Pictures from the BLU Comp at Watergate Bay

What a day Sunday was. It was blazing hot and the surf was pumping. I'm not a regular attendee to surf comps, but as I was around and it was longboarding, it was rude to miss it.

A bit of a school boy error from me really - we arrived at 11ish when the masters heats were just finishing and planned to re-start after 2 to allow the tide to begin it's journey back in. Hey ho - Nic sun bathed and I covered up ;)

The comp was fun and here are some pics I took with Andy's fancy camera...

Is Small Always Best?

Had another evening session down at Godrevy tonight. What a great time :) Didn't get down there until half seven, but being summer, the sun was still shining and there were some nice small waves.

Two nights on the trot is has been like this and two nights on the trot I have had a great time. Easy to get out and with a good paddle, the waves caught have been slowly peeling and holding me in nicely.

I've had so many nice sessions when the conditions have been like that - it's becoming my preference. A Californian experience in Cornwall!

BLU Event Number 3 2010 at Watergate Bay

Picture courtesy of  http://www.british-longboard-union.co.uk

Looks like I might be heading over to Watergate Bay on Saturday and Sunday then :) The BLU are holding event number 3 there this weekend.

Seems rude not to especially as I am in Cornwall as I type! We're staying with Jo & Andy again for a week or so. Helping Nic recover from her op! Well, that's the excuse anyway!!!

Andy's working this weekend, so will ask if I can borrow his fancy camera and try and get some shots...

Top of the World!

My very good friend Roger has just made it to the top of Kilimanjaro! A stunning effort! He has done it as part of a sponsored climb for the Donna Louise Trust.

If you have any spare pennies, please sponsor him by going to his Just Giving page. And if the enornmity of it doesn't help you sponsor, maybe this photo at the top does!!!

Surfplug Day - 1st August 2010

Finshack and Surfplugs are putting on a surfplug day in Polzeath on 1st August 2010 :) I'm hoping to get down there for it. Will be able thank Gavin in person then for helping me out with the templates!!

Picture courtesy of http://finshack.blogspot.com/

I've been thinking about getting some of these as they seem to be the best around. I have been trying out with a set of cheapo ones and they are good, but leak :( Once they leak I have to take them out. So fingers crossed I can get down there and do the biz. I'm thinking all black with a skull and cross bones on - obviously ;)

Might investigate a new fin as well!!

Pictures From the Archive

I've had a bit of time spare this morning (hence a few blog posts today!), so I took the liberty of trawling through some of my old photos. It's good to do this from time to time. Brings back all sorts of good memories and fun times.

Now the keen eyes among you will recognise this cheeky chappy as a young monical sporting wonder Uncle Knob Head. A triumph in photoplopping the original cutout :)

Here's me man Nick Glarvey from Uni who I haven't seen in years! Sorry Nick - it's a horrific photo but a true beauty none the less! What a room. I shared this room with Nick for a year. You'll note the 5ft dinosaur hanging from the ceiling (Malcom) and the telly cabinet is beer cans :) Behind the telly was a wall, top to bottom, of cans as well...

And Steed (from Uni too) with Nick on his screen. Steed's a top man and had an uncanny resemblance to the Edge. His ability to drink and get me into mischief was outstanding - I refer you to the time we had scale a very high wall to escape a mental institution.

We were stripping the walls in the bedroom some time back and as we pulled a section off, a lump of plaster came off with it. Needless to say, Nic jumped in and enhanced the shape a little. This stayed there for the best part of 3 years!

Here I am trying out my new bike at Plozeath in Cornwall. It was a good bike, but to be honest, I just couldn;t get on with the brakes...

Nic showing off that her camper was used in a calendar :)

And in an attempt to make it fair on Nick Glarvey, here's me looking at my most intelligent at a fireworks night round at Phil the Pigs...

Big George

Came across this interview with me buddy since sixth form on Le Branché. George (or Big George as I call him) knocks out some real good stuff!

Check out Geroge's and pay specific attention to the Dead Sets project and if you like vinyl the Colour of Music project.

Sunny Nights Dans Le Jardin...

I was supposed to be going to the gym last night (my efforts recently have not been as good as they should - must try harder) and once again I postponed it. Instead, as it was such a sunny day, we had a B in the garden. Nic's mum and dad came round and so did Uncle Knob Head and his buddy Danni :)

Now we've known Uncle Knob Head for quite some time now - is this a good thing or bad thing? It varies ;) One thing we do know is that whenever there's food involved it always ends up silly :)

So after we had all had our usual stuffing of burgers and salad type stuff, we proceeded to play cricket with a couple of spare baked potatoes. To be honest, this is the first time I've played cricket with spuds - it was better than playing with the more familiar ball :) And it doesn't drag on forever!

Not too long ago we had to dig up some more bamboos. Since then there are a couple of boards on the decking that haven't yet been screwed down. Needless to say Uncle, whilst bowling potato, stepped on a loose board and had a cartoon comedy moment as he fell into the fence and the board shoots up in the air. Kinda gets him back for doing the old throw one potato high for me to hit and then immediately throw a low fast one straight at my balls trick :)

Fortunately, last time we were in the Cornwall we acquired a couple of extra cases of Rattler - so they went down very well. Got a thick head this morning though :(

Managed to grab a couple of pics, in between being twatted with potato and slaving over a hot stove...

Nic enjoying the sun and modelling her new scar (left shoulder to the right of the strap)...

Some tucker...

Uncle Knob Head sporting the latest in environmentally friendly monicals...aka onion...

A nice picture of the B and the shed. Oh and sexy me of course :) (note to self: need haircut and beard trim...)

A True Act of God...

This article in the Guardian (kindly sent through by Samski) is a clear sign from god. Let's be honest, it looked pretty shit! I'd certainly want it torched...

Gwithian A Go-Go

We're back from a few days in Cornwall and my first kite session in ages. This wasn't a proper holiday as Nic has had an operation on her shoulder and it was in Exeter. So after a few days there (of me rocking it up in a nice hotel - St.Andrews - Exeter - which by-the by was good value and very nice) we decided to head to our friends in Cornwall. It was closer then going all the way home and nicer! :) Nic mostly slept and I mostly worked.

What a wally! I forgot to take my camera and we spent one night from about 9 til midnight, just sat in Gwithian car park watching the sun go down - it was stunning - as always.

I managed a couple of sessions in the sea. I can't remember what days, but the first session was pumping! Too big for me ;) I stuck at it though with my shorter board and although I was getting tired from the constant bashings, I managed to get some nice waves.

The second and third sessions were back on the log again. I've got to be honest, I always like to think I like the shorter board, but my heart is with the plank. Got a few sweet ones and I was happy.

I used my summer suit for the first time this year - all good! No boots and gloves and the feeling of being almost nude - hehehe! It's such a difference. I dropped of my winter suit off with Adam at Overhead in Newquay (sorry - Newquoi!) to be fixed - the damned thing is falling to bits :( Maybe line a new one up next summer...

We should be heading back down to Exeter again in 5 to 6 weeks for a follow-up for Nic. Fingers crossed we can land it near a weekend to get another sneaky one in ;)

First Kiting Session in a Year!

I can't believe so long has gone by since I was last out kiting. I can't be 100% sure - but I'm sure it must be a year! Far too long!

I headed down to Gwithian with Andy for an evening session. The council gits have put up a pay & display down there now - not impressed! The wind was light, at the most 5mph. The surf wasn't looking all that good, so I didn't feel too bad about not going in ;) But seeing as I'm here for a few days, no doubt I'll sneak in - hehehe :)

So we headed down the cliff. I had the 6.6 and 8.5 in hand. Having not been out for a while, I thought I'd play it safe by taking the 6.6 out to warm up on first - good move.

Having warmed up, it was time to have a tickle on Andy's 14m Frenzy. What a beaut :) Super floaty and the pop control was a real treat.

The wind started to pick up ever so slightly, guessing around the 8mph mark (note to self: take my new wind meter next time!). So I packed up the 6.6 and pulled out the 8.5. Now ya talking :) I was soon back to the average jumping height of 7 to 8ft - happy days.

I missed the buggy though - will make sure I get one on the Christmas list...

Isle of Man TT 2010

Picture courtesy of http://www.iomtt.com

Loving a bit if the TT again this year! ITV4 are giving it the usual excellent coverage, although they do seem to be reducing it a little this year - something to do some football rubbish going on :(

Was gutted for Guy Martin after making his way to up to 2nd, after McGuinness had early problems. Will ever get that elusive win?

Roll on the rest of the week!!

Vans on the Beeb

Check it out - a cheeky little article about VWs on the BBC news site. Nice to see they mention the SSVC (of which we are members).

Rainy Bank Holiday

We rarely go away over bank holidays - too many people and children about - it's no good. So sure enough we stayed at home this weekend and did some gardening (I knocked out another fin as well :) ).

Saturday morning saw us working, in the rain, on our VW camper (no posts about this bad boy just yet - but there will be some coming). At the end of last summer, we had a brake issue on the way home. Rear near side locked on. So we finally got round to looking at that and ordering up some parts. I think I'll post about this story later down the line when I have more to report ;)

We've got loads of bamboo in our garden and over the last year it has slowly been taking over - it's a proper nightmare! So during last year and partly this year, we have been slowly digging them up and potting them.

So on Sunday, we set about digging up the penultimate bamboo in the back corner of the garden. The main reason for this one coming out is that it has started to grow through our neighbours drive - oops! A bit of digging and scraped knuckles later - it's out - phew! Just got to get the decking boards back down now...

I can't remember if this was Saturday, Sunday or Monday, managed to grab a nice rainbow shot from my office window...

Ah! Must have been Saturday. You can see the offending bamboo still in-situ!

Made Another Fin

Having had a reasonably good success with Fin 1, I thought I would give another shape a go. We had a piece Alaia wood leftover from a table we made for the hallway so I used that - thanks to he guys at Loose Fit in Braunton.

I'm pretty happy with the way this came out. It was a much nicer wood to work with than the ply. In hind site, I think I would have preferred to have done the other shape with this wood, but it might be a nice addition to the underside of the table ;)