Postcards From The Wedge

evening @ constantine

2011-07-04T15:23:00.003+01:00

I love this photo, no filter necessary.

part 2 by way of the far west

2011-06-15T13:34:00.001+01:00

So much happening. so little time - ive even been surfing. No punk rock as yet but hell 2011 has been a killer year for album releases.

Frank Turner, Social D, Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly, THC, beastie boys...alll good looking forwards to the new crazy are record, and goin to see mike ness and co this coming thursday.

surfing goes somehting like: 2 weeks in Costa Rica, and 3 trips to the south west. The spring/early summer has been shitty for wind here in the UK - well certainly when ive been free to go, but had some ace sessions in the last month, even surfed soem new spots (looking for northerly shelter) all about camping and living out of cars at this time of year, my backhand surfing is coming along, lots of sessions at south fistral, and im actively looking to get back up the face and do some kind of cutback on my forehand all good.

CR was another story. A long one. but a good one, good surf at the beginnning and end, indifferent in the middle. Lots of food, beer and partying. Good travelling crowd and all in all a great holiday. Not as life changing as the first trip but good nonetheless, surfed my webber and took my wingnut LB for the smaller stuff. worked out well. gotta finish my video. and post some pics up here.

Oh and The Newtons shred skate company is live and coming long nicelu for all your Longboarding needs:

Newton's Shred

till enxt time...

Fine dynamic views or striking while the knives are hot part 1.

2011-04-12T19:13:00.004+01:00

Lots, lots and lots more going on right now. My head is spinning, and sometimes I can feel the weight bearing down. But its all good. No surfing just now but not for long.

First up Ive see the reformed Kyuss sans josh homme, the reunited Capdown and strangely Glassjaw who still sound like the Deftones.

Kyuss were amazing. Low end Thunder in the Kentish town forum. Thumb fucking rocked. John Garcia looks like henry font these days, he's a fuckin unit. anyways Thumb took the biscuit for me but everything was beautiful:

Capdown at the Camden Underworld was brilliant, like they never went away, the crowd was tearing up too, shame i had lost my voice that night and had the worst cold in years. Stille njoyed every second.Sober and sweating like ...insert inappropriate person in odd situation comment here:

Cousin Cleotis:

Bitches and Nike shoes:

Ska Wars:

So yeah that was killer too. And random hand who were supporting looked pretty good too.

And 10 days ago saw glassjaw who were good, but not really my thing, they still leave a bit if a faux metal immpression.
..,.more to come outside of music.

devils brigade.

2011-03-18T22:29:00.006Z

no surf, a continuing battle with SAD and aDevils Brigade show.

Life in London is hectic, Im not complaining because I choose it. Run with it, battle it and try and tame it. I take every opportunity thrown at me and sometimes it feels like the walls are closing in. Nae problemo really, I just deal with one issue at a time and all the others can just wait their sweet turn. Except when my body gives way. Ive really got to start looking after myself. When I skip out on sleep that shit comes back and bites me, especially this time of year and especially now I have to wake up every day at 7am. Oh well, im on antibiotics for another bug ive picked up. This happened a couple of years ago before the CR trip, just got so tired and run down,stressed and overworked I couldnt shake illnesses. Ive been sleeping a lot these past 2 days and just trying to repair and rebuild myself. I think I need a new strategy. Yoga? yeah, vegetarianism, probably not but more sleep and better food. Gotta stay sharp to stay on top of this life.

Been thinking a lot about food, Tescos is an arse pit if you ask my opinion. Shit food and high preices. Im going to do my best to shop locally. Tescos is convenient but I do not agree with their ethics of meat production and dairly for starters. Their fruit is SHIT and fucking expensive too. We are one silly nation for allowing these corporations dominate our choice. But yes im just as guilty as the next person of living the convenient life.

Anyways back to punk rock. Saw the Devils Brigade at the borderline, free tickets courtesy of some high st music shop. Theyre overpriced so I dont buy shit from them but they came thru this time with £35 worth of free tickets.Show was good. Bit short but thats our fault for hanging out in the Court on TCR drinking and watching Arsenal lose to ManUTD.Missed the support. Matt Freeman is the best bass player in punk...no probably rock music, and playing the standup bass did not disapoint. Full marks for setting up and soundchecking himself, and then hanging out at the merch stand for an hour after chatting and signing shit.

Supposedly the bore returns on sunday at 8am. no sure im gonna make this one. what with trying to get over being ill.too sensible? ive already missed st patricks day.

Gower & Bore off

2011-02-22T09:43:00.003Z

Hit the Gower this weekend just past, beautiful place, no quicker to get to than Devon - well not at the time we went. Really nice people the Welsh, i have to say. Made us feel very welcome and fuzzy inside.

Saturday afternoon surf was pretty heavy as the swell came up, paddle out was a schooling. made it out and everything was ugly, but the duck diving huge lumps was fun, with Connor, Tom and Dave.

Had a cool adventure along the beach from LLangennith to the other end after a few pints...about 2-3 miles over some of the most wicked sand dunes ever - we got lost in the dark. saw this worms head in the fog by moonlight was epic. then got up at 5am and drove to Gloucester to try and catch the Severn Bore. Unsuccessfully.all 6 of us missed it. We will return on the 20th March, as nobody want to be defeated by a 2ft moving puddle.

Snowboards, mountains and cherries.

2011-02-07T13:56:00.003Z

OK, so I only got to spend one day there. But I did get to snowboard a proper moauntain and it was fuckin rad. Improved so much in the 5/6 hours I had, no injuries either. I think it was called ovronnaz(?) or something similar but put a big smile on my face(well that, hot chicks and swiss spa's) Went back to Hemel last night and the difference was pretty tangible; barely fell at all. Getting the linked turns togetehr now...oh and a lot more comfortable at speed. Just need my wretched body to catch up .Hamstring is sore as shit today.

Swimming a lot to make up for the tail end of last year, which was lazy to say the least in terms of conditioning.

whats next? River severn bore this month with the usual suspects.gotta check that one off the list. Also looks like a return to central america is on the cards for spring time, after that? who knows. but im sure itll be good.

Morocco 8

2011-01-24T10:02:00.008Z

8 times now I think. Stayed at the surf maroc Auberge, with Connor, his bro James, Tom, Pete and Guy. great place, great people. Rad waves.

Surfed Devils, Tamri, Crocs and Tifnit...a new one for the list.

Standouts include Burning 20 locals for a big right at Devils rock,in so early and shouted so loud no one dropped in. Strangely enough i didnt really get anymore waves after that. Also got chatised by a waiter the next morning for owning(!). pure win if you're asking me. After totally failing to make it out at the point at Tifnit, had a great session on the inside surfing some sucky(read: shallow,fast,spitting ) waves, which resulted in these cool foot lacerations im still feeling. At one point I had a whole peak to myself for 20mins,perfect:

got a rough time out at Tamri, cause I failed to read the rips properly. Got some pics and video too, ill try to embed when they turn up.

Been listening to the new social D albums lots its a great record.

photos courtesy of Guy Paterson:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/guypaterson/sets/72157625924142410/

board shitless

2010-12-16T09:46:00.002Z

working my a$$ off for all of dceembre and november. getting paid, but not surfing. Been snowboarding a bit at Hemel. Pricey but fun and i seem to be taking too it and knee holding up well. Its just everythign else that hurts, i think ive strained every muscle, and bruised my tailbone...4 hrs in. Im rating it easier than surfing, and more fun than skating. Doesnt quite have the magic of surfing though.

anyways, hard not to feel pretty dead at this time of year. Not my choice but I just want this time of year to be over. Hate the cold, christmas bums me out (didnt use to). and if anything causes a violent reaction its gonna be some **** on the tube trying to push me.fucking rats.

been listening to all kinds of shit, Tom waits, h2o, black flag, jimi hendrix, bruce springsteen, new bedouin soundclash album seems pretty weak, what else fu manchu, creedence...gaslight. reading get in the van by Rollins, pretty cool journal.

anyways...i guess morocco in jan - gonna need that and some kinda snowboard trip to switzerland, lookiong forwards to getting a proper ride!

Hossegor 0 ten

2010-10-08T20:45:00.007+01:00

First 'proper' surf trip Ive ever organized and so far so good. Crashed at Pete's house Tuesday night, we left at 3am for the Channel Tunnel. Once in France, 12 hours of driving a couple of coffees and a can of (free) Relentless later we arrived in Hossegor, to meet Pola, Ella, John, Tom and Paul.

No surf, it was getting dark and the Surf out the back of the apartment was massive - biggest ve ever seen. No contest. 3 people out, and they were pretty much towing in. the waves looked up to about 25feet.

That night we all ate lots and drank a lot of vin rouge, I ended up chatting to Pola all night (and being woken in the mddle of the night) surreal.First crisis dealt with along

Next morning, I awoke to find John suiting up, and heading out in what looked like quite rippy conditions. It was enough to make me feel tired. However when he returned he did bring reports of great looking (and manageable) surf down by the Capbreton breakwater.He was right, much more manageable and the crowd was pretty easy to deal with.

Went back to the same break in the evening after picking up Guy from Biarritz airport (and nearly ending up in Spain on the way home), not much joy at high tide, so we waited...an hour and a half...until we saw the first wave break(and not dump on the shore) we were in like a shot. Still had to wait at least another half hour until things started happening, but the sun had disappeared. another hour and it'd be brilliant.Got about three very fast steep takeoffs and exits...and no beatings. the shore dump was fierce.

this morning(Friday) back to the same break and it started small but as the tide dropped and with the switch it picked up with some waves coming up to solid 5/6foot. Was having a ball until a slight misunderstanding with Tom ended up with my board receiving 3 new holes(at least not my head). Awesome. I had tried to get over to the breaking part to not fuck up his ride, he thought the same as we paddled towards each other.

Headed out to look for board repair shop, found a whole industrial complex full of fsurf factories, HQ's and outlets. Ont he way whilst loading up the car the other told some old geezer i was a surf champion. 5 minutes later he came back and made me sign posters..oops.My joel parkinson im sorry.

€100 to get the board repaired, but it may have been a blessing in disguise. Headed south of Capreton to the old bunkers and had a killer session until about 7pm at high tide. Quite hollow and fun. didn't make it out of my only closeout barrel, But I did get to ride the Afterburner for the first time in a year, went really really well. Seemed faster and looser than the Piranha. Which I think was a good stepdown.Maybe now im finally ready to ride it, doesnt feel like it needs to be 6'6" either.

anyways Ants, Heather and Adam join the party tomorrow, and we're still here for another week, altho the swell drops after the weekend :(

---

they came we surfed, variable conditions, some days 3 times, some not at all.

2 standout sessions at bunkers - a dawnie where i nearly had an asthma attack paddling out. didnt even know i fuckin had astma. but the ventolin certianly works afterwards. I blame the dangerous Petch coffee. Great evening session at bunkers with Paul and Tom. lots of kids, but so so good. Got to get back there next year!! Love surfing Frecnh beachies.

A couple of days before we left had a perfect evening at Bourdaines. absoloutely cranking perfect just overhead waves. about 5 oif us just took our own peak. Would kil to go back a surf that again.

Finally hit up dicks and whatever that retarded nightclub is, got mashed and about 2 hours sleep,anyways long easy drive home in one day, not bad, then back to shitty london and snow and havnt surfed since. high and dry. Still didnt get shanked on the security deposit.

Woolacombe

2010-08-23T09:56:00.002+01:00

If I learned anything this weekend its that leaving at 8am on an August Saturday morning to get to Devon is a fucking mistake. 6 hours. Probably shouldnt have stayed up till 2am and woken up in Enfield. Also, take the longboard. It was so small I missed the thing. rode the fish most the time and a bit of soft top action when it got super flat on Sunday. At least the sun came out.

Very wet Saturday, very windy and choppy too. Had a laugh but the fog rolled in as it got dark and things started to feel a bit sketchy. Can see how people get lost at sea.Lots of late drops.

A night of cheap tent camping.Somehow I just about stayed warm and dry.

Karma note, we shot the moon on Sunday morning haha, feel a little bad for that. But spent a fortune on parking anyways. Found the greatest car park between Woolacombe and Puts ont eh cliff. Will be using again in the future.

Stranger than fishin'

2010-08-09T00:14:00.002+01:00

Lets see quick 10 recap...last Thursday, Bedouin soundclash in the water rats, beers in the flag probably for the last time in Watford on Friday, Sick of it All and Gallows in the Borderline on Sunday, and I just got back from a breakneck visit to the Boardmasters in Newquay.

Bedouin were great, despite Jay having almost no voice, it was a special show in an intimate venue. I love watchin 3 piece bands, and they were on form, in front of no more than 150 people. I wrote about seeing them in the Astoria 2 what was the last show I saw with my bro and the last time I saw a gig in the LA2 I believe. The crowd was atrocious, but it was oversold and nobody could move an inch.Really disapointed with the experience but that was December 2007. This time it was summer and the weather suited the music and so did the venue, people could move see the show and actually dance. Played All the classics from Sounding Amosaic, and a few more from Street Gospels. Nothing from Root Fire though, shame like Santa Monica.

Gallows were ace this time I was familiar with their stuff - culled mainly from grey Britain, but they gave everything, sad not to see any of them playing in the crowd, but they did manage to get one kid swinging from the sewage pipe on the ceiling.

If the Gallows were good, Sick Of It Alll were majestic, again unlike last time on a very cold and wet London winter night in the half empty Forum. Any HC show is much better suited to a tiny club rather than a big theatre.Not that SOIA cant command a big crowd, Ive seen them blow the Astoria theatre away, the Forum show just didnt get going cause the crowd was in a slump, I could feel it for sure back then. This night was another matter, the crowd was going off it was fun rather than overly violent unlike the Astoria gig which involved recieving a lot more punches from big skinheads. They wheeled out all the classics and a couple of the best songs off the new record - which is the best since Call to Arms IMHO. Great show, took me back.

On Friday I finally got to get a surf, as my German friend Michaela was visting, so being Boardmasters weekend and the only decent looking night of music being the Friday night what was I to do? Caught the end of Seasick Steves set, and then Newton Faulkner who was good - can play the fuck out of an acoustic guitar, kind of reminiscent of Ani Difrancos guitar style i thought. Bastarding wicked pop hooks still in my head. We were falling asleep by the end, but I knew The Gallows were playing in the side tent. I had to show Michaela something differnt and unashamedly British and HC. She didnt like it at all, but fairplay she gave it a chance. Clearly not impressed by a circle pit running out of one door and in through the other. I loved it and I was sober as a judge(almost), good sound, pure vitriol on stage, crowd was hopping too.Also a difernt set to Sunday night which was good, opened with the riverbed singing "Let it rain..." as the heavens opened outside, nice touch that weather control.

Opted to surf Watergate twice. The bay was way too small, and didnt even wanna see what state Fistral was in. Plus got parking for the festival on Friday night and surfing in the afternoon. Friday was pretty small but surfable, Not at all clean, pretty windy, and the ocean was rippy. I was too hot in the 5/3 suit, and I had to paddle out about 5 times. Noy great but I started using the Spider 70s fish,, for the first time properly since west coast Costa Rica. One thing struck me, that board is very fast! Got Michaela out to the bigger waves outback once, quite brave that one.

Saturday, went back and it was bigger, and uglier. Some big faces popping up, but quite fat and lacking power. The fish is duckable, but shorter so gotta do it with my knees. Got a few nice ones. Blown out of the foam on a big one and connected up a longer ride. The board comes out the bottom turn really fast and loose in a natural long sweeping curve. then tried to race it down the line until I clipped a rail and got hit by the lip. Im gonna need a bit more practice, but it felt great, would love to try it on a nice point like Anchors or Balingan. Really want to try a long cutback on it.

End days

2010-07-27T17:16:00.003+01:00

The time here is nearly up. Its been a long road. Starting in the Computer Exchange (later to be CeX) shop in Tottenham Court road in the summer of 2000.

I was 20 and had wanted to work for this band of motherfuckers since I was 16. The staff were fucking cool, they smoke and drank in the shop and played obnoxious music at ear drum bleeding levels. What wasn't to like?

A year I stayed in that shop, whilst I returned to uni in the autumn - just working weekends Ive still got great friends from that time. It was like going to school in a way, we used to trade and buy and sell off of each other between serving the customers. Speaking of which came thick and fast in those days, we started at 10 finished at 6 and apart from an hour at lunch did not stop taking money all day long, really busy.

I think I quit for a couple of weeks in the summer of 01 then realizing i needed a job and money as i had to repeat 1 goddamn module at uni that year went back. Ended up working in Watford testing hardware for the Ecommerce dept.Easy job. This eventually morphed into a roaming role helping out stores such as Bromley, Kingston, Hounslow, Harrow, and eventually full circle back to TCR.

After my final uni year in 03 I quit again for about 2 months to go to Peru and North America, then realizing I had no money and an astronomical (for an unemployed person) credit card bill I went back again and ended up managing the Watford store, which after about 4 months morphed into a developer role for the IT department. Which suited me down to the ground.

6 years later and I feel that Ive changed so much that Im not even really a custy anymore. Computer exchange has become CeX. Hundreds of stores around the world. I barely play games anymore, and I think next time my PC needs an upgrade im gonna buy an iMac. Loser. Whilst CeX probably is still my favourite high street store flying the indie flag and I cant give game/gamestation money without feeling sick its time to move on. My life these days is more organic, less digital. More surf, more music, less tech, less gadgetry. I cant be arsed to argue about tech,I couldnt give a shit.

So many highlights, I grew up working for these guys. The old Namco parties I will never forget, I still have the skars. The hectic TCR store I caught the end of an era- worked with my favourite gang of people I have ever worked with - a ragtag bunch of arrogant assholes myself included (Peer, Jamie, Abi, Csaba, Colin, Steve, Boba, nik, moosh, stefan). Standing on roofs in Watford High Street. Smoking on fire escapes. the Ide cable incident in Kingston. Trying to catch 2 thieves in the Watford store. and crashing into a massive shelf haha.Cexfest.

lowlights were few and far betwen and all easily forgotten. No real social side to my time IT due to working in Watford, and havin few drinking buddies left. but it was still a good time. New York was a blast.

the future is unwritten....
...to the f

woolacombe

2010-07-27T17:05:00.002+01:00

It was small...I was desperate, and my friends were going. Camped on a hillside. Felt like trying to sleep on a slide. Surf was tiny, but i had the longboard, trusty old red, had a blast on Sunday when the sun came out catching wave after wave off the sewage pipe on the north end. Kept trying to go off the top for some reason :)

goin to see Bedouin Soundclash on Thursday night followed by the sick of it all and gallows secret show on sunday night at the borderline. \m/

a late note that says

2010-07-20T17:11:00.003+01:00

I saw Pearl Jam in Hyde Prk, and they turned it out. The crowd was huuuuge.

Then I saw Bob Dylan, he wasnt so good, but still a legend in my book. Seasick Steve and mumford and sons supporting were both excellent.

I really need to surf, its been over a month. Its either been flat or Ive been working.Soon.

wtf?

2010-06-22T00:04:00.002+01:00

Hmm.Not that id could ever take credit, but just noticed thats the latest episode of the Simpsons is called postcards from the wedge. Maybe i should watch it. i stopped watching after a Simpsons season back to back one to sixteen marathon, it took 3 months. Anyways by the by. Just got back from seeing Hot Water Music. Great band. Im a newcomer but theyre solid. See FT stage left. Felt like another band I missed out on 10 years ago,pretty stodgy crowd too. They played True believers by the Bouncin souls which reminded me, how much they kicked ass, you are as old as you feel...

Was just thinking about why the Gallows sound works so well. For a start I dont really get into younger bands, or not easily. These guys strike chord like really good blend of the punk, hardcore and metal that was so good in the heavy music we grew up with.The great thing is they sound unasahmedly British and at the same time still maintain some credibility. After years of limp wristed Indy shite pouring out of this country,we've been looking to American shores for inspiration, finally we're actually turning out some decent artists again the world are taking notice of. No, not radiohead, get fucked. Proper balls to the wall rock music.

I didnt think they even had that many good songs...

2010-06-09T16:53:00.002+01:00

but jesus christ i was wrong.

the gallows

newquay alkaline trio and hardcore

2010-06-08T16:12:00.003+01:00

Been a little busy, but in terms of punk rock and surfing. Alkaline trio - not really a punk band these days, in punk circles theyre stadium rock. But the were in the roundhouse last week. Sound was shit. band were fairly dull, crowd was jailbait. I got smashed. Gallows supported which was cool, like these watford noisefucks more and more.

2 days later found myself in a dirty hardcore shoe in brixton, wating palm from osaka - a pretty slick Jap Hc unit, preceded by a bunch of varying HC guys. Armed Response Unit were interesting.

Friday AM went to Newquay stinking hangover and no sleep. Well worth it. tiny South fistral Longboard session was a bit shit, still cold in my 3/2 but epic longboard session at North fistral in the evening, so many waves, 5 on the nose a couple of times.

after that watergate at high tide on a shortbaord with pete and tom was good, few nice but short rides. and back to north fistral for anotehr saturday evening session. Tom snapped his board.Badass. Got really rippy and choppy though, still no wind.

Sunday morning surfed south fistral again on a longboard, nothing great though. we stayed in a shed on Tolcarne, was alright. ate lots, didnt really drink too much ahah.

Newquay May 09

2010-05-25T10:15:00.004+01:00

Car full of Mexicans and Canadians? check. 5ft swell? check, light offshores? check. 25 degree sunny days? check.

Its rare that the holy trinity of Sun, wind and waves comes together in this country. But holy fuck when it does surfing in England is a joy. Luckily for a visiting buddy from Canada he scored Newquay almost perfect.

We hit the bay on arrival for a warmup (longboard) session after a long drive via Stonehenge- but that was rubbish, the bay not Stonehenge, that was epic but closed. The bay was pretty flat and closey outty. We heard the wind came up and went onshore, so we sat at South Fistral drinking and watching the sun go down.

South Fistral on Saturday morning was better. Lots of battling though, not much result. Watergate at high tide was beautiful and clean had a blast out there. and a sunset session at North fistral with heather and Victoria. Heavy waves, sun in my eyes, and a shitload of shortboard rippers. I saw people getting barrels. Brilliant session when I got my Rusty baord back.Dint dig Ryans. you couldnt see people on the waves because of the sun. I got some real nice drops on Ryan board, also got my ass handed to me on a plate a couple of times.

Finally another longboard session on Sunday morning at North Fistral as the tide dropped. before heading home.

all in all a top weekend, not too much boozing, didnt rate the surfers hotel too highly, but the staff were really kind and they had a Dulux dog called Rocky who kept pissing on the back wheel of my car. Saw almost everyone I know in town on Saturday aswell which was nice.

...Bali

2010-05-07T18:30:00.005+01:00

Too long between surfs, days and days. nothing in April...apart from erm Bali.

Bali was immense as I'm sure you can imagine, so many waves and we didn't even get a 'proper' swell whilst we were there. We went straight down to the Bucket peninsula when we first arrived. Which is pretty much the southern most part of Bali:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=bali&lr=&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Bali,+Indonesia&ll=-8.811118,115.161953&spn=0.085496,0.181789&z=13

Most of the famous waves are along here, Padang Padang+Impossibles, Uluwatu, Balingan to name a couple we went to. On their day they are all world class, i.e bigger and better than anything in Europe, or anything I could comfortable or safely surf. But we all (all levels) surfed them when it was a little smaller. Not everyone surfed Uluwatu, read up on it and you'll find out why, we paddled out and it was pretty scary. Paddle out a cave - which itself can be a raging white water cauldron (not quite that bad when we went), into a strog rip and then 15mins through big crowds down to Temples. Magical place, but I was on edge, and really needed to take a dump after a particularly strong Bali coffee, so I wasnt exactly on point out there, but still had a wicked time and a few waves.

All these waves are reefs but at high tide that doesn't matter one jot, you wont touch the bottom. Low tide is a different matter though. If ike me you find yourself walking across the reef at Ulu's barefoot, you will have fucked up. pretty royally. My advice take reef boots regardless.It was pure agony. All the waves here are left handers, so if you're goofy all good, otherwise you're going to be practicing a lot of backhand surfing (like me).

We stayed with Rapture surf camp, accomodation was pretty good, although 8 of us were in dorm bunks, some had better than this. I wouldn't recommend it, the guy who ran it was a bit of a dick and nobody would go back because of that. The area is amazing though and more than made up for it. Cool monkeys everywhere, i saw a leaping stingray. I also saw a water snake hot footing it across my path into the sea. Immiediately after I went and got a really memorable wave. I had just broken my leash and come in to get another, saw the snake went straight back out to where i was when snapped my old leash and tucked into a tiny little barrel, im not claiming the barrel, because I never came out but so far thats the closest yet.

The last 3 days we got a boat to the island just east called Lembongan, This is what you need to do! I wish we had been there for longer. You have to get water taxis to the waves here. called Playgrounds, Lascerations(!), No mans land, Shipwrecks. again all reef action but really safe until the tide drops. All I know is im going back here next year for as long as possible, really felt that these are waves that would completely take anyone's surfing up a level, all so clean and nicely peeling. Not to mention on of the most breathtaking settings ive ever surfed in. The waves here are mainly rights, but there are some lefts. We stayed at a place called Mainski (www.mainski-lembongan-resort.com) Seriously ask anyone on the trip and theyll tell you the same thing go to this island at least for a couple of days.

Lacerations was the first session, I really thought id get my barrel here, but the waves were slow to come through, there was a rip and maintaining position was tricky. The first 2 or 3 were the closest, Rob told me to put my hand in the wave and try and diagonally orientate my board4 5 degrees out. I stuck my whole arm in the next wave and nearly dislocated my shoulder haha. That was it for barrels unfortunately, Shipwrecks was breaking sweet the next day, a real curved bowl shape wave, but the crowd was big and i only got a couple here. Aiden called me into a good one. Corals underneath looks ferocious.

On the last night we were in Kuta, its a bit of a shithole truth be told, but i was exhausted. didnt surf here or really hit the town, Kuta beach isnt exactly highly regarded these days. had a lookin the moring it was crowded, dirty and rubbish.

We went to Seminyak for dinner (decent restaurant called rumours) and sunset drinks (amazing but expansive bar called ku de ta) seemed a lot nicer than Kuta. Not sure about any surf up there though. One thing I did notice is Kuta / Seminyak are pricey.

packing list (cause i always fuck it up)
reef shoes
2 long and short sleeve rashies
3 pairs of boardies
2 pairs of shorts
3 tshirts
board(s)
hard / tropical wax (hardly used any)
factor 50 sunblock
zinc
aloe vera, aftersun
flip flops.
ding repair
first aid kit - disinfectant, tape an sticky bandages/plasters
duck tape

basically you can get anything in Kuta for a price, but not really in Padang Padang and the likes.

I learned that for cut feet keep cleaning it and covered on the streets - that's where you are gonna get infections. try the liquid plasters (Germolene) in the sea.

So thanks to Kate and Big Friday along with Rob Barber for another killer trip. top notch.

Saunton/Puts

2010-03-25T13:54:00.003Z

Took last Friday off and bombed down to Croyde for a quick session on my own. Supposed to be 7ft and offshore. Was very rainy and Saunton was fairly blown out. Not fun. Nobody out at Croyde all day. Puts however being the most sheltered was head high and clean, closing out a bit but heavy hollow and fun. With Bali approaching I was a little too cautious to tuck in so opted out of these hollow closeouts a bit too early, no regrets though :)

A pretty quiet day of reflection. I definitely need to get back to the pool/ gym im not in very good shape at the moment.

Just Look Around

2010-03-10T17:56:00.000Z

I love NYHC and still listen to Sick of it All - I have to go check the lyrics every now and again and was just reading these from 'Just Look Around' Not new but they blew me away. Verse 2 is more relevant than ever. So insightful, the perfect answer to racism, yet makes me feel so helpless.

The question they keep asking me
How can one so young be so bitter and angry
Well, the answer is plain to see
Maybe if they wern't so blind they'd see what i see
I see the homeless livin' out on the street
On every corner they're asking for money
I try to help them whenever i can
But sometimes i can't afford to help myself
I see diseases and modern plagues of our times
The greed of our leaders has made them blind
To our problems
They spend millions overseas,
People right here are fightin' wars everyday

I see the whites that hate the blacks
Blacks against the jews, race against religion
And the're all too blind to see

When we fight each other it puts all of them at ease
It keeps us so busy, so they can do what they please
Election time comes and they're out for votes
That's when you see and hear from them the most
This is what they're calling a democracy
That's just another word for hypocrisy
We keep fallin' for the bait
When we realize, it's always too late

I see the whites that hate the blacks
Blacks that hate the jews, brother against brother
And they're all to blind to see

As the rich get richer, the poor goin' hungry
I've seen the toll it takes on the workingman's family
Education system that's obsolete
Can't hold a kid's interest or keep 'em off the street
See a father's fear, hear a mother's cry
What kind of a nation lets their children die
Government's corrupt and full of red tape
Then you're gonna ask me why i hate

Why don't you open up your eyes so you can see
Open up your ears so you can hear
Take a look around and you will find
Take a look around and you will find out why

Love the version on live in a dive, that is one of the greatest live hardcore discs ive ever heard.

Good looking out.

ill get me coat.

2010-03-09T13:49:00.000Z

Hear the one about the two Spanish firemen?

Hose A and Hose B.

Moroc n Roll part...I forget.

2010-03-08T12:02:00.000Z

Back again, not four months after my last visit. Admittedly I wasn't planning this until Alex suggested it in late Jan', and scanning for alternatives within reach and are warm at this time of year proved fruitless. So there we went. Independently, staying with Surf Moroc and driving around in our super Dacia rental car was pretty different for me. For one I never noticed the 'parking attendants' at each beach. 2Dh seemed to be acceptable. At first we were overpaying them fivefold.

Since Nov' last year the landscape has changed. Previously sandy beaches have been decimated by a series of big storms that have pounded the Moroccan shoreline; beaches like Mysteries and Bananas are now strewn with masses of driftwood, rocks, pebbles and plastic flushed from dry riverbeds. New waves have appeared outside the Auberge and Mandala villas (Pinacoladas). But generally it was a bit grim near town. Water at Bananas was awful.

From 2010 according to the phone

Finally got up my nerve to paddle out at Ankas on the Thursday, not such a big deal I guess - just wanted to for fuckin ages. I've surfed heavier waves, and sketchier locations, although not many, but never such a sketchy location coupled with 8-10ft surf. Having watched the day before I was acutely aware of the rip towards Tagazout (saw 3 guys just disapear into the distance) got caught in it a little not too bad. Only really took one serious wave, but it was soooooo good. Proper in-the-moment stuff.Forgot how life afirming surfing can be when you push it. Ive been a bit cruisey since that f'd up day at Cocles in Puerto Viejo last year. The crowd was 20-30 people and busy, got caught a little inside once. I wasn't sure how to get back either so I stayed out for ages. Paddle back was long. Surfed another right hand point that afternoon at Panorama's. Confidence was well up haha. Same the next day at Tamri(water was clean too). Will never take someone driving there and back for me for granted again, nice drive. Long way though.

Most the other sessions were a bit shit unfortunately but those 3 were easily some of the best and most memorable Ive had in Morocco. I think my guitar playing is progressing slowly...very slowly but was nice to hang out with Red again, always learn new stuff from him. Easily one the best players Ive ever met.

On a terribly sad note, the guys at Surf Maroc lost a friend this week. Felt awful for them all, it brought back some of the feeling s from a couple of years ago. I can only sympathize with what they're feeling. RIP Paul.

My week ended with a dawnie at Panoramas, wished I had more time but only 20 odd minutes in the water spend paddling against a strong rip. not much fun. Got up at 6.30 to find myself fully locked in at the villa. In my haste I forgot my towel hehe bare assed changing and an empty lineup:

From 2010 according to the phone

A great week, surreal, sad, fun, life affirming. Surfing is life.

My two extremes

2010-02-19T10:47:00.000Z

So I saw Xavier Rudd last Saturday at Shepherds Bush Empire and Machine Head last night at Brixton. Bookending a pretty calm week working at home.

First off Mr Rudd was amazing, loved the show. I'm liking SBE more and more as venue aswell. Whilst not strictly mellowed out, this is some pretty calm music for the most part. Although he rocked the live show pretty hard with his new rhythm section. I cant think of much that's mellower than 'Messages' that I currently listen to. I was just vibing in there with a big smile on my face, shivers down my spine.

Step forwards to last night, Brixton academy. Robb Flynn and his merry band of metalheads take the stage at 9:30 with 'Clenching the Fists of Discontent'. Its no secret that these boys are top of the game right now, they rediscovered themselves about 5 years ago, and the last two records were blistering throwbacks to a forgotten style, dragged kicking and screaming into the new millenium. I stood there at the beginning just watching the first 10 minute song and my vision was blurring from the bass. Anyways 12 years since we lat watched them despite having gone full circle they put on one hell of a show. Brixton Academy is where they belong. Sound was shit though, Im deaf in my right ear, and my arm hurts from throwing kids around the pit.

apologies for the shit sound, i stole the video. but it does go some way to explaining my deafness.

anyways Morocco's approaching. Surfing. Soon.

KTFO

2010-02-11T11:14:00.000Z

Driving to work this morning I was musing on the number of times I have been knocked unconscious.

#1 Playground incident, think I banged my head on the playground floor trying to do a somersault or something equally stupid (well you have to try these things once) Came to with my friends dropping an airball on my face. Got up and carried on.

#2 Climbing frame incident at King Georges Playing Fields. tried to jump off a bar about 8 feet in the air, hesitated and kind of hung my feet up (eye witness report) got a concussion, couldn't remember what happened. Where I was felt trashed/weird for a few days, like really weird.

#3 Namco party. The bowling incident. Lets just say i was at he receiving end of a bowling lane. Not clever. although the bastard that threw the ball was never identified Im sure they will pay in karma.

#4 Last time I got into a fight. Suckerpunched. I hate violence. Im no good at it.

the Witterings

2010-02-08T12:59:00.000Z

Though it was supposed to be Bournemouth, maybe some artificial reef action. It was however a trip to the Witterings, somewhere between Portsmouth and Brighton as far as I could tell. Out the door at 6:30am ditched the car nr. Woking.

The surf was pretty sick for the South coast, as good as can be expected. Clean and low winds. But I wasnt really in tune with it. Still feeling a bit ill, Froze my hands, feet. Think I need some new winter gear. Wanted to take my longboard but stuck with the Rusty. Anywho got a few before the temp got to me. Finally succumbed to a really bad cramp (rookie error #47: Always warm up). Which I am still feeling today in my calf.

Better than nothing, but cant wait for the end of the month and a week where I am going to fully disconnect in Morocco.

Fu manchu Islington Academy

2010-02-05T15:02:00.000Z

Not too shabby let me tell you. Scott Hill aint looking quite so fresh faced these days, but Ive wanted to see these boys for a while now. Been listening for about 10 years and they didnt disappoint.

Big Riffs spacey tunes. Now ive seen them and had my interest completely reignited I wanna see them again.

I remember they played Squash that fly, hell on wheels, california crossing, weird beard + a load of newersongs.

Poss surf trip in the offing to Bournemouth tomorrow, another Morocco trip at the end of the month and then Bali at the end of April. Cant wait need a surf. Cleanse my soul.

a review and pics
http://www.deadbysunrise.co.uk/blog/2010/01/30/fu-manchu-o2-academy-islington-28012009/

Alkaline Trio at the Underworld

2010-01-26T16:42:00.000Z

Couldnt resist this one. Having never seen them before, the chance to see them in front of 500 rather than 2,500 was awesome. Not having my ear to the ground I bought a ticket on eBay that failed to materialize. The moron who sold it to me decided to come to Camden to deliver it without his phone. Suffice to say, he didn't find me. I gave the cash meant for him to a tout and save a quid. Anyways afterwards I was torn. I'm not a huge fan of the newer songs, they're much less immediate to me. However the old tunes lit the place up. The crowd was a bit shit at times but fuck me they could sing.But anyways today was buzzing from the whole thing. Skiba is a fucking cool singer.

Setlist:

1. This Addiction
2. Fatally Yours
3. If We Never Go Inside
4. Stupid Kid
5. In Vein
6. My Friend Peter
7. Dead On The Floor
8. Time To Waste
9. We've Had Enough
10. Sadie
11. Dine, Dine My Darling
12. Calling All Skeletons
13. Cringe
14. Crawl
15. Goodbye Forever
16. Private Eye
17. This Could Be Love
18. Radio

couple of youtube links:

Radio

Really hope someone puts the full version of this song up, just listen tot he crowd, so good.

Stupid Kid:

Album of the 00's

2010-01-07T14:23:00.000Z

Just reading the plain awful list that NME have suggested. I mean its a steaming pile of 50 records. Utter loafage. Probably 5 albums on there that I'd listen to:

Yeah yeah yeahs - Fever to tell, Jay Z - Blueprint, At the Drive In - Relationship of Command, Johnny Cash - Man Comes Around.

No I was wrong. 4 albums. Good albums but the only thing there that even gets close to classic is Johnny Cash. Funny how British music has gone down the pan in the last 10/15 years. Yeah theres a few good independent artists flying the flag, and Ill always keep my ears open; Chris TT, Frank Turner, Laura Marling - these guys even had a scene.Even Biffy Clyro or Muse - not really my taste but I respect what they do. But show me one good British Band or artist and Ill show you 25 great American bands. British music is almost dead. Most disliked, erm Radiohead, U2, Coldplay or is that too obvious. These fuckers make Oasis seem passable.

So ive been thinking myself about things that mattered. I can definitely say that one of the most important is Body of War. Says more about our times than anything else. Manages to cover so many bases. But I think Im cheating there. Its a compilation.

It was a groundbreaking decade. A pardigm shift in publishing, communications, distribution and global politricks. A slap in the face to to majors. Beat the 90's hands down in many ways- that was just awful - being trapped on this island with British dance and pop music forced at us.Bleurgh. There was a lot more clear cut classic albums out there though in the 90's - sublime, pearl jam, nirvana, rage, down,grung, ska, punk, east coast vs west coast, trip hop. Albums that changed music and lives mattered to a lot of ppl. Did we really get close to this quality in the 00's? I dont think we did.We got good albums in quantity. genuine classics? I dont think I can name any that we'll look back at. The Strokes? Fuck off.

So Im gonna keep struggling to think of 5/10 albums from the last decade that really mattered to me. In no particular order, this may change:

1.Crimson - Alkaline Trio.
2.Streetcore - Joe Strummer
3.Flogging Molly - Drunken Lullabies
4.Blackout - Jay Z (this was fuckin good)
5.Closer to the Sun - Slightly Stoopid. ska record of the decade for sure
6.White Moth = Xavier Rudd
7.Beautiful Struggle - Talib Kweli
8.War on Errorism - NOFX (punkvoter era they tried to make a change at least)
9.Searching for a former Clarity - Against Me

2009

2010-01-03T06:31:00.000Z

What a year. One of the best of my life. From the very start to the very end I have had a time. So I thought seeing as the Christmas, Birthday, new year festivities have now wrecked my sleeping patterns to the point that I am awake writing a fucking blog at 6am I might aswell do something productive.

The Costa Rica thing was pretty well documented, photographed, shredded, recalled and loved, so I'll only touch on the month of Jan. February I did sweet FA. I surfed Newquay with Paul if I remember correctly. Baltic conditions and few waves, but the one or two I did get I remember well; at Watergate. was sick as all hell. One of the top five this year. A few nice weekend trips as the summer wore on. Wave wise nothing too memorable.

Put down the longboard in favor of a nice Rusty shortboard, come August. Promptly busted it and myself on the rocks in Putsborough. This is low low tide. The tides were massiev that day and were hitting the cliffs behind.Seriously scared the shit out of myself, got battered on the rocks. Caught inside, arms got tired, I panicked, had nowhere to go and am quite lucky I didn't break anything or bang my head on the rocks. The wave picked me up and dropped me on the rocks. Just bruised my tailbone, sprained my ankle and cut my feet up. Funnily enough I felt no pain at the time, as I climbed to the top. I was jacked up on adrenaline. Felt like I had the flu for the next two days. Asleep every night at 9pm. Then when I did surf again, in tiny waves some utter out of control **** surfed over my arm and left a 12" gash on my Webber board. Fuckhead.

Best session of the year was Watergate on my own. Board came into its own in head high offshore conditions.

countries/places: Costa Rica, Panama, Morocco, New York, Amsterdam, UK

Plenty of fun surf trips in the UK, The Easter one after Morocco was wicked fun, glowsticks, beer and the first sunshine of the year. cracked a rib and only realised when I sneezed later on when I was driving home. Nearly crashed the car.

Injuries: 1x cracked rib (Woolacombe), 1x broken nose (rail to face at Tamri), 1x gashed forehead (stupid stupid move at Croyde). Innumerable cuts to my feet this year. Oh and 1 attempted murder(on me) seriously that dude that ran me over could've killed me.

Surf People that really stuck out over the year: Ryan, Phil, Harold, Paul, Pete, Barney, Emily, Kate, Amy, Julie, Martin, Tanya, Red, Nat, Sammy, Dale, Anna, Moncef, Raj, Steve, Ants, John...tons more but I can remember chatting to all these people in the water.

Music? well Im still listening to SOIA right this second...Call to Arms has aged well. But over the year, top 20 artists Ive been listening to (according to lastfm)

1 The Bouncing Souls
2 Alkaline Trio
3 Rise Against
4 Slightly Stoopid
5 Iron Maiden
6 Sublime
7 Against Me!
8 Frank Turner
9 Mad Caddies
10 Rancid
11 Coconut Records
12 NOFX
13 Social Distortion
14 Beastie Boys
15 Dropkick Murphys
16 Pearl Jam
17 H2O
18 Mickey Avalon
19 The Ziggens
20 Less Than Jake

So not much change there then. Not the whole story. Starting to listen to bit more hip hop as the winter started closing in. Coconut records, Chris TT, Mickey Av, all new to me.

I think my favorite albums were Davy by Coconut Records and Poetry of the Deed by Frank Turner.

Shows in 09? Aquabats in Islington, MFATGG's at the Koko?, The Bouncing Souls, Social Distortion at Shepherds Bush, Pearl Jam at the Shepherds Bush, H2O at the underworld, Pearl Jam at the O2, Slightly Stoopid in Kings X, Pixies at Brixton, Frank Turner at Shepherds Bush,Mos DEf at the Forum, Slightly stoopid in Amsterdam, Frank Turner at the Union Chapel and THC in islington. Damn.

No Astoria shows, the bastards knocked it down :(

So, its definitely gonna take some beating to top that year. Ended on a great note too. Christmas was fantastic. Saw all my friends between Xmas eve and 2 days after new year. I'm pretty much ready to detox. Oh I turned 30 too. But that wasn't bad, someone helped take my mind off of it.

Back to the future...

PS dont buy a Spider surfboard. To reiterate - they are shit. And the distributors have acknowledged this. I have a nice email saying so :D
I could never damage the brand indeed.

to the east to the east, to the west to the west....

2009-11-18T16:28:00.000Z

hectic hectic few weeks. trying to remember what and where ive been let alone surfed since Sennen cove all those week back. I know I had my best session ever at Watergate. head high w/ offshore winds badass, the walls held up like you just dont see in UK. fucking great.

So lets see, in the last month, I have watched District 9, adventureland, zombieland and busting down the door (5*) . Seen Frank Turner having a London singalong with 2000 people - fuckin sick. watched Spurs get turned over by l'arse at the effeminates stadium :( Then i got drunk and neary missed my flight to NY.

...NY was wicked although I had to do an insane ammount of work launching our ecommerce stateside, got crap sleep on a sofa ate and drank merrirly and got me a Gibson SG. It was all good, like that city very much. Wish I couldve taken a bit more time to explore. But lower East Side - home of H2o!

landed back in London on saturday got home at 9am after a week or so of that. Then had to fly to morocco the next day at 6am. check in at 4! thanks for the lift dad! anyways once i got my head together after a couple of days it was a wicked wicked trip as per usual thanks to Big Friday and Surf Maroc.

Next up (currently) is Bali in April.badass. Gotta figure something out for Feb. the winter is gonna be biting by then.

Currently listening to Down, Corrosion of Conformity, Less than Jake gonna go see Slightly stoopid in Dam!! hopefully will fix the issues i mentioned in my last post.

4.20

Slightly something or other

2009-10-07T12:21:00.000+01:00

Inspired to write after watching Slightly Stoopid dubbing it up in London the other night. A rare sight indeed. Gotta say this smoking ban sucks, especially when the band are clearly high as kites by the end of the show. If ever a band need its crowd high then thi is it. Band were wicked it was an extended reggae jam. For me a great fusion of lots of things that I like. The crowd wasnt bad at all for a London show either. Surprisingly unpretentious. Like the Scala as a venue too.

Anyways surfed Sennen cove last weekend. Nice trip - pretty shit british crowded waves as per usual. Starting to get tired of it. Morocco in Nov and Bali next April it would seem.

Got my MRI resuts yesterday - they seem tos ay there is nothing wrong with my knee either. sweet. So why does it hurt so much :(

you're still alive she said

2009-08-19T10:43:00.000+01:00

since I got run over, ive been surfing. ive been rocking. working my arse off. Lifes currently very full, I'm loving the fact that every minute seems precious at the moment.

So lets see...Music wise I think Ive seen Social D at Shepherds Bush...fuckin classic. One of my favourite bands of all time, Might have been something of a nostalgic set but it was great...I think Ive seen MFATGGs, Become a very late convert to the church of the bouncing Souls, I dont know how ive missed them all these years.what a dick.

In the Last week Ive seen Pearl Jam twice! fuck man, they play a set too. So over 5 hours of live PJ. Just breathtaking stuff. 2 very different sets. One in Shepherds Bush to a crowd of 2k was just speacial, ronnie Wood on stage playing all along the watchtower. and last night saw them in the o2 in front of 23000 people, epic, but great, more classic stuff. Footsteps was beatiful, alive tore it up twice. Dunno what to say apart from it was special, seeing as Ten was the first proper album i ever bought all those years ago, couldnt reist the opportunity to see them twice.

Saw h2o with Alex and Christine on Friday, was quite hectic, kids flying everywhere proper NYHC...love that band too, but so idfferent to PJ, they burn brighter but faster i suppose. A blistering 45minute set was almost perfect. Nothing from GO either, the new stuff is sick tho really goes down well with the crowd. And I finally got to see a whole h2o set!!!! Pleas record another record \m/

oh went to see the world freerunning champs in trafalgar sq. Was swupposed to watch Marwan, my little bro's best mate perform but he was injured this year so no joy. But the British guy won it, was an amazing event.

Hit n Run

2009-05-06T12:43:00.000+01:00

So had a prang in my car last night. No big deal, it was a scrape, insurance will cover it - be it mine or theirs, and Ive got a witness.

It got interesting when I got out the car to write down the other dudes number plate. He actually drove at me. So there i am hands on the bonnet of this Toyota Avensis walking backwards as hes getting faster. Somehow i ended up on the bonnet whilst hes driving down the road, until he brakes and I fly off and land in a heap on the floor.

I think I took the landing pretty well. Skateboards and surfing have prepared me for turbulent landings. Fucker drove off though. Hopefully the cops nail him to a wall by his nutsack. We'lls ee how that goes.

2009-05-05T13:28:00.000+01:00

if you only ever watch 1 youtube music video make it this...Leg-end-ary

NOFX saturday 2nd may

2009-05-05T13:04:00.000+01:00

Bank holiday weekend. What did I learn. You cant surf if you have tickets for a NOFX show. Even if the surf is cranking. Was it? i dont really want to know now.

Anyways, NOFX is a fine alternative. Wicked show. After the demise of the Astoria, we have Shepherds Bush as an alternative- it is smaller though. Didnt like the venue before but that was cause I saw the Roots there, and a Roots crowd doesnt have a clue how to move. hence all the tall fuckers got in the way. Saturday was the best contenporary punk has to offer so the crowd moved. The crowd was older than I expected. Probably something to do with the venue size. Dunno but there were a lot more kids when we saw them in Brixton.

snuff supported, they played well, kinda lost on the crowd, and myself - I love Snuff but dont really know all their huge back catalog. But glad to have seen them for once. It becamer clear - that the P.A. was less than adequate for conveying onstage banter though.

Luckily for once NOFX actually seemed to be trying to STFU and play some music. Not that teir banter isnt funny as hell though. Played so many good tunes, off the top of my head i remember in no real order:

Linoleum, the Brews, Bottles to the ground, Green Corn, Separation of Church and Skate, Bob, Whoops i OD'd, The man that i killed, Franco Unamerican. Kill all the whiteman...etc

The setlist was largely drawn from the last 2 cds, not much from before P in D.

So there you have it if youve seen them you know what to expect otherwise, go next time!

New CD 'Coaster' is top notch too!!

best lyric:
'Kudos to Paul, Fuck you Bruce...how are you supposed to rock and roll without substance abuse?'

anyways then I worked bank holiday monday and had to listen to the wretched lounge band practice downstairs. arrgh!!!!

weak newquay, sunny london

2009-04-27T11:48:00.000+01:00

Had to go to Newquay this weekend despite my reservations over the weak charts. Saturday had howling offshores. Rain and all the good stuff (incl a 5-2 loss to man u ). Didnt see anyone get anything decent in the bay. Was breaking too far inside. So as Id been up since early AM I slept for a bit but wake up way too late to surf. Sunday was a bit better, so hit Watergate bay. Something was a bit off couldnt figure out at the time what it was. Got a couple of biggish closeouts, everone seemed to be having the same trouble. Dont mind the artic water (just getting out of hood territory now) but when the waves are shit its not great.

It was a flying visit, i really needed to pick up my repaired fish, and i needed a new suumemr suit. So £200 later hopefully this oneill psycho 2 wont let me down, fits really well.

then back to London. My rib (cracked in Woolacombe) hurts like a muther today. Not sure what to do about that. :S Its the worst its felt since I did it. Maybe it is properly crack and not just bruised. If it is that my first breakage. Or was that my nose in Morocco?

turns out london had nice blue skies. oh well.

Rise against

2009-04-20T13:55:00.001+01:00

What happened to you?

Finally got hold of 08' record. sounds like some corporate... whats that shit band, Nickelback or something radio friendly. This 'Appeal to reason' record is going right back on Amazon.

should have seen the signs; Vans shoe deal, energy drink tours.

$

OK probably a bit strong...its not quite corporate or as bad as nickelback LOL, musically quite simple but more realised than past efforts, but along with this they have lost their edge for sure. Hardcore this aint. The last bastion of unfriendly radio music crumbled some time ago i would seem.

Nowhere near as disapointing as the last Alkaline Trio record. That was a pile of self indulgent twaddle.

Aquabats

2009-04-20T13:45:00.001+01:00

Sick aquabats show at the Islington academy last weds(16th)(refuse to call it by its corporate branding). MC bat commander was in full effect, and support MC Lars was surprisingly good...certainly knows how to get the crowd going. Queue lots of white kids waving there arms up and down and bending their knees in unison LOL. The best thing was this was a proper show, video screens pointless theatrics. Brilliant. There was impromtu break dancing in the crowd, no violence and lots of laughter.

The aquabats themselves are hilarious, and whilst there song arent genius, they certainly get a fun time crowd going.

These 2 bands have fully embraced the new era of music...i.e people will download your tunes, live with it. Tour, Sell merch instead. Shame the support band I saw -fail safe i think, were utter shit lost prophet wannabes (admittedly they did redeem themselves playing backup to MC Lars). State of UK punk today is disgusting.

Oh well Snuff are playing again so its all good.

woolcombe 09

2009-04-15T14:31:00.000+01:00

An all too brief trip out west to Devon. Met a handful of great surf and non surf people. All good people I might add.

Surf wasnt huge but was clean for 3 sessions. Quite a few dropins out there but plenty more nice waves ridden than stink eye dished out :D Forgot to take pics of the sea. Loser. Nearly cracked a rib when I landed on my boards rail (which was going the opposite way to me i.e. upwards) hurts a lot when i sneeze now. Id definitely do that injury again if I had the choice LOL.

Festivities included more sock wrestling, bbq-ing , drinking of cuba libres, dancing with glo sticks, oh and posing on the bonnet of a Honda Civic. Brilliant.

No wrong things occured. Apart from maybe Dan throwing up out of my car windows at about 40mph's. Very funny - hopefully the car behind saw the funny side....will never know.

Music...Rise against's revoloutions per minute. new Qtip album too!!

Spider reprise.

2009-03-25T15:16:00.000Z

OK probably quite damning of Spider surfboards before. But I was annoyed. Just wanted to differentiate between Spider/Safari - the manufacturers based in South Africa and Emoceanal - who would appear to be a distributor. A really cack handed one at that. Whilst I had a an issue with a Spider product - I had a personal issue with the fucktards that work in this Newquay store...Namely their lying and deceit.

I recieved a message from some dude at Spider, seem to think that the production quality has been upped since he started there this year. Love the fact that somebody on their side is supporting my claims that the board they sold me wasnt fit for purpose.

Fair play for the honesty tho.

Tagazout, Morocco

2009-03-19T17:06:00.000Z

OK one more trip to Morocco before British summer and then only trips to the UK beaches for a while...probably.

I booked this ages ago before Costa Rica and have no holdays left till July. Tagazout on the surface is the same as it ever was although the signs indicate that as an area its evolving, The village seems busier, theres new building im sure in town and up the road. Surf maroc seem to have really grown since this time last year...The expansion since this time last year is pretty huge.

Its been pretty good slightly overcast on the first couple of days, but hot. Waves have been pretty weak until this(wednesday) morning. Surfed small choppy Crocos and overly windy Tamri, went back to Tamri today and it was sheltered from the wind whereas Tagazout wasnt. The wind was very still in the morning and the waves were pretty hollow.

After a couple of beatings whilst i figured out the takeoffs it got pretty damn good. The rides wernt long but they walled up in cool shapes.

The wipeouts werent too bad apart from when the zip on my borrowed wetsuit opened on me. Strangely refreshing feeling but you cant surf like that for very long, or survive.

Finally got what I was looking for, and even though I didnt make it out the otherside getting totally covered over is a damn good feeling. When I didnt make it out, probably in part because I was a little stunned by the event, my board got sucked from under me and I went through spin cycle; but not before a rail smashed me on the nose. It felt like a crunch so I feared the worse, but turns out it was fine, just really bruised. Was worth it anyday. still hurts 5 days later too.

Took me a few days to get my head together, these days im a bit fussier about waves, especially when Im still reeling from a lack of sleep. So it was only as the week went on that I started feeling like putting in some decent hours in the water.

Was so stoked to head back to Immesouane...on Saturday I think. Absoloutely beautiful place which i love and really feel priviledged to surf. Shame it smells of poo, fish guts and the streets are literally covered in fishscale lol. Its not that bad really but I did experience these things. Small price if you ask me. The wave wasnt like last year, different angle and not that deep but still plenty of bicep burn going on here. Killed me in the morning but we stayed all day and I went back for some more in the afternoon. Got a couple of bombs out the back with Lucia and Greg. Everyone else seemed to get stuck inside. First off paddled in from the point itself, bit sketchy got my least trapped in the giant concrete objects there. Then there was the long walks back round the rocks. so nasty. The water however was crystal clear.

What else. Had a wicked last day on Sunday and a bit of an indifferent one on Friday at Tamri too. Friday was Labanne? I think. South of Tamraght. Pretty much surfed all day. Searching for some long right in the shadows of a royal palce guarded buy dudes with machine guns. Got a couple of nice ones but mainly ended up jumping over closeouts.

Out of the water the crowd was as great as ever, probably a fair bit boozier than the other trips and less smokey. But very social. There was a ridiculous ping pong tourney...fancy dress was optional, played with Martin and failed pretty miserably in the first round. But was hilarious to try and play with an approximate turban on my head. There was the obligatory guitar playing and singalongs, even impromtu karaoke courtesy of barney who managed to find a microphone in one of the minibuses. which was hilarity but extremely painful.

We went out in Agadir one night, Moroccan italian restaurant followed by an English pub. Which was abit like a theme pub in dineyland or alton towers. Saw Hugo, who now worked in another villa in Tamraght. Skipped the clubbing, was too tired and I hate dancing to techno...Sounds like they had a time though. Finally found a cab with Jess, Julie and Martin. I nearly lost a leg when some aggro youth slammed my door, hard... but he missed and his little chorts efforts to bug us failed. i think Jess even slapped one of the youths.

Oh and the week ended with an epic evening of sock wrestling. Seriously funny. One on one battle involving removing the other persons sock. thats it no punching etc. Fucking exhausting. But all eneded well with a 6 girl royal rumble. in a word brilliant. Oh and I have it all in glorious High definition technicolor.

Thanks to Dale Adams for the awesome pics too.

Spider Surfboards...Why I wouldnt buy another.

2009-02-25T00:25:00.001Z

I bought me a twinny in Oct. Took it to Central America. I'd been looking for one for a while. Id show you a picture of it but unfortunately its being repaired at the mo.

What happened to it? Good question. The current theory held by some experts to whom I spoke (and who unfortunately shall remain nameless) as well as me and several of my friends who witnessed me surf the board - suggest that nothing happened to it out of the ordinary. No major impacts, nothing, just a pretty hollow beachy in the Caribbean.

The damage was to one of the fins. Had some bubbles around it when I got it. and on really close inspection wasn't quite flush with the bottom of the deck. OK I thought. It did match the rough finish of the rest of the board (pencil lines, a pressure mark, slightly iffy glass). I used this board for about 5 sessions, It picked up a couple of pressure marks nothing too unusual. When I got to Panama I noticed the fin wobbled whilst in the box, So I immediately stopped using it.
I figured that if I took it back, they would say I caused it, can't imagine too many shops that wouldn't.

However here's where it gets a bit more interesting, and the goons in the shop show their true colors. A decent local shaper/repairer said as soon as they saw it - those fins have been incorrectly set - try taking it back. So I did. At this stage if I knew Id damaged it, I would have stopped. Ive owned enough surfbaords in my time, and 250 quid aint too bad a knock - just principle at stake really.

First thing the assistant said when I arrived was 'Oh another one' and then proceeded to explain that when a twinny is built with FCS fins the surface area of the fin is too great for the strength of the plugs - so out they can come 'Theres a new design now to fix it'. That little bit of honesty was fair I thought, and when I asked for a refund I was put on the phone to shirty south african geezer. Admittedly I was trying my luck here, had a discussion which got a bit more heated when I stated I had no faith in the brand (board let me down, pretty fair no?) OK maybe a tad harsh and not me at my most diplomatic. So next more SA geezer calls me back and says now that he's seen it he's not going to repair it - despite agreeing the day before he would. The spiteful fucker had now annoyed me. Anyways I took it back to the reputable repairer.

---

General consensus of this company from a lot of people I've spoken to is they mass manufacture and import bulk, lower quality boards and you're going to get what you pay for. Ask around town you'll see. A quick browse around the web may highlight this too. Don't say this to the shirty geezer who owns the shop in Newquay though because he is liable to become very defensive, start babbling about Andy Irons and Sunny Garcia. Heh they obviously shop in Newquay a lot.

My favorite was the contradictions and lies though. First off the owner twice tells me: 'This has never happened before' - Well dickhead why has your shop keeper straight away indicated to me it has then? And why were you willing to repair it after a conversation on the phone? Second porkie pie was when he told me he sold it to me 'I remember selling it to you'. Another crock of shit. The scruffy looking shop assistant sold it to me. Ive got a reciept - hand written in his handwriting. Oh and a witness.

So there you have it. Whilst impulse buying can be a good thing, sometimes its not. I should have had one shaped, and waited a few weeks. Im calling this one a lesson. Board went quite well, shame its gonna be all patched up now.

Newquay 09 I

2009-02-15T23:55:00.000Z

Cold Cold Cold, I dont remember the sea being this damn cold.

drove down to Newquay yesterday morning cause the reports looked good, and I needed a new 3/2 summer suit, and to try and deal with the broken fin on my fish...More on that later I can assure you. Failed in the pursuit of a wetsuit, althhough |I came close to buying a Psycho 2 winter suit, felt very comfortable. Although I got burned by Oneill in the past its looking like the suit of choice. Fuck paying full whack, now I know which size fits I'm holding out for one on ebay.

Surfed watergate twice. Yesterday was absoloutely cranking. About 5/6ft and offshore and hollow. Fricking cold though. Bought a hood, struggled to get out back but loved it when i was there. Rolling a longboard under those cold waves hit me hard, but I survived and hada good session. The offshore wind made everything slowdown. Obviously the breaking of the wave, but also the take off. What with the dull noise caused by the hood it was a very strange session, but I got a couple of sweet rides. The last being the best a prefectly peeling right.

This afternoon wasnt so good, but the sun was shing and was a beatiful day. We just went out last night and had a slow start to the day. So we went in at the wrong time. probably should have surfed Fistral with the crowds. Really dropped off as it reached low tide, got a nice ride at the end, carving down the line until all of a sudden all the water below me was sucked off the bottom and it became a total shore dump. with me in the middle. quite strange.

Stayed at the usual place - Steve and marks b&b along with KAte, Amy and Paul. Great time was had, bit too short tho for the 500 odd mile roundtrip.

Some thingsI learned in Costa rica

2009-02-03T01:29:00.001Z

-Fer De Lance is a snake, a member of the viper family. It has a fearsome reputation, for a reason. Whilst most snakes will disapear sharpish when they hear noise coming, the fer de lance will coil up and wait for you. It is known to give chase when people come close. I mean really come at you fast. It has a diamond shaped head and looks likee a pile of leaves. There are many amputees in San Jose because of bites by this snake.Oh yeah its really poisonous too.

-jumping off a waterfall is fun. Just dont leave your ipod in your pocket. It wont work afterwards.

-wear booties when snorkeling over a coral reef.

- do whatever you can to stop sand flies biting you in Panama, horrible horrible creatures. Itching for 3 days after that visit. No wonder lands so damn cheap there!

-A crocodile in the lineup can seriously fuck a surfer up.

-Leave extra space in your checked luggage for duty free. Spirits are dirt cheap in San Jose airport. Ipods are not.

-Howler monkeys sound like ghouls.

-Pack light. Surfing in high season in Costa Rica requires very little. 2x towels, 2x boardshorts a rashy. a couple pairs of socks, boxers, tshirts, 2 pairs of shorts 1 pair of trousers and 1 jumper(gets colds at night). good flip flops, and not much else, board repair essentials, surf key. antiseptic wash, and second skin.

-No matter how well you hide flip flops the sandal vandals will find them so buy cheap ones.

-Arguing with a spoilt swede is futile.

-Tamarindo is like surfing in Orange County.Very built up. You need a car there too, or preferably a 4x4 to hit the breaks outta town. Theres a lot more submerged rocks at playa tamarindo than you would first imagine.

- Dont attempt the road from Mal Pais to Tamarindo by coast in a car. You wont make it.serious.

-Dont look a bull in the eye. It makes them mad. And they will even charge a giant 4x4 truck.

-Americans are still largely annoying. Canadians are cooler.

-A Toyota landcruiser prado may be the top of the range rental places offer, but it is surprisingly gutless. It bounces very well and goes through a river just fine though.

-There are 2 types of beer on general sale. Pilsen gets you pissed. Imperial doesnt.

-Pre mixed cuba libre will kick start your night. You can buy a six pack in Super Ronny supermarket in mal pais. Thats the supermarket/liqour store guarded by the dude with a shotgun.

-Jaco is a dump full of drugs and hookers.

-Dominical has a next to useless internet connections. You can find WIFI in most towns.

-Argentines cook the best steaks. Mal Pais chicken place (its the shit) and the puerto viejo argentinian steak house testify to this.

-Blond Ticos with pink zinc all over their face dont like being called off waves by longboarders :) but essentially they are cowards.

-A twin fin fish aint suited to 8-10ft waves, or sharply jacking hollow tubes. What you want is a thruster.

-Reggae night...wherever you are. just reggae night.

-you can dowlnload torrents with the wifi connection in miami departure lounge F.not that I did *ahem* but you have to pay $7.95 for the privelidge.

-If you're scared of the pack and sit off the peak you aint gonna get any waves.

-loo roll wont flush away in CR

-sodas(local cafes) are cheaper by far, but they may have undesirable effects the next morning.

-Mal Pais surf camp cooks the best tuna.

-agapi provides great reasonably priced accomodation in Puerto Viejo, but the owner might "forget" how to use a calculator when int comes to a favourable exchange rate.

-a three toed sloth takes about 10 minutes to cross the road. Why it crosses the road - you might have to ask the chicken thats tapping its watch waiting for it.

last night

2009-02-02T04:45:00.000Z

Lastt night in Costa Rica. Sitting in a small hotel in San Jose. Got up at 7am surfed till 10. Not the best session, probably the slowest/flattest yet at santa theresa. There were still a few waves. Oh well had many other great sessions.

Just spent hours crammed into a shuttle bus and cooking on a ferry across putarenas, early start tomorrow, 12.30 flight to miami, then7pm flight to london. my body clock is going to be a mess.

some people i met a like to remember. For better and worse, in a somewhat chonologoccal order.

-Pandora, for getting me off my arse to ggo in the first place and for a fun first week or so.
-Wim at blue trails in tamarindo for being the most laid back, and hooking us up with probably the best accomodaion of the whole trip
-doug & ross father and son owners of mal pais. cool as hell but clearly know how to make a dollar after all these years.
-jarred,liz and lorna for just being cool and helpful.
-ryan for being the party inspiration and being normal down to earth all round good guy and non swedish.
-phil fo pushing my patience, and whilst being similar to me coming at things from a differnt angle and testing my viewpoints too. selfish shallow fucker lol.
-both of teh above for a cool as fuck road trip
-harry and eida for being some of the coolest germans ive ever met.
-lucas cuba libre fowler and the gidelele. and the rum. and the weed, and the reggae nights.
-pedro, julian, gabriel AKA team Brazil for being stoner Brazillians, heading to Panama with us and give us the low down on some cool spots to visit (and exactly what to expect) in Brazil.
-joanna for welcoming us into her amazing hotel/home and telling us about the early days in Panama.
-terry for being a cool guy and telling me all about dubai
-debbie the most aussie dutch girl i ever met. thanks for the reading material. blind faith by ben elton was excellent.
-becky for turning up wherever we went
-chris, max, margot for beer on the beach at sunset when we got out the water.

adios costa rica. pura vida!!

last days

2009-02-01T02:26:00.000Z

Last full day surfing in costa rica today, great mal pais morning session, average evening one. Went out early before breakfast had a good session but was starving by the end. some great santa theresa waves - love that spot. back to santa theresa tonight the clouds had rolled in and the place was dark. The water and lack of light made it ominous and very hard to read takeoff spots but still had a couple of great long rides. Had another argument with the sewdish one about his rudeness...to me and to others but, everything calmed down once we talked it through.

spent most of the day chilling reading a book a dutch girl gave me that i have to give back tonight. lunch with a soldier by some aussie author. will try and pick it up in miami airport.

leaving tomorrow at 2pm with phil for san jose. then 2x flights home the next day.

so one more costa rica session left. Hopefully its going to be a good one.

mal pais sunday

2009-01-25T18:33:00.000Z

Man we're all dog tired. Surf here is cranking at the moment even tho we hit santa Theresa at low tide, took a while but got some really nice rides. Big lefts. Got so close to being barrelled on a right but got knocked on the head.

Drifted into some local spot, seems they do not like longboards. I called some local ripper off a wave, which to be fair he did leave. When I paddled back I got an earful from a tico with blong hair and a face covered in pink zinc. New policy of peace made me keep my mouth shut...almost altho I did indiate it was my wave. I dont care he got smoked.

Shame i was distracted afterwards my concentration faltered. I wasnt scared just a bit annoyed.

Cracked the nose of my board quite badly too :( think i might skip this afternoons session and just chill by the pool for once, my feet are cut to ribbons, shins bleeding, hip hurts like hell. Basically my body is battered. LOL

Love surfing.

Mal Pais II

2009-01-24T20:30:00.000Z

So yeah back here in Mal Pais, found WIFI...in a sushi restaurant. Im wondering if the waitress wants me to order. Been here 3 days now. Tired and drained from the sun mostly but enjoying the waves here. Weve taken to walking 15 minutes up the beach to Santa Theresa where the waves have a bit more punch, had some cracking longboard sessions as a result. 4 to be precise. Sunset surf tonight probably. the waves are about 4 feet and the wind is so light, offshore this morning - they just peel and peel. Tore it up this morning, got a couple of compliments...it wasnt as crowded as last night when I was just getting bad vibess off the massive crowd.

This is pretty much the end of the trip now. gotta get to San Jose for the 1st feb to get my flight on the second, might try and pass through Tamarindo and get a boat trip to witches rock on the way, but other than that Im pretty happy to wind down here.

The surf camp is all good, cold at night though - even though we are not in the rancho - outddor huts but a private room. We've figured that its a fair bit cheaper to forgo the convenience of their food and eat in town but eating in the sodas can easily mess you're stomach up lol.

anyways not much more to it at the moment. Everyones happy its damn hot too!!

Panama

2009-01-24T20:10:00.000Z

Headed back to Cuahita for more cash, god knows how much ive burned but its been worth it. Whilst we were doing that team Brazil disapeared to smoke the last of their weed. Hence the quote “Dude I cant believe Im following 3 stoned Brazillians into Panama” courtesy of Ryan. Bit pissed my ipod seemed to have died, Ryans dies when he swam at the waterfall so we are only left with Phils music, which admittedly aint too bad....Micky Avalon anyways!

Made it to Sixaola the Costa Rican border town, got sheperded into a carpark, a very muddy carpark and then led across the border which looked a lot like the bridge over the river kwai.Got our stamps, Ryan had to pay for a visa – apparently Canadian/Panamanian relations are at as low point too! Now we wer in we wanted to go to Bocas Del Toro a collection of islands, so 6 of us loaded into a minibus and headed for the ferry. Another minibus another lunatic Mario Andretti driver. An hour later we were boarding a bright yellow speedboat taxi and cruising down a river lined with some seriosly battered looking homes in a fishing village. Then into the open water and straight to Bocas. As soon as we arrived another 'helpful' local showed us where we wanted to go. Not bocas itself which was the big island but its small neihbour. We landed at the agua lounge a hostel looking hotspot, which was full so we traipsed past 3 more hotels to see what was available. Not too much. We ended up flipping a coin with team Brazil to see who got the supercool placeand who got the super expensive one. Ryan flipped we lost. All good though very nice pad for $110 / 3. Top floor balcony 3 beds. Right on the water.

Started to notice a real abundance of annoying flying bastard insects. Sand flies I think. Not good whatever they were my feet 4 days later look like they've been grated. Were very itchy. The island – whose name currently escapes me was awesome the more I walked around the more I felt like I was actually in a Monkey Island game. Lots of building on the water, no cars, lots and lots of boats, and only one path. You can go into building but cant stray from the path at all. I loved it.

We swan in the clear water off the dock, Ryan got bit by a crab. Found team Brazil who had the sickest room right on the water with hammocks etc outside, in a hotel/home ran by the nicest lady ever. They were lamenting the kid who lead us here because they gave him $100 to but them more weed. Big mistake. We had dinner without them in the only place we could find serving food and got an early night. This is where a lot of the major insect bite action may have happened. The Avon skin-so-soft may work for mossies but whatever bit me wasn't phased by it. Deet from now on.

Next morning we moved to the same hotel the Brazilians were in but upstairs. Joanna the owner hooked us up with a boat trip in the afternoon after we had a look around Bocas. 1$ taxi ride each way. Sorted out the fins on my fish only to notice one is about to be ripped out. Quite annoying as its only 2 months old. I like the board but the craftsmanship is shitty. Gotta have a word when I get back.

We went to look for some non existent dolphins, had an expensive lunch of some random island, and then got heavily rained on. Was freezing, but we went over to a place called hospital point (used to bee a hospital there) and snorkeled over the coral reef there. So much life to see, water was warm, real shame the sun wasnt out would've been amazing.was still really good fun. The snorkel was rubbish though. Scraped the crap outta my foot getting back into the boat in the shallow water, hurt like hell and bled a lot. So skipped the afternoon surf session I favour of cleaning my wounds. Boards got issues anyway.

So we chilled out back at the hotel with Joanna and Brazilians who had caught a couple of lobsters and and giant crab on their trip. Joana was telling us about how she came to be there, from Florida and the ins and outs of buying land in Panama. Said there was an acre for sale fro about $15000 still. Sounds tempting, but difficult and the bugs are a bit of a deterrent. Regardless it was cool talking to her about her adventures- she's 63 but lived all over. Even dated one of Phil's friends dad back in the day. The crab/lobster was awesome but left us all starving so we headed over to Bocas for a proper meal. Had to call a taxi because none were around. We ate and looked for somewhere cool to hangout but the rain seemed to extinguis the town and our stomachs were all heavy with pizza, so the Brazillians headed back and we tried our luck buying $10 of weed. Needless to say we got ripped off too. But in the process found a better bar. Still not really feeling energized or like drinking we decided to head back. This was 1am. Couldnt find a taxi boat back to our island anywhere. Things were starting to feel really bleak when the guy looking ater the taxi boat business told us to sleep one of his boats. Eventually we found a boat in the first bat/nightclub we were in. In the bar of all places. I told you this was like an adventure game. We finally got back and crashed out.

Was raining hard we got so wet, and it was still raining hard when we awoke the next day. We got our stuff together swapped email with team Brazil(who stuck around) and Joanna and headed back to Bocas to do the previous journey in reverse. Rain died out so we went for it. Had some weird issues crossing the border – they wanted proof of our onward journey. I had mine, they made ryan and Phil go to an internet place and print theirs (forget that they were back in CR) Decided on the way back to ditch gloomy Puerto Viejo and motor back to the west coast. We had to return our truck anyways. So we grabbed our stuff and hit the road. Arrived in Mal Pais at about 1.30am Dead to the world.

To Puerto Viejo

2009-01-24T20:09:00.000Z

We arrived late after a long 10+ hour drive through the truck filled mountains. Out Toyota land cruiser whilst big and comfortable isn't the fastest going up hill especially when fully loaded. But nevertheless the journey passed by OK for me. We climbed and climbed through the mountain range that divides Costa Rica down the middle, stopped in the middle of nowhere twice – once for a a loo break the other 2 bastards made me wait an extra hour and half for because of the truck overtaking business and the second in a cool railway themed restaurant. Booth a lot cheaper than the tourists traps. Once we got a bit higher we and a few miles east it became cooler and much cloudier.

Rolled into Puerto Viejo at about 8/9ish was dark anyway. Saw miles up on miles of banana plantations along the way – huge expanses. Heard the port town of Limon – an hour to the north was pretty shady and offered nothing – even heard from Elka how people on bikes tried to take the boards off there roof in the past. So we didnt mess around there.

Phillip was tetchy as hell by the end of the drive, and was complaining about Ryan's smoking. Ryan was telling him to relax and to basically stop being such a swede and tried to pull me into the argument. Which whilst I agreed with him didn't really want to get involved. They managed to settle there differences, we got cash from a town call Cuahuita and proceeded to look for a place to stay. All our original plans fell through, the backpackers party lodge Rockin J's didnt happen. We ended up in a bit of a basic place but was cheap as hell and we were all so tired we resolved to look again in the morning.

Whilst looking we bumped into costa. A long way from where we last saw him in Jaco / Hermosa. Didn't see much of him again though. I think the next night we saw him trying to score drugs somewhere. Strange guy.

Next day we got breakfast, and sat and watched Salsa Brava doiing its thing. Nobody really wanted any part of that hell slab, but was insane to watch. Proper proper barrrels left and right firing. People coming out bleeding and we saw 2 broken boards in 20 miinutes. Sick wave I will oneday surf. But not just yet.

Drove down to Cochles where Costa showed us the night before where he was staying – apart from Playa Negra was the main beach break. We found a great place to stay 2 minutes from it. A really nice apartments run by a greek guy named Tazos. $65 a night for the 3 of us wifi, clean right on the sea it was awesome. Shame he was crap at using the calculator, nearly got one over us.

Surfed Cochles that afternoon on my fish. Met a cool couple from Santa Cruz before we went in – Jenny and Zak, riding some nice old school boards. Well different ones anyway.

It was big 8-10 feet, a bit bigger than my comfort zone, we were all a bit apprehensive standing there in the Caribbean rain. But after 10 minutes of reasoning and making my peace we went for it. There was a big left and a slightly smaller right with what looked like a zigzagged channel between them. First off we avoided it, but after my second failed attempt to get out I used the rip and made it. Rough, but it was cool to be in such big waves (on such a tiny board) went for a left that ryan called me into and made it completely, fairly short ride but a well overhead wave, I was stoked. Phillip was stil trying to paddle out and saw from the other angle said was 7/8 feet. Didnt get too much more but I was very happy.

Met a few Brazilian kids staying at our apartments – Pedro, Gabriel, Julian. Funny bunch. Smoked a lot of weed and made us all laugh. Pedro was political and talked to everyone, Julian was the real comedian and Gabriel whilst quieter was probably the toughest one (he went to find some Panamanian that ripped them off on his own a couple of days later)

We hung out with team brazil quite a lot, although they kept stricter hours than us. Ryan and I resolved to visit brazil one day. That night we went to a big reggae dancehall party at a place called johnnys. Was alright music but the club was too dark. More fun hanging out outside with the crowds, met girls from Uruguay, and a nice couple of girls on holiday from San José. Completely forget their names now, but one was half English half CR, and the other was a Tica but by far the lightest I had met. Very young though. Oh we also met Becky from Essex who stayed in the the same place as Ryan in Mal pais and us in Dominical.

Surfed the rest of the time at Cochles, lots of drunken plans hatched to surf Salsa but that was more beer bravado than anything. One day. The beach mellowed as the sell dropped over the next couple of days. It was busy but there were waves to be had. When it was big Phillip nearly killed me as I paddle back out and he went for a big drop, but he pulled out thankfully, I looked up and he was about 6 feet above me looking down as we made eye contact. Last session on the fish was busy but I leaned a bit from slitting on the left peak right the middle off the local shredders who made it look easy. On a shortboard you cant mess around you need to be as close to the source as possible. I've always know this I just gotta go there each time.

Eventually broke out the longboard as it was really the right wave for my fish, and it was so loose hard to channel the drive with those 2 fins. Wished I had my 6'6” at the time. Last session the longboard was good, trying to tuck into the hollow right.

Had dinner with team Brazil in an Argentinian steak house. Was amazing best steak ive ever had in a restaurant. The place is also a hotel. The woman that ran it seemed like an english mother. So good. Zak and Jenny turned up randomly later and joined us. We managed to hatched a plan to head to Panama the next day as there was no swell. All 10 of us were going to go, but we didn't see Zak and Jenny the next day. Shame didn't get there email. Santa Cruz whilst cold sounds great. They sold it very well.

So Purto Viejo, was cloudy, wet, had more bugs and on the surface the people didnt seem as friendly. But we had a wicked time here, the locals dont really bother being as friendly cause a lot of the time they baked. The restaurant on the corner being a case in point. They just sitting there selling ans smoking weed in the bar, but talk to them and theyre friendly as anyone.

Woke up early the last morning checked the over crowded small surf at 7am, didnt bother, we packed our shit, dumped it into the place we stayed the first night for $20 a night and followed 3 brazillians to Sixaola, and then to the Panamanian border.

Dominical

2009-01-19T13:13:00.000Z

Written whilst sitting on the double bed i have been enjoying in puerto viejo. last morning here.

Made it to Dominical in time to set up in our new room and catch an evening session - which was located right across the track and through some trees. Amazing spot even more beautiful than Mal Pais. Surf was OK but crowded, and I switched tot he 6.0 fish to quiet my travelling companions. Got a couple but then heard Ryan call my name - when I looked about 8 people were paddling for shore, with no waves behind them. Which could only mean one thing. It was past sunset anyways, so we all went in - didnt see no fins myself. Totally amazing view like mal pais but greener, lusher.

Next day we drove 10 minutes down the coast and found playa hermosa (not the on in jaco) empty. We body surfed it for a while then broke out the boards was OK. Kept seeing big rays int he sea - Sweden called them Eagle rays or bat rays. i saw one right in front of me.

We spent the days like tamarindo, early surf until the tide kills it, then evening surf as it comes back up. Surfed Hermosa a second time after we went and checkout out some sea caves that you can apparently body surf through - tide was too high wheen we got there, but the spot was a amazing. Hermosa the second time had a surf scool out - too many people ruining the rides of the occasional wave. We headed back into town and I grabbed the longboard - ended up getting more waves than anyone that evening. As the swell had dropped i decided to stick with it for the remaining sessions. Last morning Ryan went in fisrt said he saw a fin right in front of him so he came out straight away. For some reason I felt like surfing anyways so I paddled out and got a few, got covered over quite nicely on the inside but not too much else. It was the last session here.

Spoke to a guy named Daniel - a surfer who worked at out apartment - said he's never seen a shark here, more than liekly what we saw was some kind of ray. good. Crocs were a different story though - said one mangled his friends leg at Hermosa. ahem. oh and plenty of tigers (sharks) on the east coast apparently.

Dominical was good, really nice little hippy village, not even a town really. Slooow internet - barely useable. Ate pretty well here breakfast in the tortilla flats(heavy pancakes, bottomless coffee) - so busy. dinner in the thai restaurant(not great) or the tropical/veggie(excellent) - forget the name, place on the way into town. Eating is a lot cheaper in the small Tico 'Sodas' where you can get more typical food but we did enjoy the restaurants.

We met Ilke and Harry(a couple who stayed in Mal Pais with us), completly by accident, when we decided to check out a yoga studio. Was surprised,we ended up hanging out with them a lot. also bumped into Becky who Ryan had met in Mal Pais too. She's a bit of a Essex party girl, good fun, and even more fun to watch Ryan make an ass of himself chasing her repeatedly. Lucas 'Cuba Libre' Fowler another reggae night conspirator rocked up a day or so before we left - drink in one hand gidelele in the other. By the last night we met a californian called chad who had cycles on a cheap costa rican mountain bike from tamarindo to mal pais. Another guy from England called Andy who seemed a bit of a psycho - but supported Spurs so what you gonna do.

Did eventually do a yoga class - was pretty mellow. It was lead by some dude called Kevin from California. I enjoyed it. Went with Harry and Ilke.

That pretty much covers Dominical. Was very happy to have made it here after it being recomended during a drunken conversation with a random stranger who offered me a Polo mint on the tube. Only cloud on the horizon as we decided to head for the east coast caribeean town of Puerto Viejo was a certain degree of tension between Sweden and Canada. Philip and Ryan respectively. We are having a few issues with the subtlties of the english swedish ommunications. And Philip calling ryan 'fuckface' apparently for fun whilst we are checking out hasnt helped.LOL m trying to mediate.

anyways hop into the truck and look fowards to a long drive towards Puerto Viejo. We decieded to skip pavones, and unfortunatly the Osa (most species per sq foot on the planet).

Jaco.

2009-01-16T22:14:00.000Z

Writing this on the 15^th going from dominical to puerta viejo. - im a little behind.

After leaving our sweet penthouse where we stayed for 2 nights at the witches rock surf camp (kitchen, roof terraace huge space etc) – there was not much surf in tamarindo this time so the other guys were eager to head south.Had an ok longboard session in playa grande but that was it Dominical or manuel san antonio via jaco were our targets and from there wherever. Still no witches rock/ollies point though.

I made the drive to Jaco it was easy, by the time we were there Sweden and Canada were properly amping for a party. I wasnt too fussed. Just wanted a good place to stay. The signs were there early on in Jaco. Sweden asked a group of girls for a good place to stay. Some american guy was laughing at us, and came over with his family and said the girls were hookers. OK no probs, he called up a friend of his and hooked up a nice place down the road in hermosa for us – a much nicer surf town.

So we settle at cabinas las olas in hermosa – had some wicked tuna – biggest ive ever seen seared in sesame seeds with wasaba mash it was amazing. Too late for a surf we hit the beers and eventually rum – no sorry the $30 bottle of jaegermeister I bought froom the local liqour store – mixed with Max energie – the Costa Rican Red Bull. The room was a bit rough to be honest.

Met a Brazillian guy who we called by his surname – Costa.Cant rememebr his first name. Head back into Jaco and look for some fun. Now we we were reccomended the Beetle Bar by some dude back in Jaco – but nobody knew what to expect. Within 2 minutes it became very clear this place was a knocking shop!! I mean there were about 200 extremely hot girls int his place – and they were all without exception hookers. Kinda fucked up, we stayed in there for half an hour had a laugh, then got the hell out.

Messed around in a couple of bars, sampled some local produce, hang out with some nice Canadian girls and then went to a new bar called the loft with them. Music was good, vibe was nice. Costa turned into a bit of a weirdo so we changed our minds and didnt invite him to join us on our road trip. I bailed at about 3 or 4 am jumped in a cab back to hermosa with a reggae cab driver. Chilled on the beach for a hour with another random dog and fell asleep only to be awoken at 7am by the ryan and phillip. The former was a bit pissed off about trying to seduce a girl for 3 hours who funnily enough was a hooker. LOL

So that was Jaco – pretty dirty seedy, vice filled. I understand what everyone means now. Id not go back. Hermosa was cool but had too many American for its own good.I woke up really early before the hangover hada chance to manifest – drank coffee and watched Spurs lose rather unconvincingly in the last minutes to Wigan. Seriously wev e4 got to sort this shit out.

Spent the morning ducking Costa – packed our stuff up and hit the road. Decided to go to dominical.

A couple of hundred KM later and we were in the vicinity, could find the damn town though.My knee was starting to play up again – just sore. Gotta sort the damn thing out.But after the usual darting around we found a good place to stay. Got harassed by some old Amerian guy 3 times in 20 minutes trying to get us to go see his wifes band play. He was called good time charlie apparently. anyways we were all dead, out cold fully dressed by 6pm slept 14 hours!

mal pais

2009-01-13T18:30:00.000Z

Ok so outta tamarindo on a 8am shuttle after having dinner the night before in tamarindo with my friend from london sarah. Apleasant 5 hour drive down to near the tip of the Nicoya peninsula to mal pais surf camp. Didnt know what to expact but recieved negative text rfom pandora night before. complaining about...well everything from lack of walls to crabs on the beach. I couldnt have cared less.

Got there around 1 met P and a guy named ryan - from BC canada. surf that afternoon. First tho check ed out the accomodation which only was 3 walls. it was cheap tho and worked well. I was a little bit taken aback by the snake in the bush outside my open air room. but we came to an agreement. id love to know what it was - it was kinda green and yellow. extremely poisonous i hope.

i only took my longboard left the 70´s twin in tamarindo with sarah. but went down to 1 fin, man i was pulling cutback out there like i never had before. right in the pocket. nearly didnt happen when i got there i was tired and thought playa carment looked like fistral on a bad day. but needless to say we had mad sessions here twice a day for 4 days.

day 2 met a swedish guy named phillip. same birthday as me funnily enough. likes a lot of similar things to me but in his own super materialistic way. I mean talk about being obsessed with brand names. we´ve been butting heads a lot since. but have come to a deent understanding. we actually get on really well too, but nearly can to blows at one stage early on LOL. he keeps called me a soul surfer. patronising dick.

last monday night a big group of us went out, for food - well i met them later. and after a few cuba libres from the shotgun protected supermarket we made our way to the local reggae night. pretty good. smoked some local weed, danced a bit dranks some more kicke it on the back. then the rain came, and everyone dancing just got drenched in tropical rain. had such a good night.

we also went to a local tico nightclub on night about 15 of us packed into an american guys massive pickup truck, a dude that worked ont he vans warped tour hanging off the open tailgate. absoloutely nuts - hada fun night in santa theresa but not as good as the reggae night at the d&n open air club.

One other wicked highlight of mal pais was for $50 we rented a quad bike and drove down to montezuma. so much fun. found these mad waterfalls. made a couple of 30 foot jumps off too.

so me, phil and ryan hatched a plan to hire the biggest fuck off 4x4 we could find. which we got. a mitsubish prado i think. compared to that piece of crap corolla we rented it ate up the roads. We drove back to tamarindo for one night. picked up my boards and then headed down to Jaco - party central apparently. Appraently the road from mal pais to tamarindo is the worst in costa rica. so far i agree. we had to drive across about 5 rivers. i mean into the river, down in a bit then up a big bank. so funny. At on stage a bull tried to ram the car, then had second thoughts - lucily for our deposit.

so i drove the 300km to jaco...rolled into town around 3 and thats a whole new chapter.

costa rica 1

2009-01-10T05:29:00.000Z

Arrived here on the 28th of December. Driven from San Jose international airport by a shuttle bus driver that fancide him self as a bit of a boy behind the wheel. Not looking forwards to driving on roads like the ones near the airport.

Rented a car from thifty, got charged for 3 days despite only asking for onw, ended up keeping the car for 6 days.Toyoya Corolla. We drove to Tamarrindo, long way round on road 1. Good company nice easy drive. Checked into blue trailz, got shifted to upmarket apartment after double booking.Frickin nice place, loads of space, kitchen, pool all for the same price. only problem is it was 10 minutes out of town. hence keeping the car for 6 days. We got to go to loads of differnt breaks anyways, so it worked out. Cars bumper was hanging off when i returned it, just noticed as I was about to walk into the oddice to pay.wedged it back on discreetly, luckily it was marked down as damaged there anyways.

Playa grande, playaya tamarindo, avvellanes, playa negra, and langosta - where pandora spoke to someone who reckon he saw a croc in the lineup.So we didnt surf there again. I surfed it on my birthday, then playa grande i think. Sweet birthday :)

avellanes was uneventful, playa negra was awesome. dint really wanna surf while i watched - far too few waves and too many people. But I kept watching and eventually ggot drawn in. I knew it was a reef - but was surprised when i took off and saw the rock rushing by underneath me through the clear water. Momentary distraction and i bailed. was a good spot tho, the odd 3 foot wave, apparently it likes to break big. Compeetive place too. Been surfing at sunset in the town, surfing a right off the rock bang in the middle of the beach.got a nice ride on the fish - 1st proper ride on it in fact, right in the pocket of the wave, down the line. Longboard was alright there too.

Playa grande was really hollow, not great when i was there with P but would soon see it differently. More on that in the later post.

The week was great surfing wise, but I think we grew pretty tired of each others company - we were kind of isolated from groups of likminded people that week too. Nt to say I didnt have a great time, and ive learned a lot about myself and travel with others. And still a month to go. Was very disciplines in going to sleep and waking up very early. No late nights at all in fact.

Next stop down the coast mal pais suurfcamp. Only know this place is supposed to be much more chill than Tamarindo, and its shops bars and restaurants.I have to check into the dorm room there for one night whilst I await the shuttle on Sunday morning. Doesnt matter can surf and meet up with another surf chick from morocco, Sarah.

long time

2009-01-03T16:12:00.000Z

I've been lazy in writing about my surf exploits, but barring a few long weekends, with a good few people in Cornwall and Devon. Theres not been too much to write about. Newquay's always good to me wave wise, surfed the bay a lot with Kate, Amy, and another guy I met called Paul in Oct. Found a nice B&B nr the island run by a couple of dudes from Lancashire called Mark and Steve...web address to follow.

Had a couple of camping trips down to Croyde and Woolacombe around August. Got Alex I an d Helen my sister into the water from the first time, Andrew got his then new GF wet too...figuratively speaking :) got to Surf with Tanya again. too

There was a distinct lack of surf towards the end of the year after I twisted my knee one august night while bombing the local hills of Harrow on my longboard. Took it too far. Helen told me I got hurt because soemthing wasnt right in my head. Probably correct. I was pushing myself harder and harder, afster and faster - basically higher and higher up the hill. Anyways, the knee eventually settled, its been good for a while, spoke to a physio that said theres no damage. it just like runner knee, my quads are a bit weak - news to me. So after sitting on my ass for 5 weeks - which my quack docter reccomended, thoughrally pissed off i started excercising again - lo and behold it got better.

So, why am I writing now? Well it a new year, im relaxed, surfing again and on holiday in Costa Rica.

More to come.

April 2008. Morocco Part 4.

2008-04-08T14:12:00.000+01:00

Yes part 4. You might ask where the preceding parts are. Well its kinda like Star Wars. Except Im not going to fuck it all up by writing the prequels. Needless to say in the past my trips to the villa of Surf Maroc in Tagazout have all been brilliant. So going back for a 4th visit wasn't too much of a sticking point for me. I have spent a month out of the last 2 years there. I'd defy anyone of an active persuasion not too enjoy a week there. Great people of a similar mindset, fantastic waves and a bit more unspoilt culture than other places. A great way to relax and leave behind all the stresses and strains of London(and believe me I currently have a few).

This past week Monday 31st to Monday 7th was killer start to finish.

Tuesday: Mysteries, La source and Killers. Some german girl broke her fin(on my calf) when i accidentally crashed into her. Worst injury of the week. Nice bruise. Sore ankle, crash could have been worse. She was just about to leave so I gave her 100Dh to give to the board rental place as she had no money left. The waves at Mysteries were looking small but then jacking up quite nicely on the inside. In the afternoon we went up to Killers. Man what a paddle out. About 20 minutes to get to the main peak. Took my shortboard and caught sweet F.A. Longboard all the way for the rest of the week apart from the chopped up day at Tamri. Burned my left hand quite badly in the sun too. Killers was so cool to see though. Wish Id got a wave but it just wasnt happening.

Weds: Crocodiles. Taking Lefts off of the rocks all day long. Really quite a small day, but it let me practice surfing backhand which I had been putting off for some reason. Its so nice to have it down now though. The funny thing was Rob this instructor guy told me to try tightening up the turn by holding my outside rail and dropping my trailing shin to the board. The First wave I tried this on I virtually tucked into a little barrel, I certainly got covered over, didnt make it out though :( How strange it was a left.

Thursday: Tamri (blown out, big and shitty) One or 2 waves. Until this trip it was how i remember Tamri. Kinda sucked. Laziest day of the week. Took shortboard out too. Got frustrated....and 1 very bumpy ride.

Friday Tamri again. Took off later today because of a car crash near anchors. Drove by later to see a totally wrecked renault 4 van and a dead body still in the road. Not nice, but common in Morocco. Tamri was much better, much cleaner, surfed all day. About 5 or 6 hours. Not huge but lots of long tapering sections that were makable, starting to string some nice long rides together, a couple all the way to the inside. Vitually got covered over again - well nearly. Martin was getting grief from local kids.

Saturday - crocs again, started small turned crap in the evening, when the swell pushed in. Side stepped an evening trip to killers, went for massage at Nouredines newly opened place instead. Lots more lefts off the rocks again. Although it was a bit more crowded. Lots of drop ins :)

Sunday - Imessouane in the morning. Was mad. Had three attempts at this point break. Cautiously went out, was too far inside. Got swept down the beach in a very strong current. Got a bit cut off and had to climb some rocks as the tide was rollin in. Second attempt I still fucked it up but nailed an inside section this time, and missed the rocks too. Third time around I threw caution to the wind and stuck to the point as I paddled out. made it out really easily. Couple of the biggest waves, certainly the longest. My legs were hurting pretty badly by the time i made it in, I could never understand that before when people told me. So memorable. I bottled this one.

Some kids got in some trouble in the current and rocks. Two longboards eventually made it in. The third kid, third brother in fact on a shortboard was next. Again totally stuck in the current with a harder board to move. He made the unwise decision of heading for the rocks I mentioned before. The last we saw as he disapeared behind them was a big wave smah into the area. So we went down to look. Saw a battered board on its own, expected to see the worst. But he was OK just a cut foot and dented pride. His mum was there going mad. His dad didnt even look down to see what was happening.

Mysteries in the late afternoon, hard paddle out lots of dumping waves on the inside, tons of rights out the back, long, smooth, big drops but quite heavy closeouts, pretty much every time. No pictures from today, but it was probably the best day. I felt amazing in the morning after the massage. Really good evening session too as the sun went down, virtually no wind, and only a few unfortunate sould who had no chance oif out paddling me on my longboard :)

Monday morning - Onze or Douze I think. Really small and choppy surf, annoying currents too. But a new beach, got a few rides. I had to really it was the last morning and I dont know when I'm going to go surfing again.

Sucks to be back for sure. Didnt wanna leave, although my body is a little bit fatigued. Coming to the shithole that is Watford to be around a bunch of people I increasingly dislike feels like a kick in the teeth right now. My surfing has definietly improved a hell of a lot this week. Longboarding is coming togetehr rather nicely. Wanna spend a couple of weeks shortboarding at some stage just to get that back in check, I found it hard switching between my two boards. I did learn a valuable lesson on my shorty and that is this: dont bother with angled takeoffs on a shortboard they end up badly. straight take off and a more pronounced bottom turn is the key.

perranporth

2008-03-25T12:59:00.000Z

This is written a little retroactively. From Friday 21st March to Monday 24th we (a random assortment of 11 people) headed to perranport for an Easter surf. Unfortunatley the weather had different ideas. so we spent the first 3 days in a caravan while 35mph winds threatened to destroy us. At one stage Andrew open the door only to be completely sucked out as the door was ittle thrown open at force. So inevitably we drank a lot, ate a lot and watched a bunch of crap films. became a little bit of a mission to find the worst films on sale in cornwall. Godzilla vs King Kong turned out to be a bit of a classic as did maniac cop. Storem featuring Luke Perry and Jet featuring Kiefer Sutherland were so much arse it was untrue. Pie and mash shop in Newuay was a bit of a winner.

Finally on Monday before we came home the wind dropped enough, and luckily at south fistral there was a little bit of swell so we paddled out for a few. It wasnt to bad, especailly with the longboard. Nothing too special tho, a little too cold.

It was all good though the whole weekend both Andrew and myself knew that we were heading to the sunnier climes of Morocco the following week so never got too depressed. Of course I can't speak for the others.

This trip may have also started an obsession with the film Basket Case. The phrase "Whats int he basket" has been used a lot recently. The funny thing is we only watched the trailer. WEll 3 trailers.

Found a great little pub in the middle of Perranporth. I forget what it was called but we had some great games of pool. Played Pro Evo on the PS3 on their projector and got 12 shots of teuila free when, the bar monkey was clearly more interested in playing air guitar to Slayer/Metallica that charging for the round.I felt pretty rough on the Monday morning.

2008-02-27T11:25:00.000Z

This is going to be a bit of a work in progress as the photos on my digital camera and phone are not here and trapped outside my laptops non functioning blutooth device respectively. Anyways I've benn meaning to keep a surf log of my trips for ages. I'm normally quite good at this sort of thing. But we'll see. Last week I went to Santander in Spain to stay at my friends house. I say house, it used to be a bar/restaurant guesthouse. He plans to open it in April as a surf lodge. Its 5 minutes from the sea - and the great surf spots of Somo/Loredo/Langre.

The swell ratings were exceptional, I had 3 mixed sessions. Thursday was supposed to be small and on first inspection it was. So we headed back and after a couple of people staying there had sorted out their photographic gear (headcams, enclosures, board cams) we finally headed back to the beach for a session. I took Chris's Noah Ka Oi surftech 9'2" I got about 3 nice rides, 1 of which was exceptional - long long ride down the line. The wave just sat up so slowly and nicely it just hung there without shutting down. I was so tired by the end of the session - my arms and legs felt like lead and because I only used the 3/2 wetty I was cold. But still after some pumpkin soup courtesy of Chris' wife Theresa felt great.

The swell was supposed to really be picking up for Friday and Saturday, and according to magic seaweed on Thursday evening it was still looking good. When we awoke on Thursday morning the swell was the problem it was the thick fog. couldn't even see the break and with no wind it wasnt clearing. So we all hopped in the van and took a drive. Beautiful spanish countryside, hillsides and moiunutain went by and went by and went by. We were heading for a St Vincent. Turns out theres 2. One of which is an hour and half inland. Guess which we ended up at. nobody had the heart to ask the bemused viallager at the top of the dead end mountain road where the beach was. LOLz. 3 hours and 80 miles later we were back where we started the fod having clered enough to see the sea. We headed in to the sea at Loredo. near where we surfed the day before. This time I used my 6'6" shortyboard. I need to get to grips with it. But as per usual after riding longboards the day before it felt like a chore at first. The beach had a persistant side current that repeadtedly swept me into a rip out towards the island which left me pinned several times. Once i finally got to grips with the current and my muscle memory had retuened I was getting into so OK rides, still finding it hard to read, but one thing I did learn last week was to check the wave over my shoulder as I'm paddling rather than blindlt doing so.

Saturday morning same fog but it cleared quicker, leaving us with a beautiful morning. We drove 5 minutes down the road to Langre a more sheltered bay - so that thwey could get their promo shots in for fatface. This was probably my worst session again on my shortboard. I enjoyed it,but whilst looking for right just got continually pounded. while the others had much more success catching their lefts from closer to the rocks. The sea was especially hard to read and my adversion to left didnt help me at all seeing as thats all there really was. by the end desperate for a ride I took a couple of lefts but there was little power.

All in all a great little trip - I'd happily recommend Hosteria Errant when its finally open to anyone that wants to go and stay in a really nice place, with some great people in a nice village - even in the winter.

http://www.errantsurftravel.co.uk/loredo_overview.php