This is flipping crazy! Now I'm not too bad with heights, but there's only a few people in the world who can do this sort of thing - surely?
Tuesday 28 September 2010
Corduroy Lines: Issue 12
Issue 12 of Corduroy Lines is out! It's a limited edition print run this time round. Needless to say, mine was ordered sometime ago ;)
Tuesday 21 September 2010
Monday 20 September 2010
Sunny September in the South West
Not long back from our regular September run to Cornwall.Two weeks this time, as opposed to the usual one week. It was great doing the extra week and we managed to relax and chill out (I believe the new word on the streets is chillax - real hip!).
The week started off well with our visit to see Gavin at Finshack and the purchase of a sneaky new fin. What a beaut! I tried it out at Polzeath and wow what a difference it made :) Honestly, I didn't think I would notice the difference - but the first wave and the board felt completely different - really nice and very happy :) That was one of the few times I got to use my board - more on that later...
Polzeath was busy, so after a major rain storm we moved on and ended up in the dizzy heights of Newquoi. We'd planned to stay near Constantine, but we got major demotivated with the horrific weather, leaking van windows, soaked awning and the red flags at the beach (especially after having the sea so nice in Polzeath). So Newquoi it was.
One thing lead to another and all our plans of cruising around and going to different places never happened and we stayed at trusty old Trencreek the entire time. To be honest, the waves in Newquoi were really nice, so we didn't want to risk moving and not have suxh good conditions. We ventured to Crantock and Gwithian (saw Jo & Andy while we were there of course) and both times convinced us that staying was the way to go!
We met Steve and Nick, who are from Manchester, at the campsite. They had a nice pimped out T4 and a puck (which fared well on a couple of the cooler nights - especially with heating and what have ya!). We had a great time with them, several beverages and a couple of bad heads (mainly me!). No doubt we will be catching up with them very soon :)
Nic spent most of the fortnight on my longboard and made some really good progress. There's no excuse now, she has to come out with me next time we go in. So she had better use out of the new fin than I did. But I can hand on heart say that I got my first real good controlled nose ride! I think that was on the Monday night of the second week. I was made up. The board locked in on the wave, I moved forward and was about 15 cm from the end, held it for a good few seconds and then moved back as the board became a little unstable. Poetry in motion ;)
How did the van go? Up and down really. Still having overheating problems, but we at least managed to get down and back at around 60mph. Which is good, but not good enough! So there's still some work to do there. That aside, he ran around town really well and served us excellently for the whole 2 weeks. Can't grumble.
As we are now getting to be creatures of habit, we did the usual of going via Devon on the way home. So managed to grab a sneaky session on Saturday evening at Saunton (I got on my longboard this time!) and Nic managed a good few waves at Puts, on Sunday, before heading home (on our wedding anniversary).
An excellent two weeks, surfing, sunning and meeting great people :) Roll on next September...
Some other piccies I took...
The week started off well with our visit to see Gavin at Finshack and the purchase of a sneaky new fin. What a beaut! I tried it out at Polzeath and wow what a difference it made :) Honestly, I didn't think I would notice the difference - but the first wave and the board felt completely different - really nice and very happy :) That was one of the few times I got to use my board - more on that later...
Polzeath was busy, so after a major rain storm we moved on and ended up in the dizzy heights of Newquoi. We'd planned to stay near Constantine, but we got major demotivated with the horrific weather, leaking van windows, soaked awning and the red flags at the beach (especially after having the sea so nice in Polzeath). So Newquoi it was.
One thing lead to another and all our plans of cruising around and going to different places never happened and we stayed at trusty old Trencreek the entire time. To be honest, the waves in Newquoi were really nice, so we didn't want to risk moving and not have suxh good conditions. We ventured to Crantock and Gwithian (saw Jo & Andy while we were there of course) and both times convinced us that staying was the way to go!
We met Steve and Nick, who are from Manchester, at the campsite. They had a nice pimped out T4 and a puck (which fared well on a couple of the cooler nights - especially with heating and what have ya!). We had a great time with them, several beverages and a couple of bad heads (mainly me!). No doubt we will be catching up with them very soon :)
(Nick is sporting a slight toe injury in this picture - no more said about that hey Steve!)
Nic spent most of the fortnight on my longboard and made some really good progress. There's no excuse now, she has to come out with me next time we go in. So she had better use out of the new fin than I did. But I can hand on heart say that I got my first real good controlled nose ride! I think that was on the Monday night of the second week. I was made up. The board locked in on the wave, I moved forward and was about 15 cm from the end, held it for a good few seconds and then moved back as the board became a little unstable. Poetry in motion ;)
How did the van go? Up and down really. Still having overheating problems, but we at least managed to get down and back at around 60mph. Which is good, but not good enough! So there's still some work to do there. That aside, he ran around town really well and served us excellently for the whole 2 weeks. Can't grumble.
As we are now getting to be creatures of habit, we did the usual of going via Devon on the way home. So managed to grab a sneaky session on Saturday evening at Saunton (I got on my longboard this time!) and Nic managed a good few waves at Puts, on Sunday, before heading home (on our wedding anniversary).
An excellent two weeks, surfing, sunning and meeting great people :) Roll on next September...
Some other piccies I took...
What a difference the angle made - Nic preparing
A couple there of Nic coming back up the beach - the sky was amazing that night!
Some rare footage of me in the sea - paddling out at Fistral
Spot Steve's T4 and our Split parked up at Pentire
Sunday 5 September 2010
New Fin - Finally!
As part of our trip down to the South West over the next couple of weeks, I took upon myself to go and meet Gavin at Finshack to line me up with a new fin. Once we had finally tracked him down (he's proper in the sticks!), he talked me through the various styles. I ended up going for a Captain Fin Company model - and here he is:
A good all-rounder for me and something a little unusual - hehe :)
Thursday 2 September 2010
Windows in the New T5
Went over to Redditch yesterday to get side and rear windows installed into our new(ish) T5. I came across Automotive Glass Medics on fleaBay and Dean was mega nice on the phone, helpful and did a good deal for me. While we were at it, Nic's dad (Pete), took his T5 along as well (our old one) to get side windows put in.
We headed off down the M6 and did the usual queueing for 20 minutes. Once that was out the system we hit Redditch and Dean took us to a nearby unit where the magic started happen.
I plunged to have my van done first and the sight of the drill going through the first panel was shocking! But these guys really knew what they were doing and no sooner had the drill been put through, the panel had been taken out with a nibbler.
There are kits available so you can do this by yourself. My opinion on it: pay someone unless you really know what you are doing! They make it look easy. One wrong move and it's a new panel please! They did a really good job. The cut edges were all sealed and they put trim around to make sure nothing was exposed and it was safe.
I took that many pictures, I bet they thought I had some kind of van fetish ;)
We headed off down the M6 and did the usual queueing for 20 minutes. Once that was out the system we hit Redditch and Dean took us to a nearby unit where the magic started happen.
I plunged to have my van done first and the sight of the drill going through the first panel was shocking! But these guys really knew what they were doing and no sooner had the drill been put through, the panel had been taken out with a nibbler.
There are kits available so you can do this by yourself. My opinion on it: pay someone unless you really know what you are doing! They make it look easy. One wrong move and it's a new panel please! They did a really good job. The cut edges were all sealed and they put trim around to make sure nothing was exposed and it was safe.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
