Not cold enough to snow, but windy enough to foam

Following my last post, let’s up the tempo and orchestrate a gale:

First, change the season to winter,

Then darken the light with heavy cloud and setting sun,

Now add a major storm out in the Atlantic, 

Have an onshore gale blowing – (I can barely stand upright at the shores edge),

The wind hammering in my ears,
 
Sail being ripped out my hands,

Board trying to blow up the beach,

The sea thundering and crashing,

The cry of seagulls.

Now we have music – a dramatic moment in a symphony composed by Mother Nature and performed by The Elements.

Force 8

“In which a well-conditioned man-o-war could just rig a 3.7 or 4.2 in chase of mother nature, the faint hearted remain on the beach, whole trees are in motion, some twigs broken from trees, cars veer on road, progress on foot is seriously impeded, moderately high waves with breaking crests forming spindrift, well-marked streaks of foam are blown along wind direction, considerable airborne spray” (Beaufort 8).

Carpets of sea foam.

Wind pushing water hard from a Nor'wester

Sea, surf, foam, wind Beaufort 8  = Windsurfing

 It blew its tits off all day.

The high winds sweeping Guernsey forced foam from the west coast onto the beach. The spume had left the beach looking like it had been hit by a sudden snow storm.  It was windy as hell out there today. Struggled against the breeze but it wasn’t cold; quite the opposite, in fact. Was on 4.7 (should of  been 4.2) and was powered whole time, waves were smallish but the odd smackable one. With a Nor,Nor,Wester today Vazon was a little onshore so decided to make most of it and punish my body with a marathon jump and bump session in Grand Harve.  Well known for its speed and slalom, getting a primo windsurf here on wave kit was rare. Only four out.  We were sailing in onshore slop and decided to sail across the bay to Rousse for a look.  A nice wave was  just wrap around this granite reef, (no real rocks), as you come in you're real close to the reef then you better pull out unless you want a shoulder high dump onto the rocks.  Nice jumping on the way out if your timing was right.  Just what I needed to shrug off the mid-winter funk. Nicely powered to start with and some nice rolling swell. In the end was a bit maxed out but waves came on form over the reef and presented some nice steep ramps to rocket off.

What other sport is this good? Ahh...

 

Wind drought Over

Yo surf freaks!
Great forecast, long wind-drought.
Hope everyone out there is enjoying this splendid surf season.  Today witnessed some juice alight our shores.  Cross offshore sweetness.

If like me you are waiting for the waves and see hardly any posts here at the moment.  I thought it was time to catch up on some wavesailing action here in little old Guernsey.  It might cheer you up!

Well Mother Nature has thrown her toys out of the pram again and came up trumps with another   cracking down the line wavesailing session.

A perfect day.  The wind ramped up from 20-25kts up to 40 gusting 45.  Hutchy and I were the first to show up at Vaz, then gradually more folks started showing up.  A quick peek over the wall, good news greeted us with a nice size swell rolling into the bay.  A quick discussion on sail size.  So, threw on the 4.7 with the 80lt.  Hutchy had already been out for 5-10min and was already working his way up to the Pocket, so I did the same, nailing it up wind.  In the end, it took me one long tack and I was up where I wanted to be, and this was where the waves are happening.

Oh my lord, hooking up on a nice size wave on my first run.  Now I know for a fact I'm not hacking the wave apart like Josh Angulo or Philip Köster, but it sure felt like I was.   I was up there in the Pocket by myself for about 1/2hr before Matt and the rest of the crew joined me.   Lots of waves with lots of turns. Some were logo-high with 4-5 bottom turns some were 3-4, some were 1 or 2, chest high, but damn, the board was doing what I wanted it to do, nice sharp turns, no cutting loose, no  catching an edge.  At first, I was moderately powered with the 4.7 and then it started to notch up.  It got to be too much to handle and I was having troubles holding on with the backhand on the top turns. So, deciding to call it a night as light was failing us, you just have to love these dark winter night.  Light stops play................    

Alright, so the next few photos are just some gratuitous shots from Matts Gopro.

Stoked to be getting on the water.

AHHHHHHHHH...Winter Approaches.

Monday was quite a special day : the first planning day (on wave kit) since probably more than a month, we finally got a day out sailing we so desperately awaited. Simply driving in the car park
 my heartbeat increased as it was obvious a nice 25/30 knot wind was blowing across the bay.  After a frantic 4.7 rigging frenzy, Matt and I rushed down to the water.
  I am proud to say my wave riding hasn't gone down hill despite the time off the water, in fact it probably getting better considering the last time I had good sailing was when we were in Tenerife. I'm feeling very confident in the bottom turn, pushing as hard as I can on my front foot with my back hand further down the boom, which seems to engage the whole rail way more than it used to, then following up by hitting the lip as hard as I can. On my last few bottom turns (before the wind dropped), I'm coming out the bottom turn with a lot of speed, coming vertical on the wave, then pushed very hard on the back foot to make the top turn, hitting the lip harder and closer to the critical section, taking more speed in my turns, etc. etc. As a result everything seems to come together nicely.
 Unfortunately, the forecast doesn’t look so good as the forecast did, so I'll have to wait for the next blow to get back out on the water for another wave sailing session...

 

No pics from today

so here's a few from happier days

on the 3.7 Goya

Small waves,

 trying to milk the best out of them .

Daring

If you missed your chance to tour this type 45 or 'D' class  air defence destroyer while it was at anchor in the Little Russell, here's your chance to virtually climb aboard.

  The type 45 destroyer, one of the Royal Navy's newest and most capable ships, is anchored off St Peter Port, for a three day visit. Her primary reason for its visit is a rather sober one, in memory of those who lost their lives on HM Ships Charybdis and Limbourne.
  More than 20 bodies from HMS Charybdis washed up in Guernsey after it was torpedoed by German forces in 1943.  The bodies were buried with full military honours at Le Foulon Cemetery by the Island's German occupiers.
  The Charybdis was sunk on 23 October 1943. About 460 lives were lost and the bodies of 21 sailors and Royal Marines were washed up on the Guernsey coast within days of the sinking. Only about 100 of the crew were rescued.
  HMS Limbourne was torpedoed on the same day, resulting in the loss of more than 40 crew. It was later deliberately sunk to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.



HMS CHARYBDIS -  IN HEAVY SEAS

  At 1.38am the German Elbing T23 sighted Charybdis a few miles north of the Sept Isles off northern Brittany. Charybdis had picked it up on radar and was swinging to port but was hit by a full salvo of six enemy torpedoes.  As the British destroyer Limbourne came into sight, it too was fired on, with it being struck before yet another torpedo tore into the Charybdis.

Daring, is a very young member of the Royal Navy's fleet, it may not have been around for long, but already the links established between the ship and the people of Guernsey are extremely strong. The ship is more than 150 metres long and has a range or 7,000 nautical miles. It is designed to be a flexible multi role vessel able to carry out a variety of tasks across the world, from air defence to humanitarian and anti piracy functions. The crew have just come back from a six and a half month operation in the gulf, where they took part in exercises included projects to strengthen relationships between several foreign navies and to combat piracy (Operation Scimitar Anzac).



Cheers Gaz for organizing a great morning.

 Gaz, playing soldiers
 You'll never take me alive, Coppers



 Westland Lynx

Bridge

Captain Tuc of Fortius,
checking out his new seat for size

Missile bays and the 4.5 inch Mark 8 naval gun
guarding St Peter Port 

A Week Off Aquatic Fun

Jen, Paul, Nick and I spent a most enjoyable morning out on the high seas, albeit a little sloppy, playing airbags and lumps of concrete (moorings), scalloping, flattie bashing and all things aquatic. More of the same tomorrow no doubt, one way or another ....

Me playing with big ballons.

Nice dive on two wrecks Friday evening as well.
 

There are numerous wrecks around the islands and between the islands and the French mainland but the large tidal range and heavy swell in winter means that wrecks close to shore are generally well-broken as in this case. Many of these wrecks date from the 1900, these include the two wrecks that are lying on top of each other in 30 metres at the base of Le Grunes du Nord Vazon.

With a brisk North Westerly breeze but a relatively flat sea, Dream Catcher headed down the coast towards Vazon to dive the wrecks of the SS Dagenham and SS Wear. The wrecks are now quite dispersed across the seabed in 30 metres of water and they lie out from the NW corner of the Grunes with the remains of her bow area closest to the reef wall in 26 metres of water.  Parts of the wreck are still quite recognisable, such as the boiler and the remains of steam engines. A solitary anchor can be seen near the bow with a mast stretched out across the sand nearby. All too soon it's time to ascend back to the world above. Back on board with a flatting sea and a setting sun, it was time to head back up the coast towards the entrance of Grand Harve. Another excellent Friday night dive.



Le Grunes du Nord Vazon

SS Dagenham
Wreck, Co-ordinates 49.30. N 002. 38.

W21m 1466tg, 239`x 36`x 15`.

Cargo - coal. Built 1907, sunk 8 April 1907. Whilst en-route to St. Malo in daylight and calm sea ran into Le Grunes du Nord on the NW coast. Broken. Good rummage dive. Slack water only  beware the Grunes which lie just beneath the surface at slack water.

SS Wear
Wreck, Co-ordinates 49.30.N 002.38.

W21m. 1076tg, 222`x 33`x 14` 

Built 1905, sunk May 15 1910 whilst en-route from Newcastle to St. Servian with coal. Struck the Grunes du Nord. Jumbled up with SS Dagenham wreckage.



Jen on the helm
Time to take control and show the boys
 exactly how a boat should be handled,
ha! 

                                              Caught a nice turbot today, did'nt I do well ......

Will come clean about the fish,
 Phil caught it,
I picked it up off the deck!

Brill......iant Brill

Anyone get in the water today? I got out this evening ... 

What a great evening dive! Well finally the weather cut me some slack! More than I can say for the tide however.

I need to go fishing.  I have only a bag of turbot and two sole in the freezer, that will be tea for the end of the week. This is getting serious....  The good news is that we are getting out on the West Coast diving.


Paul, Tuc and yours truly headed out loaded with dive gear from Rousse Pier headed out the bay South West down the coast to our favourite spot for flatties. Following a huge spring tide, vis was a little better than expected at 2-3 metres with a very fast drift dive on the bottom due to 9.2 metre tide that was running hard to the South, it was more like water skiing under water rather than diving.

Fluke fishing finally gained some steam as I managed to spot two nice brill hiding in the sand, much to the annoyance of my fellow dive buddies who came out empty handed. Well, fishing is still slow but some of us managed to catch some nice fish.    
    

It doesn't get much better than that..                                                               

WEST COAST DIVING

Mondays dive
Diving at the end of the rainbow. No crock of gold at the end of this one only sand and seaweed, come to think about it no scallops either....?
Well, the fact is that Folklore says that at the end of every rainbow sits a leprechaun, hammering on a shoe, who will reveal the whereabouts of his crock of gold. Leprechauns, rainbows and pots of gold! ...

 Late afternoon rain storms

Just as well, then, that it's only Folklore- otherwise the little green pint-sized goblin at the end of this rainbow would have found himself in thirty meters of water breathing through his aqualung and looking for a fish for his tea.
















Sundays dive
Today we got into the swing of things, heading off to do a double dip
Great viz, great weather out on the west coast yesterday, even saw a sunfish sun bathing.

Great start to the week

KIT FOR SALE

The following items all in excellent condition

ICE HD 2012

4.2

4.7

5.3

PLATINUM RDM MAST 2012

400

430

85lts FANATIC FREEWAVE 2012

Contact me for details

Angerfish a la FEAR FACTOR

Monster fish are lurking in the abyss.

On July 23rd 2012 at 19.00pm I LAND ANOTHER MONSTER FISH!

A bottom-dwelling, brown-skinned, spiny-toothed devil that boasts membership in the horrifying family of nasty critters called Anglerfish. I had to push boundaries and step ‘outside the box’ to take this thing on in its own environment. 

32,lbs Devil
This thing is Fiesty!

Seriously, look at this thing. Oh my, that is one nasty looking fish!

So the Anglerfish won't be collecting £20 for second place in any beauty contests, but damn if it isn't a fine eating fish. The filleted tail of Anglerfish is commonly called "poor man's lobster," owing to resemblance in taste and texture with lobster tail.  However, to call it "poor man's" anything these days is a bit of a no no, as Anglerfish has fought off its longstanding "trash fish" description and joined the ranks of overpriced and generally over fished seafood.
One quick tip for Anglerfish, have a very sharp knife handy. The fillets have a silver skin on one side that you'll have to slice off. It's a real slippery bugger of a membrane, so the better your edge, the easier your task.

The Ugly Ass Anglerfish.
It's was quite a large fish,
 and kind of mean too.
And of course,
 it was well pissed off

Tenerife Surf trip

View from Montana Roja

Warm and windy, no rain, what more ...... could you ask? I suppose I could whine about how flat and windless and damp it is at home. Better not.

Bottom Turn Fin Burner



Sunny Delight

I've got my eye on you

Offshore

Birds Eye View

Windswept

Looking South from the hotel
Montana Roja Tenerife

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about how it feels to blast across the water, fly through the air, or spin around in circles on my wave kit. So to help spread the stoke (and further give in to my addiction) a few of the boys and myself headed down south to Tenerife and hit the high wind area of El Medano (thanks Jen!). We arrived right after the famous Calima,and with that behind us the wind started blowing non stop.  Perfect timing.

Windy forecast. Check. Warm weather.  Check.  Hand full of friends.  Check.  Sounds like a typical surf trip.  Well that's how it started off.  The four hour flight down was ok (it was Easy Jet after all) and we were out the airport, checked into the hotel and out on the water within the hour.  I dived into my wetsuit and grabbed an RRD 75lts quad out the rack at the OTC Centre and paired it up with a 4.2 Goya guru. After four hours of slipping, sliding, jumping and looping it was time to get a beer, head back to the hotel and unpack.

Going for the back loop
on the
 83lts RRD Quad

The forecast for the rest of the week looked very good. Windy every day.  Been out on 3.7s and 4.2s most days with one day on a 5.0. The succeeding week consisted of a relatively regular routine. We would get up, go on the internet and have breakfast whilst waiting for the wind to pick up. Hit the coffee and split. Warzone out there. Windsurf the Harbour wall at low tide for a bit of down the line in the morning, come in for lunch and a beer. Then head back out onto the water for a few more hours sailing the beach. This normally involved smashing ourselves in a jump fest and resulting in numerous bruises, scratches, and pulled muscles.  Trips like this really make you realise what an awesome sport windsurfing is but unfortunately it all has to come to an end    

We're home from our surfing trip. I can't say I'm happy to be back to this grim weather after sailing in 30 degrees so here's a few pics to cheer us up! 

 Busting out some big air in 40 Knts down wind of the OTC.

 

I should push myself on jumps like these and go for a forward, but I haven't grown a set of balls big enough. 

.  

 Shore break

Lining up an outside section

Rider: Phil.

Location: El Medano.

Photos: Bartek Jankowski.

Wind Stength: 25-40.

Surf / Sea State: Waves / Big lumpy swells.

Air Temperature: Good.

Sea: Temperature: warm.

Weather: Sunny.

Phrase of the day: I should of changed down. 

Beach Bums
View from the balcony