Picked up a 7'2 Bing Swee' Pea today, and took it out for it's inaugural surf. It was 2-3 and pretty messy, and all was good till I sliced my toe. Water is still so warm and great to be in just shorts, so it was a shame to cut it short. I really wanted to review this and get some idea of its performance, but first impressions were still positive. At 7'2 it was not really the length I wanted, but  I love anything Matt Calvani shapes, and this wasn't any different. On the odd peaks I managed to catch, it flew and was very drivey and felt pretty much as Tom described (the guy who sold me it). The plan will be to template this and make a 5'8/5'10 with a slight difference, but this will remain to be seen, as I am not sure that I actually want to get rid of it just yet.

If you get the chance or know of anyone wanting to learn SUP (apologies) or just wanting to try it (for some unknown reason), Carl at Go Watersports is the guy to speak to. He is friendly, professional and he kindly snapped me with my Iphone in our pre work dawnie.

What an amazing day ! Its been great to come home, see so many friendly faces and then get to surf twice in the same day, and yes even a windsurf (although the wind disappeared temporarily when I rigged). This guy,was ripping on a quad fin and it was pretty inspiring to see everyone out in what appeared like 3/4 mast high waves and cross shore southerly. Good times, and great to see so many smiles from effectively a miserable day. 

Its been a couple of months since getting the RRD Wave Cult Quad fin, and I have recently decided to take the brave decision as using it as my one board (at least for long journeys and travelling with kids).  So with car space at a premium I made the seemingly bizarre decision to pack this 92 ltr board (AKA the 'big board'). I hate being underpowered probably more than anything, so having a slightly bigger board seemed like a sensible option. Now the law of averages would suggest that as soon as you agree to leaving the other boards behind, you can bet that they would be what you actually need in your time away. I of course always try to remind myself of this , but its of little solice as Tarifa is a very windy city in August !
Hence you could have brought any board and it would have been right on certain days.
Winds of 40knots one day, then dropping down to single digits the next means you have plenty of down time, but it also can potentially mean limited time for sailing.
In our own circumstances, this trip was a family holiday not a windsurf trip, but that said I still had clearance for the kit.
So turning up at the beach to sail in 18 knots one day and then 30 the next, has been a real joy considering its been on one board. Speed and control has been the key, and even when conditions were light it was still very throw around and you can really slide the fins out too in an attempt to freestyle. I even scored some rare summer wave conditions and the board of course comes alive in this. Essentially the board never seemed to overpower even when my sail did, and the edge of quads over a single fin is far too apparent to be ignored. In Tarifa I noticed a lot of thrusters coming through which seems to be a Naish/Mistral thing, and they no doubt work. However  nothing is quite like a quad, as they still seem to retain the looseness of a twin fin, as opposed to a thruster which seems to be more like a single fin. If you are in any way tempted by a Quad, then I suggest you just buy one. I certainly have been amazed by the RRD wave cult.

I read this on a friend's blog and had to share - http://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/9108-windsurfing-world-mourns-the-loss-of-andre-paskowski

Took the kids bodyboarding this morning in the mellow shore break of El Palmar. Most locals don't hit the beach till two, so we enjoyed some relatively quiet beach time, whilst most people slept. By the time they were done, I even managed to score some much needed chest high action in relative tranquility and just a pair of shorts.

Its day three of the windy season here in Tarifa. Levante has been blowing up to 35 knts, and its been fun, certainly more fun than I ever remember. Years ago, this place had a special feel and it still seems to retain a lot of its charm despite being well and truly discovered. Windsurfing in just a pair of shorts in 26 degrees at 10 am is a pretty nice feeling, and whilst some say this is boring due to its lack of waves, they need to take a good look around at all its attributes. Both its unique position next to Europe's largest forest and some of the most stunning beaches more akin to the Caribbean will always keep me coming back.