Sebastian Williams - March 2010

This dude is 10! Not 23 but 10!

Fathers & Sons

Just came across this nice little vid on Drift Surf. What a nice idea :)

Roctober North Devon Session

Just back from another great weekend in Devon. The weather and waves were great.

In fact, I can't believe how good the weather was. We were shorts and t-shirts and sat out in the evening. Now we all know how chilly Nic gets - well, she was even out and only had a normal number of layers on - not the usual 4,400!

Nic & I arrived Friday morning, a bit ahead of Craig and Kerry. They had had an "alarm clock issue" and didn't quite get up at the right time - oops! We messed about a bit and then watched the Saunton waves peeling down the beach. C&K rocked up in what sounded like a B52 bomber. There had been exhaust issues. These issues raised their head again on the way home and they didn't get to leave Barnstaple until 5 in the evening when they set off at 1 in the afternoon.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday were all great sea days (Monday was flat - checked Woolacombe area but still no joy). I think Magicseaweed must have been bigging up the conditions as it was packed! It was like a summers day out there. We ended up leaving it later and later each day. Fewer people about and to be honest the conditions were nicer.

Croyde was pretty big a couple of the days. Far too big for me! None the less, Craig and I went in very early on Sunday morning (or was it Saturday - can't remember). It was a bit boisterous so it was only a quick one...

Kerry had a few goes as well. This was her first time in quite a few years. The last time involved an incident with a board and her nose - ouch! But with a bit more time, she'll get the burn back ;)

Nic successfully managed to negotiate using my longboard again. She's getting on really well with it. Looks like I may be loosing that one in the near future - Gulfstream here I come :)

We had a nice surprise on Saturday when Steve & Nick (we met in Newquoi in September) popped by to say hello. They were at Oktoberfest near Cheddar. So cups of tea and a walk down to the pumping break at Croyde made for a relaxing afternoon.

The splitty ran well! hoohah! Having done a couple more tweaks, the overheating has stopped - finally! He's going to get tucked up now for winter, but he'll have a few Christmas presents to be added in the new year :)

So, yet another nice break :)

Being Comfortable with Yourself

Long story, but I was in Birmingham yesterday. So after having spent some time watching the world go by outside the Conservative party conference at the ICC, I had a cup of Chai tea in Starbucks and headed back to the train station via China Town (sort of).

Now you can rest assured that usually I am not to be found anywhere near adult shops, but I was lucky enough to walk past one - I took the opportunity to take a quick shot...

Hang on a minute???

What a dude! As the title suggests - he is indeed comfortable with himself :)

World's Scariest Job?

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?

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 ;)

Gallagher Surfboards

Corduroy Lines posted this sweet little video about Gallagher Surfboards - what a gem!

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 :)

(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

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 :)

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 ;)

Super Long Nose Ride

This guy is getting some proper nose time here!

Barcelona Night Longboarding

Barcelona is a great place and I'm lucky enough to have a good friend who lives there :) The last two times I have been out there, I have said that should take my longboard (skateboard) with me. There are some superb places to do it. This video has once again inspired me to make sure I take it with me. Hmm...I wonder what the odds of being able to get it into hand luggage would be?

Is the Oil Being Cooled?

Last night saw the new oil pump going onto the splitty. The night before was engine out and and new oil cooler going on. It went pretty smoothly to be honest. It also gave me an opportunity to clean the engine up a little -  the oily little beggar ;)

So, big thanks to Buzz for doing all the hard work on it and to Machine7 for being so helpful when I was getting the bits :)

This all started with an overheating problem on our way back from Devon the other weekend. Anything over 50mph and there was smoke bellowing out everywhere - oops! So the timing has been checked (and adjusted slightly), valve clearances reset, new oil cooler and a new oil pump. The fan is spinning nicely and he's had a nice new drink of oil. Proof will be in the pudding when we take for a run again (probably this weekend) to see whether it is still overheating or not - fingers crossed!

Fish Eye Lens for your Phone

Check out this nifty little lens to add to your phone: http://photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/cell-phone-lenses/. Also a macro/wide angle lens available too.

I do like the "do not pull" handle on the page - hehehe :)

New T5

Saturday saw us heading up to Manchester VW van centre to pick up our new purchase :) We finally got round to renewing our existing T5 for a newer one - an 08. It's pretty much exactly the same as the one we had, but newer.

So I spent Sunday afternoon (while Nic was gardening) getting the camping interior out of the old van. And with Nic's dad's help, planned the layout for the new one. More to come on that when it happens...

We also got the pirate flag hung behind the drivers seat - looking good :)

Plans at the moment are to get windows in the side and rear (privacy bonded) and to colour code the bumpers. Can't decide on wheels yet though. Fancy wheels would be nice, but the VW wheel trims would do just fine...

Devon Lanes and Splitscreens

This weekend saw our first outing this year (in fact since September last year!) in the Splitty. It's amazing how time drifts by, but due to a sequence of upgrades and failures we haven't really had a chance to use it too much. So having just recently passed the MOT and had the starter motor replaced, we packed it up and headed down to Devon for fun packed VW and surf weekend.

Th trip down was good. The roads were pretty busy but we managed to keep a steady 65mph all the way (except for the vast amount of 50 zones all over the place of course). The Little Fella ran just fine and sounded great. I, of course, needed the obligatory wee stop after about an hour, but other than that it ran all the way non-stop. We did the usual stopping over at the services on Friday night. It was full of caravans! Hardly a truck in there.

Through Friday night and Saturday we had rain nearly constantly. The breaks in the rain on Saturday were nice allowing enough time to get dry and a coffee and chai at the Wild Thyme cafe in Braunton. And we really did get soaked!

There was no surf at all! One of the flattest days I've seen there in a long time. Ranging from 0ft to 1.5ft. Certainly not worth getting the boards of the roof for. None the less, while Nic was tucked up cosy in the van reading her book, we were treated to a nice stormy sunset and frequent torrential downpours.

Before setting off, we'd brought a sun canopy from Just Kampers. Although the instructions didn't quite match the equipment, once we'd worked out what to do, it went up reasonably quickly. It proved to be a god send and just like an awning makes the van so much bigger. There are a couple of things that aren't quite right with it, but with a bit of Nic pimping that can be put straight :)

Sunday was a whole different day. It was sunny and warm! So the canopy was laid out to dry while we packed up the gear to get ready and go. We were hoping for a sneaky surf... We probably weren't quite as efficient at de-camping as usual, but I suppose we were a little out of practice. None the less, managed to get the morning cuppa in :)

We headed off to check out the beaches. Parking is such a rip in the summer! £6 at Saunton. Sunday was by far the worst day ever for surfing. I thought Saturday was bad. It gave us 0ft to 0.5ft. There were still people getting all their gear and going in - mad! Although, there was an old guy on a SUP who just managed 2 or 3 "waves". We, none the less, paid our parking fees and chilled on the beach for a couple of hours before heading home. We chatted to a couple from Weymouth who had the most perfect bay window - really good condition. It made ours look like a bag of nails and lead to the usual discussions of what to do next on it - this time, we might have a plan!

The journey home was a slow one. We couldn't go any faster than 50mph without overheating and bellowing smoke - oops! Will need to investigate that before our September jaunt.

It was nice to get the Little Fella out again - I've missed driving it. could have done with bigger surf and 65mph on the way home, but there's always next time :)

Beware the Great White

Jesus! Watch out for those Great Whites...

Electirc Motorbikes

Electric bikes have been around for ages, but let's be honest, they've been pretty naff! I'm not 100% convinced with the idea of electric bikes, but they really do seem to be coming of age recently. They were successfully run at the TT this year and Brammo are releasing the Empulse hitting around 100mph. This is their promo video for it...

So here are the top 10 bad ass electric/hybrid bikes (according to who I don't know, but they are pretty sweet!). This EV-o bike deserves a worthy mention, but it is a little bit spenny!!

Splitty's Happy

We finally got the split sorted late last week with it's MOT - hoohah! Slightly late but we've been busy bunnies what with Nic's Op 'n' all that caper...

Had a pretty early start this morning as after the MOT, I thought I would take the van out for a little run. So I cruised it up the road a little. By the time I got back - no lights, no indicators and no wipers. That was an easy fix with a couple of new fuses. Unfortunately, the need for a new starter motor was a bit more pressing!

I set off this morning at 07:00 heading towards Smethwick to take it to Kingfisher Kutoms. It ran like a beaut and cruised nicely at 65. Although most of the 1.5 hours was spent queuing!

The new starter went in and still no joy. Just a click, no motor spinning. At this point the mechanic was getting a little bit pissed with it. To cut a 1.5 hour story short - turns out the wire feeding the starter was going via an alarm system and the alarm was only allowing 6 volts through to it (rather than the expected 12). Once that was by-passed, the engine once gain boomed into life - phew!

The journey home was sweet, loads of traffic again, but happy cruising and couple of smiles, waves and peeps from other happy motorists :)

Yoyophoto

Check out Yoyophoto. A new photography site created by my good friends Sam and George. Some great photography to treat yourself to.