Well - it looked do-able!

The trouble with long week-ends and new boards is that you feel that you've just got to get out there - regardless.

Pretty much every weekend since Christmas we've been getting a decent wave in on Sundays - the last couple of weekends though the weather has been pretty grim - verging on evil!! This weekend was no exception - howling winds and no immediate sign of a let up, apart from one tiny glimmer of hope - can't see how they can be quite so precise but the forecast sites were all predicting a massive drop in wind between 9am and 12.

We pitched up at the car park at Gwithian 8.45am with every thing just about looking do-able. The wind had dropped off, but not disappeared, the waves were sloppy waist high mush but Gavin's Southcoast surf check was dead flat - so for any chance of a wave this weekend it was here and now.
And that's how we convinced ourselves that we should brave the chill and get stuck in. Steve from Sunset Surf and a couple of his friends, Gavin and myself.



The paddle out was challenging - cross chopped confusion with a steadily stiffening onshore wind. The chop buried the nose of the board with every paddle stroke - stand back a bit and having too much rail in front caught the wind and spun the board around - it was that windy. Soon standing became a challenge. Wrong board I thought but from the frequent rinsings that Gavin was also getting I think that the Starboard was actually coping OK.

Picture above shows Gavin making it look a lot better than it actually was.

Steve paddled out on his Starboard (UB) I think. Like us he did not find it easy as the wind was picking up by the minute, the odd few short waves that came our way just 20 minutes previously were now impossible to repeat - retreat was the only course of action available to us - and that was not easy, hanging on to the boards as we made our way up the beach made me realise the potential in Kite boarding!

Back at the vans it was a two man job to get the JL onto the roof racks due to the wind - a very quick improvisation with some straps and the Extremist slid in to my van at roof level - bonus .




We decided to retire to Sunset for coffee and a chat - there have been better surf days but it was good to get out albeit briefly. We took the opportunity to check out and compare the range of Starboards available to rent out at Sunset Surf . They have Mr Easy's / Ultimate Blend's and a 9'8" Extremist all in the full deck Tufskin versions. There's going to be a lot of happy trippers on the beach this summer.

From Left to Right Ultimate Blend / Mr Easy's / and the 9'8" Extremist