came through and were a perfect bowl shape, allowing for a nice easy take off, followed by a hollow lip which I was trying to get to grips with.

The board I was on was fine for pulling in on but I was finding it hard to lay down any manoeuvres on so just stuck to bottom turning and trying to get covered up whenever possible.

I took off a little late on a 3-4ft right, dropped down and squeaked a turn in, just as the lip threw over in front of me.

It literally went into slo-mo for me and felt like I had all the time in the world yet was over in a split second. No matter how many times you get under that lip, even if it's just your head, it feels special.

Pulling in. Image by Mark Patterson:


Sticking my hand into the wave, I stalled just long enough to get in and out before kicking out into a close out sandy haze.

Mark managed to capture the moment just before and just after but I had the view from inside and was howling like a howler monkey after that one :)

Josh was styling on his quad and for a big guy, did well - pulling into some nice cover ups. He's been watching far too many retro surf movies me thinks! ;)

After an hour or two we called it a day. I'd had a good 4 hrs+ of surf that day and was well and truly done.

Radical rivermouth

We all woke with that familiar taste of stale Guinness on our breath but the heads were clear despite the last round of shorts...courtesy of Neil - one of the bar owners @ McGrorys.

Jon and Nicola had kindly lent Mark and I the use of their house in Culdaff which was much appreciated. You can't put a price on a hot shower after surfing a cold northerly swell in Ireland!

Mark disappeared south for a christening leaving Josh and I to go and hunt out some waves. The swell had yet to kick in so we were mainly just scouting places out.

The forecast of 15 feet @ 12 seconds with W winds meant that a mystical river mouth break I'd been hearing whispers about for years, was finally going to break!

We checked it, knowing it would be flat on the Sunday just out of curiosity as I was keen to see what it looked like.

A tranquil scene of cormorants and still, clear waters greeted us - with woodlands and an old harbour, but no sign of the open ocean anywhere...

I won't be saying where it is but the swell has to wrap in at an insane angle to reach this spot.

Looking at the map you'd never believe any surf could get in there but I can report that it most definitely does.

As the light faded we headed East and booked ourselves into a nice hostel for the night. A full dorm and empty hostel to ourselves for 17 Euros a night which wasn't too bad. It gets cheaper the longer you stay...

Josh whipped up a nice red Thai curry and I went to work on getting a hearty fire lit - with plenty of peat to burn.

The following day we met up with Mark fresh from his christening duties and arrived at the x spot.

The tranquil estuary had been transformed and replaced with what appeared to be a fast, freight training, left hand barrel - reeling it's way along the point at warp speed.

My initial call was 4ft+ but we were a long way off and the tide needed to drop back a bit more.

The paddle out wasn't obvious and after a trek through woodland, we came to the jumping in point.

One lad in front of us called Rory, had already gone in, paddling up the side of the peninsula before cutting back across the bay towards the break.

I decided to reduce paddle time and jump in further upstream via a small, sandy cove which worked out nicely - no point in paddling more than you have to.

I was out quite deep now and in amongst some horrible rips and unsure of where to sit and how big the surf would be. I was also wondering why everyone had gone out and then across?

I paddled across and inside to join up with a few friendly locals who all seem glad of the company. "I thought I'd be out here on my own!" was often mentioned. One lad even had a 'Go-Pro' cam mounted on the nose of his board and I'd love to see some footage from that one day.

Mark stayed deep and I ventured inside for a sniff of the barrel.

As the first set arrived I quickly realised I was now a little too far inside. Huge barrelling left handers flew down the line, grinding their way along from the rocky outcrop we'd paddled out from - all the way along the bay for a considerable distance - 500m or more ending up in a deep channel. Wow!

The actual spot with some quickly done (badly)Photoshop to show you where it breaks:


Some of those pits were absolutely perfect - big clear round barrels big enough to drive a small car through - real surf mag 'front cover' kind of stuff.

It was the sort of wave that sucks your board over, as you peer over the lip for a look so positioning was key. There was no way I was going to make anything from where I was sitting so I paddled down the line, hoping to snag some from the shoulder.

I watched a few of the local guys having a go before I committed. Apparently Tom Curran surfed it 15 years ago and was one of the few to have ever made it all the way along from the inside section - one hell of a ride.

Apparently this place holds treble over head (18ft) and clean so you can imagine how good it gets. It can also turn to sheet glass but was light cross off on this particular day, chopping up the waves ever so slightly.

One of the local guys told me it was a mellow day so go only knows how hairy it gets out there when it's bigger! lol

My first wave was on a borrowed 6'3" Resin 8 courtesy of Josh' mate - Connell.

It was a twitchy wee thing, super skinny and narrow at 18" but did the job and I dropped over the ledge for my first taste of this legendary left hander.

After a steep drop the wave walled up beautifully allowing me to ride high and 'conservatively' bash the lip a couple of times as I made my way towards the inside channel.

The wave reformed slightly allowing for a nice cutback and then kick out, a fair distance from where I'd begun.

We then spotted the familiar shape of Josh on his new orange quad. Josh had been taking his time changing and put the wrong wetty on so we'd gone on ahead, keen to make the most of the dropping tide.

Unfortunately for Josh, he'd not realised where he needed to paddle out from and was too far inside. He ended paddling through the impact zone and barrel! ;0

It could only ever end one way and despite out best efforts at screaming at him to paddle 'out' rather than 'across', he succumbed to the constant barrage of barrels and was washed in - the end.

As I turned, the horizon turned a little darker and we were in for our first taste of a death set.

I saw mark to my right, shouting at me to move over but I was on a bearing of 'hard right' for the shoulder ;) Survival and experience kicking in! I made it. He didn't...

Unexpectedly a solid 8ft wave reared up, broke but let me through. I can only assume the deeper water took some of the power out of the wave as I found most of the set easy to duck-dive? I got caught by one but it nothing like the power of my local spot which often rips my board clean fro my grasp in similar sized waves?

As the set cleared I looked around to see everyone else washed inside so I'd had a lucky escape!

I made a mental note to stay on my toes and watch out for those rogue sets...

One local guy had the place wired, taking off deeper and later than anyone and going on the big ones we all left well alone.

I caught some really nice waves though but in serious waves like that, you really need your own board - maybe next time! My 6'6" pin tailed, single fin would have been perfect but c'est la vie.

I paddled my socks off on more than one occasion as large sets appeared and managed to survive unscathed. The rip was very sly and gradually, ever so slightly - floated you across and inside leaving you at the mercy of the barrel if you weren't paying attention.

You'd be sat there happily chatting away and suddenly realise that a huge wave was about to barrel on top of your head! Being so far away from land - there were no obvious markers on the shore to line up so it was a bit cat n mouse with the barrel.

I caught about 8 or 9 waves so not too bad and there was a good crew out in the water with a few big wipe-outs to boot.

Mark finally got going, stroking into a nice big one - going late and making the drop on his fish.

He was stoked and wanted that elusive "one more wave" before calling it a day. I caught a few more and had a quick run of 3 or 4 waves before finally catching one in. My feet were going numb and the leg felt a bit crampy so it was time to go.

I arrived on the shoreline not knowing which way to go but eventually decided to paddled across a lagoon back to land, with a large seal following me as I went

What a session

Ireland - Homers

I've just landed with a thump back into a chilly Cardiff airport; after what feels like a tour of the entire north and west coast of Donegal and Bloody in search of that perfect wave.

I arrived on Friday night, chasing a fresh Northerly swell and the first day delivered an unexpected wave at a spot I'd not surfed before.

Clean lines @ Homers on Saturday afternoon:


'Homers' as I'll call it here, is a spectacular spot. A natural amphitheatre consisting of a large bay, river mouth and high cliffs on either side giving it shelter from certain winds.

Even the sun was out - a rare event in Ireland ;) and clean 2-3ft waves were starting to roll in as the tide dropped back. The water was crystal clear and we c oud clearly see the bottom as we paddled out - like the Bahamas only much colder!

Myself, John and Mark grinning lke fools above the cliff tops:


Hospital radio sensation - DJ Mark Patterson, John Fitz I eagerly clambered down a grassy cliff bank to the paddle out spot - a little nook in between the rocks which must require some careful timing on bigger swells!

Mark almost came a cropper on this small day as a wave threatened to smash him onto one of the rocks as he scurried through the gap on his mal.

Initiialy it was too deep to surf so we sat, waited and took in the amazing views.

After about 30 mins or so I switched the Go Pro head cam on and away I went on Mark's 'Gary Linden' quad fish - a bit too much foam for me but it had bags of speed but I found it hard to throw it about but then again it's designed for a guy whose 6'5" and not 5'11" ;0

The main thing however was that it caught waves nice and easily and showed those lads on longboards a thing or two about wave positioning.

A nice barrellig left threatened to deliver perfection but the tide was just too high to make it surable and we watched in envy as each set barreled into and over a large dry rock - guarding the take off spot.



The sun was shining and the craic was high as we enjoyed fun waves on the inside. The rights were holding up nicely and became quite fast and bowly after take off but rides were fairly short. Josh arrived late and missed the best of it but still managed to snag a few on his new quad.

John was picking off some nice long rides and was stoked to be finally getting wet after months of being dry. Our photographer Ailee, John's better half decided to go for a run so we reprimanded her upon our return to the cars ;0

Mark was determined to wait for the bigger set waves which were few and far between and eventually paddled inside with the rest of us and caught a few waves on his Mc Tavish Fireball.

The sun finally gave up and disappeared down, behind the mountains. It was a chilly start to the trip with the water being a few degrees cooler than in South Wales and we were all feeling it as we trudged back to the car.

Me shouting John Fitz into a nice long right:


Mark's feet were a weird blue and white colour and he found the tarmac road, tough going with frozen club feet! ;0

The camera worked pretty well - first time I'd used the head mount but I'd not want to paddle out wearing it in bigger waves as it kept smacking into the bridge of nose (I was wondering why it was sore in the pub that night) or blind folding me when waves knocked it down over my eyes so I'd come up blind only to get hit by another wave!

A good start to the trip though as we weren't expecting surf until late Sunday.

The lads enjoying having some craic in the bar:


We spent the night at McGrory's Bar - one of the best live music vebues in Ireland, sat sharing stories, stout and listening to the owners jamming away on guitars and mandolins next to a roaring fire :)