[Obi-Wan is lost...]

She is fucking high maintenence, but a massive improvement on the last loon...

  I'm guessing she doesn't read this forum. Or you hope she doesn't.

[Idol eyes]

Which one...

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

The current.

[Idol eyes]

No, but by the uncannyest of coincidence, her brother claimed the British title today!!! in 7ft clean Fistral surf!!!
Funny how that all happened inbetween posts!
Hope he has not read this.... Nice one Ben.

[SA Chris]

Was Gathering of the Clans at Fraserburgh on Saturday afternoon, so I made the most of a deserted Banff. 3-4 foot lean peeling waves, ok water temp, light offshore breeze and even the occasional burst of sunshine. Nice lulls between sets and finally coming to terms with how great and responsive the Fish is. A few goatboaters on the point, but it looked pretty gutless, so had the peak on the beach to myself. Life is good.

[Falling Down]

Got back from a week in Ireland on Saturday night.  We surfed Easkey rights and lefts Saturday through Monday last week and had great conditions.  Head high to head and a half groundswell with glassy or light offshores.  I think we had 8 sessions over those three days and I was surfing well from the get go so it was a great weekend.

Tuesday was small and we were tired so headed over to the Belmullet to look for the resident Snowy Owl that we searched in vain for last year.  This time we got lucky and had the pleasure of watching the owl for an hour through my mates telescope and our bins.  On the way back we sampled the Victorian seaweed baths in Inniscrome to ease our weary bodies - an experience well worth the 20 Euros if you are ever in the area.

Wednesday brought another small day due to the amount of SW in the swell so it wasn't wrapping into Sligo so we headed south to Co Clare.  A three hour drive deposited us at Doolin Point to see Crab Island breaking at double overhead but we were too late to paddle out and the tide was pushing up onto the rocks.  Lahinch was too high and jam packed with kooks dropping in on each other so we cracked open some tinnies and fished off the pier.  Unfortunately we woke up to screaming southwesterlies and driving rain on Thursday morning.  Debating the options for the next few days, the shipping forecast sealed it for us and we headed back to Easkey.  There's something about Clare that's a bit oppressive and we felt our mood lift as we headed back North. Despite trading on its reputation as a surf town there are very few places to wild camp or pitch up a van and its all a bit too touristy.

When we hit the coast we knew we'd made the right decision, the swell had picked up and with a little more west, the lefts and rights were shoulder to head high and we had a great session on the right, not leaving the water until after dark.  The remaining two days were the same and we surfed, ate, slept, read, fished and watched birds.

As always with a weeks surf trip there are highs and lows:

Highs:

I was surfing well, probably better than ever - got some great waves.  Made a couple of barrels & really got my backhand surfing down with all those sessions on the right.  Had one particular session on the left when it had some size (8-10ft faces, maybe bigger) with only two of us out and got three or four set waves.

The company; Jason and Dave were great travelling companions.  We shared the cooking, driving, washing up 'n stuff and had no disagreements.

The weather and the scenery - there's so much more to surfing than the act of riding a wave.

The Snowy Owl in the wild.  One of only handful in the British Isles - that was a privilege.

The Guiness.

Lows:

The 'kookocracy' _{TM Dave Parmenter} seems to be on the increase.  I don't mean beginners but the surfers who have achieved some level of basic competence but behave badly or with some god-given sense of entitlement: paddling straight back to the peak after a wave; sitting too deep and paddling for unmakeable waves when someone else is in a better position; a lack of generosity; bailing boards instead of duckdiving... blah.

County Clare - the weather and the height restriction bars on all the car parks.

[SA Chris]

Kookocracy. A great word. Would have wadded you for it if it was yours. Interesting point you make though. Glad you had a good trip. Did you stop to check out Cliffs of Moher or Ailladie? We thought Lahinch town was OK when we were there (it was May though), but never surfed Lahinch itself, surfed Spanish Point and Doonbeag (I think? behind a Golfcourse) instead.

You up this way at all? Looks like it may be good later in week.

[Idol eyes]

Whats it like 2day, land at Scotia at around 3pm....

[SA Chris]

Flatter than a flounder's cock. Nothing forecast until later in week.

[Nibile]

when i hear people from more wave-blessed countries than italy say it's flat, i always ask myself: will it be really flat even for my standards?
will it be so flat that i wouldn't paddle out with my 9'4"?

[Idol eyes]

9.4
you know the score..

[Falling Down]

when i hear people from more wave-blessed countries than italy say it's flat, i always ask myself: will it be really flat even for my standards?
will it be so flat that i wouldn't paddle out with my 9'4"?

Yep - The East Coast and (although more rarely) the West do indeed go proper flat - flatter than witches tits and flounder cocks. The only place I've been where 'flat' still meant rideable waves was Hawaii when it was 'flat' for three days but I still had better waves than many sessions in the UK.

[SA Chris]

Nibs, I can post you some links to the webcams if you want. I have seen Aberdeen without barely a ripple breaking on the beach, for a week or so continuously, in midsummer.

[SA Chris]

Just been reading the article in the new Surfer's Path about new materials for boards.

How cool do the Danny Hess "wood" boards look?

[SA Chris]

Well last night felt like the last gasp of summer. A small fresh southerly swell arrived and the beach was a free for all before it got dark. Got half a dozen decent rides in, as well as ploughing into someone who moved past in front of me just as I was taking off. At least my board was undamaged. Clocks change on the weekend, depressing. Will have to start doing lunchtime sessions now.

[curly ben]

If you chaps had december and jan off- where would you be surfing? Thinking of costa rica or maybe indo out of season. beginner/intermediate surfer been to fuerte, lanza lookin for somethin more exotic and to get some consistant waves as would be keen to improve. an ideas??

[SA Chris]

I'm probably not the best person to recommend exotic locations, but Morocco or Portugal could be good? Depends how much cash you have and if you will have transport or not.

[Falling Down]

Yesterdays Observer Sport Monthly ran a lengthy and previously unpublished interview with Bunker Spreckels by CR Stecyk III from the 70's.

Spreckels was a mysterious and larger than life character, the son of a wealthy industrialist who subsequently became the son of Clark Gable after his father died and mother married again.  He inherited $50m when he was 18 and dropped out of his intended career path to become a surfer.  Unusually for a Haole, he was welcomed with open arms in Hawaii as his father had defended the last 'King' of Oahu and was inducted in various secret rites by the Kahunas.  He pushed the boundaries of surfing in the 70's, experimenting with short boards and lots of hallucinogens often at the same time.  He died in 1977 - drugs 'n stuff.....

Worth reading if you can get your hands on a copy.  I had read a story about Spreckels in an old Surfers Journal but this was very interesting.

[Falling Down]

If you chaps had december and jan off- where would you be surfing?

Hawaii... Seriously, if I had December and January off work I'd be there like a shot.

Costa Rica and Mexico would probably be a good choice.. lots of variety but I've not been myself.

[SA Chris]

Yesterdays Observer Sport Monthly ran a lengthy and previously unpublished interview with Bunker Spreckels by CR Stecyk III from the 70's.

Anyone know if Observer ever put these things online? Alternatively, FD can you get it to me sometime?

[Falling Down]

Yesterdays Observer Sport Monthly ran a lengthy and previously unpublished interview with Bunker Spreckels by CR Stecyk III from the 70's.

Anyone know if Observer ever put these things online? Alternatively, FD can you get it to me sometime?

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,2198124,00.html#article_continue

[curly ben]

that interview is priceless

[Somebody's Fool]

I read that the other day.  Weirdly, he was born in America in 1949 and called Adolph.  Bet there weren't many others in his kindergarten class.

[Idol eyes]

Yo! been away,,,, just hit Bore, nr Stavanger, Norway,,, Very good, Very cold, Very hospitable,,,  Head high and off shore,,, Sunday... Will comunicate details later, peace and love..

[SA Chris]

When are you back in Abn? looks like something is brewing.......