Poker Face

Long lulls between the sets. Ocean looks manageable. Tricky shore break methinks. North or South of the flags? More crowded North, not quite such a good peak to the South. Opt for the smaller crowd. Take a running jump at the shore break. Get stuffed. Sand politely shoved into the wetsuit from both directions, down the neck and up the legs. That’s going to feel like a free exfoliation later. Make it past the churning inside and there’s half a football pitch of flatness between the inside and pack. They seem a long way out. Paddle on through the ocean; a crisp turquoise blue, light offshore.

Out the back, floating in what feels like a no mans land. There’s a high proportion of blue and yellows; foam boards without the fibreglass, the long lulls and smooth ocean inciting them out. Many look a little steely faced. Tight lipped for the most part. A twitch on the horizon, the pack’s spooked and starts to paddle. Hold ground and wait, can’t see anything yet.

A set rolls through. Not pitching but a good size, the top end of 4ft. A huddle gets washed through, duck dive and re-surface. I feel like Luke in the trash compacter, surrounded by spluttering and unidentified objects. Sitting further out makes more sense now. Float in a spot beyond the crowd and wait for the bigger ones. Smooth, long lefts. Faster, glassy walled rights. A two hour session, rinse and repeat until the tide fills it up and its time to race through the foam and get reacquainted with the shore break. It goes much more smoothly second time around.

 

 

 

 

A Bit of an Edge

The wind was into it a bit and water still nipped at the ankles, reminding you that Spring had only just left us. The water was a pepper shaker of dotted garbs; the full suited, shorties and rash vest tops mixed amongst the board shorted and bikinis. Look one way and you'd think you were in Spring, look the other and bare skin revealed Summer is upon us.

Nice sunset

Watching. Waiting. Go do something constructive. Check the surf cams again. Wait. Check again.

Eventually the swell past the threshold point from a weak and sloppy 1ft in the morning to a surfable and fun looking 1-2ft (chest to shoulder high) near dusk. The car was already packed up (of course) so it was out the door and on the road in less than five minutes. Big G would be proud.

Caught plenty of fun lefts and although they were still a bit wobbly at least there was a peak and decent rides; it was good to get a few turns in and heft the working week out of me with a few hours of paddling.

Was it worth it? Sure. Besides, after crouching over the laptop like a hawk waiting for a mouse to emerge from the safety of its burrow, there really isn't any other way to answer that question.

Rest of the week looks small.

Easterly Four to Six

Footage from the surf last Sunday. Some epic rides from Marcus and Charlie and a few unknowns in between. If you recognise yourself in any of these let me know.

Wee Trip North of the Border

Chatting to Paul about places we've surfed and got reminded of the superb trip we had up in North Scotland in August 1997. So this is tracking waaaaay back. It was an epic drive up from Bath, via some-place-I-don't-remember in the Midlands where we collected Big G from the train station a mere three hours late. He seemed pretty pleased to see us when we arrived. Especially since most of us didn't have mobile phones to let him know so I reckon he though we'd abandoned him.

We had a night in Glasgow which we navigated without getting hurt, then a further 10 hour drive before finally getting into the water on dusk, which was close to 9pm. The surf was consistently fun for the whole trip, the weather unbelievable, waves uncrowded, locals friendly and the beer cheap. Can't say as much in a positive vein for the hair styles of the times. Please remember it was the 90's before you judge.

 

Shark O'Clock

Despite the report looking abysmal went to wash the day away with a quick dip at one of the lesser visited beaches. Got there just as the sun was dropping behind the hill. Caught more than a worthy quota, somewhat distracted by murky waters and vulnerably dangling feet.

Technical stuff; 2-3ft, quite a bit of chop but since it was shore break the faces were pretty clean. Worth the lengthy waits between sets (despite having to be sat beyond the rest of the pack to do so).

To Succeed You Must First Fail

Seemed to be a bit of success and failure happening in the line up today. Get a good one. Get smacked in the head by the lip. Do a nice off the top. Get eaten by the foam monster. Didn't seem to be any way to avoid it. Well, almost no way. Pictures of those that made at the bottom.

Succeed	Fail
Getting air	Face-plant floater
Sliding under the lip	Crushed
Bottom turn	Ocean limbo
Cover-up	Axed

There were some successes.

Getting the fins right out	Off the top	Sliding
The rights in the corner keep on coming	Another off the top	Waving goodbye to the crowd

Lucky Dip

Lucky enough to sneak a trip to the Maldives on the way back from Europe in July; the place really is amazing. Headed to South Atoll as been hearing increasing reports of over-crowding and increasing problems in the North Atoll way.

It isn't a first visit here (most definitely not the last) and was blessed with good waves at Yin Yang, a right hander that's on the edge of Laamu Atoll in the South. More details on the spots below the photos.

The island also ended up being the final resting place of the much loved, and much used Nev. I bought this board back in 2003 on our initial trip to Australia and it's done well; multiple trips to Bali, Europe, and the US. Left if for the locals to use and enjoy.

Lots of mysto spots on the flight down	Transport on the island	View from the breakfast table
One of the real locals	Island hideaway	Sunset sky
Simply unbelievable out there	Thunderstorm	Nev's final spot (at the top). Next to the windsurfers (sorry about that)
Another thunderstorm. Short lived but impressive.	Filtered sunlight.	Yin Yangs
The inside section. It's a bit shallow.	Tucked low, running the inside bowl.	Off the top

Quick guide on the spot in case you end up coming here.

Yin Yang

• Summary; this is by far the most consistent spot in the local area. It's a right0hander with a football pitch sized take-off zone, a relatively flat reef pointing out into open ocean so the quality of the wave is really dependant on the swell direction. Which, since swells come in from a really wide range, from dead South through to more East, the peak shifts around a lot. This is not one of those spots where you'll be able to line up, sit and wait. You're going to be doing a fair bit of paddling around to find the right one. It also means the size can bounce up and down really quickly. In one session it ranged from 2-3ft up to 4-5ft in short spurts. It's a bit like a better version of Sultans in the North Atoll for those that know it.
• Access; unless your Laird Hamilton the only way you're going to get to it is by boat.
• Peaks; there are three peaks which generally connect when there's a bit more South in the wave. First peak is the outside; it needs to be a bit bigger to work (over 3ft). A lined up wall that's not that steep but is long. It looks like it's going to close out but if you stick with it, it generally holds up. Peak two is the inside bowl. A steeper, shallower bowl section that can throw out a hefty lip. Peak three is right on the inside. It's really shallow but very fast and the section you're most likely going to get a barrel. On bigger swells the first two peaks connect to give you a long wall followed by a very fast and steep inside section.
• Lining Up; it's a bit of a way offshore so lining up is tough though there's a bit of an eddy on the inside peak that you can sit just outside of. You can kind of line up off a radio aerial on an island inside the atoll but it's a bit far away to be useful. Just watch your position relatively to the peak is the best way and watch for that tell-tale sloping downwards along the reef that marks a more Southerly lined wave that will run better along the reef.
• Tides; works on pretty much any tide though low tide will give you less of a shifting peak and better quality wave.

Jetty C

• Summary; this is a left hander straight off Jetty C on the island. It's a very fast walled left with very long rides. The quality of the peak is completely dependant on the wave direction as the reef is quite flat.
• Access; walk / cycle round to Jetty C, walk and then paddle straight out. It's a bit of a slog.
• Peaks; the biggest trick is to avoid the creeping temptation to keep moving up the reef as it always looks like there's a better peak up the reef. It's a myth. Find a spot where the sets break and stick to it.
• Lining Up; although it's kind of hard to tell there are two main peaks. One that's pretty much right in front of the edge of Jetty C (there's a pole that sticks up out of the reef that's a good marker), and a second one that's a little further round the reef. As per Ying Yangs it can be tough lining up.
• Tides; low appears to be better but then it seemed to work fine on high tide too.

House Reef

• Summary; I saw this break a couple of times but the swell wasn't really big so it wasn't perfect. It's right inside the channel so needs a big swell to get going. Great for beginners and longboarders. It's another left.

The Sun isn't Always Shining

Fun 2-3 footers today tucked into the South corner to find some protection from the wind. Mostly floaters so got some nice lefts, trading waves with Marcus for a magic hour until the tide dropped too far. Bit of a wait but fast down the line fun.

You'll have to take my word for it though as it was hacking it down and the prospect of soaking up some of that clear rainwater whilst trying to catch a photo record of the moment simply wasn't on the cards.

Looking Back

Surfing in the UK is tough. Early starts, long drives, you have to be a bit of a mini-weather expert to find those windows of rideable surf, and a bit of a mini-explorer to find spots. But it's this that makes surfing in the UK so great - forget the cold, forget the dark winter months; surfing in locations where you feel like you're the one who discovered it against a backdrop of rising cliffs and rugged coastlines make it all worthwhile.

This video is a small collection taken from years of material filmed between 2002 and 2007 by Big G and Ben. The surf might not be classic, the quality might not be pin sharp (this is from the days of Standard Definition cameras by the way - remember them?), but it's not about that, it's about what surfing in the UK is.

Early Start

Pants were laid out and socks chosen last night along with a new plan to shave seconds off the pre-dawn ritual, tracksuit bottoms. One less thing to worry about (no-one's arguing that an elasticated waistband isn't practical).

Meant getting to the beach just as the sun crested the horizon to reveal 3ft of perfection. Groomed banks for almost a week of swell meant real peaks. South West France type peaks (as Aggro would say, or reckon for that matter). Probably stayed in for far longer than I should have but it was just too good. Head high sets, pitching perfectly. There were people tucking in everywhere. Crawled out and to work (on time, yes) feeling a lot better about the rest of the day.