Posts tagged: Travel

Beej and I have been growing some nasty facial hair, here’s mine before the trim. I just had to take it off as every time I walked into a shop and spoke to a member of the public I started smirking!

Our route from just south of Carmel to Pismo today took us on a massive diversion as Highway 1 was closed just south of Gorda (we presume due to rockslides). We got behind the wheel at 9.30 and rocked up in Pismo at about 4pm, pretty much solid driving all the way, and some pretty intense mountain roads and vertical drops along the way!

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Last night we drove south from Santa Cruz to just past Carmel-By-The-Sea to the top end of Big Sur. This was our roadside view from the RV! California dreaming!

Rose and I will be heading off to Brazil next month (February 2009) to escape the cold and dark English winter and trade it in for some Brazilian sunshine.

I last went to Brazil (Rio and Salvador) back in April 2007 for 2 months. I had a great time and it definitely whet my appetite to return. This time around I am not visiting a girlfriend, I am taking one with me, which puts a different perspective on the whole thing as we will be going together and returning together (hopefully).

Our plans aren’t finalised yet, but we are thinking of travelling for about 5 weeks. Our first port of call will be Sao Paulo where we will meet Rosana’s family and friends. We will most likely catch some of the carnaval, which I am told I will either love or hate. From there on in we will be visiting Caraguatatuba which is on the Sao Paulo coast, north of the city where Rosana’s family have an apartment. I am then hoping we will be able to cruise up and down the coast to see the sights, take some photos and of course do as much surfing as possible.

I am hoping also to return to Rio and fill in the gaps from last time (I hardly saw any sights as I was in the water everyday). Other places on the hit list include:

• Maresias
• Islabella
• Ubatuba
• Isla Grande
• Paraty
• Itamambuca

Watch this space for more news!

As with every passing year I try to push the limits of my surfing that little bit further, both in terms of frequency and location, but also in terms of conditions: size and temperature of the water. 2008 was no different. So on a cold winters day back in mid December when the charts were showing a solid 10-15ft swell (it wasn’t actually that big) I made the call to The Dog and we decided to make the trip down to Newquay for a few days of cold water action.

The latest in the year that I have surfed in the UK is 6 December at East Runton back in 2007. This year we managed to push that date back to 13 December (only a week’s difference, but later all the same).

For the past few years, when it has got cold I have been doubling up the wetsuits wearing the 2/2 shortie underneath the 3/2 Rip Curl Classic with a few rash vests, plus Xcel 5mm boots and gloves and an O’Neill surf cap (yes they make you look like a knob, but keep you warm). This year I surfed the first day doubled-up, but the next morning I thought it was time to upgrade and get serious. Richie and I headed down to North Shore surf shop and I tried on various wetsuits. I particularly liked the Alder ones: they were in the sale, but also good quality materials. I tried on the Evo 5/4/3, but found the new top entry style too much of a stress to get in and out of, so I opted for the 5/4/3 Plasma Storm. This wetsuit is a cracker, with glide skin lining, liquid seems, super stretchy neoprene and a nice batwing enclosure to stop flushes.

Immediately after buying it, we headed out into the surf. I was toasty, minimal flushes, more flexibility and more time in the water, happy days!

I was also lucky this Christmas to receive an Xcel 2mm hooded polypro rash vest. I haven’t tried this bit of kit out yet, but I am already getting a solid pre-stoke on about our next cold water trip (penned in for sometime in January) as I know I am going to be even warmer (5/4/3 + 2mm hooded rashie is a sure fire recipe for toastyness). Throw in the Rip Curl tidemaster watch and I am set.

All I can say is thanks Santa (Rosana) for treating me well this Christmas :)

After a week’s worth of debating over whether we could handle the cold, and carefully watching the charts, Deano and I decided we’d make the trip up to Norfolk for what will probably be the last surf of the year.

We set the alarm for 6am and got the quiver ready and then packed up the car and hit the road for East Runton. We were treated to an amazing sunrise, which the photos don’t really do justice to, but anyway. We reached Runton about 9.15 and we treated with a brisk offshore breeze and an air temperature of about 4 degrees. Yep, we were venturing into new territory, the coldest surf of our lives.

Runton had quite a bit of form to it today, but due to the high tide being at 5.30am, and it not getting light until 7.30, we reached the beach at mid-tide, so the waves probably had dropped off a little. As the tide went out, the swell would drop off again.

We suited up, me wearing a rash vest, a 2/2, a 3/2, gloves and booties, Deano in his 5/3 and booties (but no gloves). There were a few other guys around, all fully suited with hoods, gloves and booties. I am not that keen on a hood, as 1. they look a bit gay and 2. they impair your peripheral vision, so we went in without them. Mistake! After getting a few on the head, the pain from the cold was so intense that you felt as if you brain was actually aching, this is probably a little dangerous, but whatever.

We surfed for about an hour, then Deano had to get out due to the fact that his hands were completely numb (they must have been numb when he entered the water, so god knows how they felt after). I proceeded to get a few waves on the 6’4 and then a couple of nice ones on the 8’2.

Afterwards we cruised up to Cromer and had a little fish and chips to stoke up the boiler and then made the drive back to Essex. All in all a cold but rewarding morning.

Are we mad, I’d like to think so. When you look at it, everyone else was probably tucked up in bed, all cozy and warm and relaxed on a Saturday morning. Us two, we left perfectly warm beds and then scraped the ice off my car, and then plunged our bodies into water that can give you hypothermia if you don’t have enough neoprene around your body!

As they say, to get the ultimate thrill you gotta pay the ultimate price! Come on…

It certainly has been a wet and windy past few weeks here in Blighty/Ireland. With record waves reaching in the region of 57ft (yep someone did have the balls to ride it – no not me), the UK/Ireland has been getting a battering.

Below are a few pictures that were taken by folks on the Magicseaweed website that illustrate just how serious the situation has been over the past few weeks.

This weekend looks to be another pumping weekend, although the wind might be a bit of a problem, so find a sheltered spot and get yourself some time in the green room! And who says Christmas can’t come early huh!

Photo source: Magicseaweed

There is a major low pressure storm coming in this weekend, unfortunately the winds look to be completely in the wrong direction, but the swell looks to be crazy, check the charts below for Newquay for example. If you can find shelter from the wind, then you should get some pretty large rides I would have thought!

Yep we came, we surfed and we conquered. Surfing in Fuerte’ was awesome, check out the pics on Flickr, there’s a little taster below for starters.

Yep we’ve got 2 hours left of work and we are off. Fuerte’ here we come, surf, sand, sun and well for the other two boys, maybe some action, but I am on best behaviour, all good!

Boas ondas!