Sitting in the hall eating Mark's finest canapes whilst others around me are drinking Bucks Fizz! This is our schools treat to us whilst we read the latest Ofsted report. Luckily for my workload it makes good reading. The head is his usual excited self, congratulating us all on our hard work and recent grading. However all I am thinking is 'hurry up, get on with it, it's sunny and windy outside!'. Thinking back 22 years - not a lot has changed. I was still sat at a table, waiting for the teacher to hurry up as all I could concentrate on were the swaying trees on the school field!
Race to the beach, the usual rush to get out rig up, get out of shirt which takes ages, lots of little things slowing me down. I only have till 5.45 before I have to pick Casey up from nursery. It looks windy, but I'm not going to rig up a 4.5 like last Saturday, that was a complete mistake. 5.0 it is. I need power! I already missed last Thursday's gale because of parents evening (made worse by one of the parents telling me how good Avon was earlier) and Friday because of moving house. Saturday I was underpowered.
It's good, powered straight off the beach at Southbourne. If this happens you know you are going to be fully wound up. Second run out I hit a wave and backloop. I've slightly held back and it seems ok, but land the nose a little too far off the wind, then smack the sail fully backwinds and twats me round the nose with colossal force! Fuck that hurts, stars everywhere, not much blood so can't be too bad. The cold water soon stops the bleeding. Fortunately for me I have this weird nose where instead of bone I have cartilage which means it is unlikely I can break my nose. I think today with a normal nose I would have, who knows? Unfortunately I cannot say the same about my mast. But more of that later.
It's bloody good fun, there are some nice waves and I love my new quad 85, it keeps it's speed so well in the the turn making for really fun cut backs. Even manage a few forwards after Saturday's bail out attempts off stalled ones, which always put me off them for a while.
Soon disaster hits, sailing downwind a bit a wave rears up, much more than expected. The only thing to do is get vertical and go for it. Seemed alright, it threw me down and I got a good old fashioned working but not too bad. The sail though, looks lifeless!. Not again, same wave I broke my mast a couple of months earlier. The bowl section at the end of the prom really takes no prisoners.
The sail looks in tact, but only a matter of time till another wave breaks over and shards of carbon fibre tear through the luff tube. Nooooooooooo. Noooooo, nooooo
Using the waves to paddle in past the sideways current, otherwise you get wrapped around the rocks and groin. I can only admit defeat. Another walk of shame. In the distance I can see Gregg racing down the cliff, he goes on to enjoy a pretty decent afterwork session.
30 mins of fun, I would have liked to sail for hours. I was hoping to go to the wave comp in Rhosneigr this weekend. I think that £200 plus needs to go towards a new mast, unless it is a smashing forecast. Although not having a mast makes it tricky to do any kind of windsurfing.
Pictures were taken from the cliff top just using my phone, as you can see Gregg is clearly having a whale of a time!
James was unable to make it out today because he is having surgery on his ankle tomorrow, so we hope he has a speedy recovery and will be back up to his usual standard soon. Fortunately for him he is not the only one with some talent, his wife, Lucy has just had her first novel released, 'The Sea Sisters', I'm only a little way in, but it makes good reading and already is one of those not to put down!
Buy it now from Amazon here
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Sea-Sisters-Lucy-Clarke/dp/0007481349
Race to the beach, the usual rush to get out rig up, get out of shirt which takes ages, lots of little things slowing me down. I only have till 5.45 before I have to pick Casey up from nursery. It looks windy, but I'm not going to rig up a 4.5 like last Saturday, that was a complete mistake. 5.0 it is. I need power! I already missed last Thursday's gale because of parents evening (made worse by one of the parents telling me how good Avon was earlier) and Friday because of moving house. Saturday I was underpowered.
It's good, powered straight off the beach at Southbourne. If this happens you know you are going to be fully wound up. Second run out I hit a wave and backloop. I've slightly held back and it seems ok, but land the nose a little too far off the wind, then smack the sail fully backwinds and twats me round the nose with colossal force! Fuck that hurts, stars everywhere, not much blood so can't be too bad. The cold water soon stops the bleeding. Fortunately for me I have this weird nose where instead of bone I have cartilage which means it is unlikely I can break my nose. I think today with a normal nose I would have, who knows? Unfortunately I cannot say the same about my mast. But more of that later.
It's bloody good fun, there are some nice waves and I love my new quad 85, it keeps it's speed so well in the the turn making for really fun cut backs. Even manage a few forwards after Saturday's bail out attempts off stalled ones, which always put me off them for a while.
Soon disaster hits, sailing downwind a bit a wave rears up, much more than expected. The only thing to do is get vertical and go for it. Seemed alright, it threw me down and I got a good old fashioned working but not too bad. The sail though, looks lifeless!. Not again, same wave I broke my mast a couple of months earlier. The bowl section at the end of the prom really takes no prisoners.
The sail looks in tact, but only a matter of time till another wave breaks over and shards of carbon fibre tear through the luff tube. Nooooooooooo. Noooooo, nooooo
Using the waves to paddle in past the sideways current, otherwise you get wrapped around the rocks and groin. I can only admit defeat. Another walk of shame. In the distance I can see Gregg racing down the cliff, he goes on to enjoy a pretty decent afterwork session.
30 mins of fun, I would have liked to sail for hours. I was hoping to go to the wave comp in Rhosneigr this weekend. I think that £200 plus needs to go towards a new mast, unless it is a smashing forecast. Although not having a mast makes it tricky to do any kind of windsurfing.
Pictures were taken from the cliff top just using my phone, as you can see Gregg is clearly having a whale of a time!
James was unable to make it out today because he is having surgery on his ankle tomorrow, so we hope he has a speedy recovery and will be back up to his usual standard soon. Fortunately for him he is not the only one with some talent, his wife, Lucy has just had her first novel released, 'The Sea Sisters', I'm only a little way in, but it makes good reading and already is one of those not to put down!
Buy it now from Amazon here
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Sea-Sisters-Lucy-Clarke/dp/0007481349
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