NW5

Bit envious of the gang out on the water, as it was blue skies and pretty solid force 5. Car park flat in places, but others headed upwind to find some fun looking wave rides. The amazing geography of this place always entrances me, and I could literally photograph anything here as the background appeals almost as much as the subject.

Snugg

Didn't really want to keep this picture as my header, but since hearing it was George and Skelly out, I thought it should be posted with due credit. Apparently it was the super-hero style Snugg wetsuit that's the give away, and those guys were scoring the best of it that day.

Always surprises me when I see longboards at this spot. This guy tucked into a barrel on the same wave and came out shouting his head off, throwing fists into the air. Nice to share in his stoke.

Crafting

Drifted inland today, and despite my wife's attempts to lure me away from all things surfing I managed to find this display at the Bovey Tracey craft centre. These boards looked amazing, fully chambered and manufactured from Red cedar and ash veneers. If the price tag wasn't so big I might have been tempted, although I reckon for the amount of work/craftsmanship they were fairly priced.

Displacement

Never ceases to amaze me how large business manages to exploit the essence out of anything that could lead to more sales. Intriguingly these boards are all shaped from Homeblown's Biofoam. Check out their deals

The West Swell

And so it came to pass, those without children and free of all obligation got to surf a fantastic swell.
It was cold with the offshore and the interval seemed fairly long, but when the sets came through it seemed worthwhile. Great to hear everyone cheering from the beach.

Need to buy

Fuerte

Borrowed from Navar at God Save the Wind. Some of the larger sets, look reminiscent of some of the bigger breaks around the planet, and somehow make windsurfing like a more organic way of towing in. Check out the whitewater in at 1min 40.

Fuerte Wave Classic 2011 - Day 5 from ROX Production on Vimeo.

Noise

I could barely sleep through the noise, of one of the largest swells I have seen for a while. Anyone brave enough to paddle out, looked so small in comparison to the larger sets. I even had to leave the camera at home on our walk, as the punishment being levied to some of the unluckier surfers looked intense (to say the least).

The gloom descended and I snuck out for a quick soul session on the 7'2 pin tail. This board seems to excel in just about all conditions, no matter how large/small.

The mighty

It was a little tricky for a dawnie this morning, so I agreed to just take the dog for a walk for 20 mins at first light with the camera. This is what I saw, and the pounding that followed. When I did get in for a paddle later it was chunky but a little too fat, and closing out all over the place. Kind of day that whatever board you rode, it still felt wrong.

Yew !

Snuck into the weeniest barrel today and scored a fun little surf. Waves were holding up just perfectly with the strong offshores, what a great day.

Deep Green

Lindsay Lord's classic Hull design reference book was the inspiration for the producers of Deep Green. The Cissoid curve once thought to liken Ivy (shown above) and seems to reference the Hull shape which is actually formed from two other curves. All rather technical, so I guess there attention to detail means that it should ride pretty well too.

The Seedhouse

Checked out the new glassing and shaping rooms at Chateau Seedhouse. Impressive setup and his glassing looks first class.

Windance

After a windy week, a couple days in land didn't seem so bad. That said, I wondered how all the guys were getting on with the action. All I heard is that 'Head-boy' decided getting outback was for real men, and so braved a two mile reach, just to find out how big it really was. Apparently the 20ft buoy reading was fairly accurate !

Out of the groove

More pain, but much fun. Felt so unfit from 4 months of no windsurf. Harness was a bit of a squeeze and looked on as all the other guys seemed pretty dialled. Nice day though and getting out back was never going to be an option for me. Seemed to just go on for miles. Ezzy Wave Panther 2 was perfect on 4.5m, and even managed to huck some back loop hospital airs. Thanks Seasprite.

BST

I have been in the throws of swapping over from PC to Mac and sorting through some old shots. This little beauty is worth a double click, and its kind of why I fell in love with this area. Some of the summer sunsets are just amazing, and the electric flood lights seemed so stark in contrast, to the natural light. No filters or manipulation were used.
Ps - it was super huge and windy again today, but my timing was off and I missed all the action.

South South West

I've always found it difficult to do two things at once, and instinctually this seems to have rubbed off on my ability to read forecasts. I am so obsessed by waiting for good surf, that when a decent windy day arrives, I seem to miss things. So it came as a total shock to be rigging up the windsurf sails today and heading out for a blast. The swell definitely was anything but clean, and outback looked like a looming large mess. It was perfect for practising your chicken gybes and also remembering how to rig your sail right. Casualty of the day was a fearsome Andy hucking backloops and finally coming down on his sail.

Minus one

Forgot to post up this little beauty from Saturday's chilly dip in to waist high glass. Not a soul was out as I fired up the old 10'2 and imagined it was a hot summers day all to myself.