West Country Surf

I had such a good surf at Watergate bay this weekend. Two sessions on Saturday, the twilight session actually being probably one of my most memorable surfs ever, and then today in some solid and fast 4 footers.

What luck to pre book a weekend away over 2 months ago and have this happen!

I am no surfer really, one of those things I do enjoy. The work out, the occasional good wave and a good day if lucky where I would get in the right place at the right time. For the last 3 years I also haven't really been on a surfboard, always preferring to get on the paddle board, where for me the very average surfer, I suddenly get more waves, more turns and more open faces.

However this year it seemed to me that SUPping has become so popular that I thought maybe it was time to get back on the surfboard again. I have had a couple of goes and dug out my chunky 6' 6" Geoff McCoy nugget. Thinking that I probably don't want to get my 6' 4" out as I am so used to surfing the size of a paddle board. The strange thing is how much better my surfing has become! It must be because of paddle boarding and general expectations of what you can do on a wave being much higher. On a paddle board you expect to be in the right place and working the wave and I felt I had that mindset on the surfboard. My wavecount was so much higher, almost up there with paddleboarding. Today there were only a handful of us out the back pulling into the set waves. Usually I would have got out (being fairly good at paddling out), then gone over the falls with the fat hollow ones. I actually got some cranking set waves today and a left which surprised me even more!!

Only thing is my ribs ache a lot, and I have cramp in my hamstrings for surfing more than sitting!

Geoff mcKoy classic!

6 more weeks till nipper number 2....how life will change!!

It's been a good week for water sports. 2 really good windsurfs, a last minute SUP at Southbourne as wind dropped and onshore swell was still hanging around, then this weekend. Also looks like there might be a little bit of swell around on Tuesday, fingers crossed!

Charlie on some messy Southbourne waves, good fun nonetheless