Happy Halloween, might be too premature but heard this old classic at the Penny Halloween party tonight. Good times, thanks for the invite, and hope you can get out for what looks to be an amazing forecast over the next few days.

Andy and Dan were first down and in amongst it. Swell looked ideal from far away and then it was definitely bigger as I ventured out back. After a mission out, I sat back on the 90 ltr Wave Freestyle, and played around with my newly shaped 22cm fin (as per the shed grinder) scoring a fun little session. Best of all though was the changing light, as the sky changed from bright sunlight to deep overcast.

Its been a hurried week of birthday parties, property crisis, DIY, endless clearing up and the odd cheeky surf session. All in all a good week but I feel pretty drained and am trying to avoid the atlantic dampness that seems to set into your bones with the approaches of winter. The perma-rain seems to be testing the bounds of both building and ones constitution, ensuring every little sniffle turns into a full blown cough, cold or in Laura's case a chest infection. So its the rare parting of clouds, and sunsets like this, that seems to lift ones spirits through the dark months ahead.

Sad day as my nephews Hamster passed on. Cupcake only made a year and three quarters, so I thought I would get him out the house and in for a little hydrotherapy. Very windy at the beach, but had some great rides, and Henry got his first taste of a punchy swell.

Justin Seedhouse dropped by to show me his latest creation in the form of a parabolic stringer, quad fin, rounded pin tail (in epoxy) with the most amazing green (marbled bowling ball style) resin tint. His shapes have always been enjoyed by those who ride them, but recent changes to his workshop, means that he now glasses and finishes the boards himself, to ensure quality of finish. From what I saw of this board, and at under £300 for a custom, the finish and quality was certainly on a par with the larger quality establishments like Gulfstream.

9am straight after the school run seemed a bit like hard work, particularly after a number of work commitments to catch up on. So we left it a little later and sailed just after high tide with wind pretty much onshore. It did veer occasionally to the North West, but it was still fun for a couple hours, and ideal conditions to try some new moves in. Also great to see the Weston crew, who aren't scared to make the most of a little onshore (regards to Spencer and hope the calf muscle injury repairs soon).

Before Kitesurf, SUP and all the other new surf related sports, their was more of an intrinsic bond between windsurfing and surfing (nicely summed up by Matt M).

Wind SSW - 24-30knts and almost perfect cross shore at times.

Great couple of surfs, and even took the little ones in for a final dip before winter returns. Looks like its the end of the offshores for the time being, and rather sad as I had to shave off the beard for an interview. Not good. Hope you got out there !

Seem to have lost the GoPro Wrist housing, so if you see anything at the burrows, please get in touch. Nice head high wave (although I think Luke got the best of it), and complimented by a light offshore breeze, and even sun. Water is still warm, but it won't be long before the big chill down.

Another day of driving wind and rain, and the memory of gentle summer rain and drizzly evenings a fading memory. Fortunately I did manage to escape from work for a short while, and good to sail with all the reprobates, along with the alleged wounded, who looked on fine form. Most notably D-Lo pulled out the cleanest, most text book forward loop that I have seen to date. Its only a matter of time before he is committing to big air, and doing huge end over end loops. The great thing was, he did it just in front of me, and I was so stoked for him, and inspired at the same time. Really fun when your friends are pushing the limits, so thanks for keeping me motivated, my windsurfing buzz came right back today.

Changing coastline

Its been a great couple of days, with cross shore and good size swell yesterday. Today was also super fun, playing in chunky onshore, and enjoying some space between the sets. The Wave Cult single fin is still very throw around, and despite reading all the press on multi fins, I am so dialled on this little board right now. Blue skies and a little cooler today, but only lasted an hour as work commitments called. Forecast is set to continue till Monday, and the house is taking a pounding from the weather, still with no roof. The sound from the tarps flapping in the wind is horrendous.

If 6 Was 9 has been quiet for a long time, so when I found this on their blog I got really excited. I think its a quad fin mini simmons variant , and how Dane rides it, kind of sums up the feeling of how it feels to ride one.

Dane Reynolds Sucks At Surfing. from Michael Kew on Vimeo.

Apologies for all the POV, and lack of effort of late. The GoPro kind of ensures I still get out for a surf, without really thinking too much about my photography. Ultimately it ensures priorities are never compromised.

Really had no plans to surf sunday, as the swell was all but gone. But a chance meeting with Jack and a promise to try out the Mini simmons proved a nice little dawn session, even dragging Henry out for the early morning paddle. Little H (nephew) was on fire paddling into some of his best waves, and found a new confidence on the 7'2 Seedhouse (pin tail with some serious references to MP from the 70's) . Stoked just to be paddling alongside.

Crystal perfection, what a day, and Happy Birthday Luke.

Amazingly clean and almost a half mile paddle out, to long peeling sections. Feel totally worn out as I took some beatings, but it was all worth it just to be out in blue skies and 25 degrees ! Oh and did I say '25 degrees !!!!'

Managed to get another convert to the Mini simmons today. Instead of the funky looking and hard to grapple Diplock, Alex enjoyed my own handcrafted version, and it was a delight to see someone quadruple their wave count on far from a sizeable wave. Weather has really snapped back warm again, bright blue skies and a joy to paddle out in the perfectly groomed micro sets.

Amazing day really, unique light and a great wave despite a very long paddle. Definitely my best surf to date on my 6'1 as it really felt possible to gouge the wave, and of course give Matt a run for his money on his longboard.

This morning's surf was blighted only by the fact that I missed something, really really special last week. The European Fish Fry at Crackington Haven sounded pretty interesting, but I felt it to be more of a connoisseurs event, and for the more discerning surfer who knew what they liked and loved. Besides I felt if I had time to trawl along to events like that, I probably needed to be surfing more. So being windy that day (more to the point), I recollect squeezing in a quick sail, as well as a long list of family duties. So the Fish Fry went by without much notice on my part, and it was sufficient just to catch up reading blogs and seeing the photos. That is until, I discovered the fact I just couldn't cope with. Mysteriously Thom Yorke turned up, and played a rare acoustic set. I still can't quite get over this, but heh according to the NME - it really did happen !!!

It's been a hectic 24 hours, and a rather pain staking building project is nearing the end. Sadly we are still exposed indefinitely to the elements, and hopefully the winds and rain are over for the moment.
Beach served up very little to be excited about today, and where I paddled out, it was endless closeouts. Elsewhere a little closer to home was just great.

LSORO is the blog that always makes me smile, even when I am not quite sure what is going on. The only thing I am clear about is that the repeating face in all three shots is Richard Kenvin. Smile, life is short.

A digital Nikonos ? (Nikons Iconic Underwater Camera) Nobody had a digital Nikonos, Nikon never manufactured them, as they clearly didn't exist. Nor did they exist in 1998 when this shot was taken, and Nikon cancelled the Nikonos in 2001, three years after this photo was 'never' taken. Guess the Navy Seal Team One are all on GoPro now, but it just doesn't seem quite the same.

Have been admiring so many different surf creations lately, that I decided to build my own rack where I can easily locate my boards. Hence it seems to be a little top heavy in the mini simmons department, so might need to say goodbye to the Diplock (second from left). If there is any interest, please email.

Wind was pretty full on this morning, my current smallest is a 4.5 and it was solidly 4.0 weather. So combined with some very tired arms I didn't have a great session as I was just trying to keep the board in the water. After I pulled the outhaul to max setting, the sail felt very twitchy, and I just couldn't really enjoy it out the other side of the estuary or in close in the peeling sections. I still enjoy sailing off the beach a lot, and dare say those who make it out this afternoon will get the best of it.

Missed the Fish Fry in Crackington Haven today (hosted by Rob Lion, Royal Surfboards) but for good reason. Wind blew just enough to sail, so apologies for the uninspired footage.
Typically, the wind backed off when I finally got on the water, but it was still great to get out, and had me charged to go bouldering with H Jnr in the afternoon. Wind is now back in full roar tonight, and hoping to sail at first light.

Oh yes - more storms are upon us, according to the webcam this morning. Autumn is definitely in full swing this year, and its blowing 25mph WNW; see you there.