Funautical: July 2012

Thursday, July 26, 2012

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

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

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

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!