Part Two

Santa Theresa and Mal Pais sort of blend into one township along the coastal road pretty much ending at the little fishing village.

The area attracts a much younger set, pretty much all surfers, and although I always feel 18 well maybe 21 in my head, I felt very old and out of place down here. Strange. Not at all like Nosara that has - lets say - a more mature demographic. Shane - our eldest - suggested that perhaps the reason that I felt more comfortable here was because it smelt of warm, stale urine, embrocation and the food was pure`ed. (Not true! He actually asked me if I had found out what was the cause of the lingering smell of salmon. Incotinence and senility being just two of his metaphors for me riding a stand up paddle board.

Our intention was to visit the nature reserve at the tip of the Nicoya however some stomach bug that we had brought with us from the UK persuaded us otherwise. Always find that if your going to be ill you are better off in familiar surroundings.

The surf at Santa Theresa was quite punchy, we watched the local young rippers tear up the shore dump at high tide. I'm always amazed how these kids (I swear you see the same ones at breaks all around the world!!) seem to be able to paddle in - bust out numerous turns, floaters and airs all in a wave that pretty much breaks on the head of the beach.


We got up fairly early and were on the road by 8:30, not without some trepidation, by all accounts the drive back was going to be much the same as the one in, and we had both lost sleep over the prospect of making a return visit through some of the river crossings - I didn't think that the RAV4 sump could take much more amateur modification and the car's soundtrack was definatly playing a different tune than when we collected it!

In fact once we rose up out of Santa Theresa the roads were excellent. The scenery was green and lush and we made good time back completing our circuit of the Nicoya peninsula on the inland predominantely tarmac coastal route. What took us 7 plus hours yesterday we completed in under 5 - without doubt the best way to Mal Pais.

Charmaines stomach had been iffy now for a few days so we decided to book a table and eat at the hotel rather than stray too far from safety. I had a half hearted attempt at fishing but ended up being tempted by the surf which although was a bit choppy (perfect by home standards) was good fun and ensured that I kept up my everyday average.



At dinner we got chatting to Darren and Anna who came from Norfolk. They seemed keen on getting into sup but I think that they were just being kind however after a decent meal, salad and spag bol, we made very loose arrangements for a dawn surf.
15-01-2009

Wind got up through the night but dropped enough at first light to snag a few decent waves but by 7 it was blowing me off the board and generally bloody hard work to paddle in. Darren had more sense and stayed tucked up until brekfast.


Double click on this pic and you can tell from the paddle how strong the wind was

We lazed by the pool with a beer and a book, got a small but fun wave in the late afternoon before having dinner at the hotel with Darren and Anna. 16-01-2009



Up early again but although the wind has dropped off so has the swell. My elbows are giving me a bit of grief now, hardly surpising as I have not missed a day since I've been here, might also be down to a change from a glass to an alloy paddle. We are falling into a nice holiday routine now totally chilled and ripping through the books which is something we don't do too much of at home.
17-01-2009

More of the same great little surf this morning followed up by a snooze in the hammock some assing around with the Uli in the pool with Ray, our host, Stefan a German guest Anna and Darren before another late afternoon surf.



We ate at the Guided Iguana - the hotel restaurant is closed on Sundays. Food was excellent Charmaine had beef fajitas I had Cerviche and a Dorado Casado (porn star name) - nice good price as well, 17,000 colones. Certainly eat there again. My cold has now broken out feeling pretty shite, poor Charmaine is still no better. 18-01-2009

Checked magicseaweed.com which said that a fresh swell was due 4 1\2' @ 13 seconds perfection in my book. Seaweed also reckoned that it would improve from 9am so I decided to have brekfast first and then go in. What a session! Chest high on the sets with loads of rideable inside waves. This place has to be paddle and longboard heaven.


There are plenty of peaks, always reeling and easily paddle inable.


I surfed left and rights across the beach and felt planted enough on the board to ride it backwards, albeit awkwardly almost on the nose (like being almost pregnant) I pulled of a couple of complete 360's, thats me not the board.

Still pretty good for me and I felt like I was surfing well. Totally stoked.

The Uli really is an amazing piece of kit, perhaps that should read amazingly simple once you get to grips with the soft rails and the need to drive it off the tail. It forces you (me) to rethink technique such as rail weighting and paddle strokes. Perhaps we get too wrapped up with some of the techy aspects of boards, who knows? All I can say is that the board is fun BIG FUN and I love it.

E.g. When holding station, waiting for a wave I found myself back paddling, keeping my back to the beach and edging in ever so slightly. This seemed to counteract the stiff offshore breezes and allowed me to rapidly turn the board into the catch letting me to drop in fairly late. Also by holding the paddle in my waveside hand I was able to pull the outside rail up with my free hand enabling me to stay in tighter and tucked into the steeper sections of the wave face. Soo stoked.
19-01-2009

Massive increase in wind overnight, quite scary actually I passed on the early surf but got in late afternoon and managed to drop into some biggish barrels but the huge offshore wind made life hard. I did manage to get whoopped into one barrel that was for me the wave of the trip. Big enough for it to go dark behind me, the look on the tico surfers' face paddling out was a picture. 20-01-2009

More to come

Costa Rica - Turtles – Iguanas – Armadillos and ULI’s

If you hate holiday snaps and ‘What I did on holiday’ stories best click on one of the links on the right any one of which will take you to Cyber SUP heaven – if like me you suffer from summer sunshine deficiency – grim economic news overload or you just like spending an indecent amount of your non surfing free time checking out what other people are doing and saying in Cyber SUP land - read on.

‘Drove the 4 hours to Heathrow and stayed at a local hotel overnight as we had an earlyish flight next morning. Caught the plane and had a decent flight courtesy of American airlines. Got into Miami mid afternoon, what a zoo that place is, total superheated bedlam. Made our way to the Sleep inn via free bus and settled down for the night fuelled with a Chinese meal from The Ping house.

Next morning we re-entered the hell that is Miami airport . Queues for checking in bags were at least a mile long. Allow yourself at least three hours here!

Take-Off was an hour and a bit late but at least the flight was short 2hours 50mins. We landed and cleared the terminal at Liberia by three pm just enough time to pick up the hire car and get to Nosara before dark . Fortunately we lucked out with the car and ended up with a Rav4 from Budget rental instead of the smaller Terios that I'd booked. Plenty of room, nice to drive and had a bit of poke. The two and a half hour drive was pretty uneventful,the roads were clear and fairly well marked. I'd forgotten the shock of leaving tarmac though as the last 40k or so was like driving through someone's' allotment.




Dusty, potholed, and fun verging on the scary. One tip - on the unpaved stuff 40mph is a lot smother than 20mph - until you hit a pothole (Costa Rican Definition of a pothole is something that you could bury a adult cow in)!! Also watch out for the random speed humps that guard the towns. These are first gear jobbys unless you want to loose your sump.

We made it to our hotel The Casa Romantica



just before dusk - unpacked got stuck into a beer or two from the honesty bar and sat down to a tomato, pesto, balsamic and mozzarella salad very nice and a fish fillety thing drenched in stuff with rice – nice very very nice.

I woke early and made my way the 200mts to the beach.



Surf was shoulder high on the sets and clean although the wind was fairly strong offshore. It took me a little while to settle down, i thought the Uli would be a doddle after the Naish but it wasn't easy. I pearled a few then caught a few then got into my slot as i dialled in. I nailed some nice cruisy rights and lefts before racing a section and getting a peach of an under the lip cover-up.



Wave of the day for me.

I chatted with a couple of guys whom seemed pretty freaked that the Uli was inflatable, one even swapped boards with me for a while. He had a fair bash at it but couldn't fully get to grips with the board, his Al Merrick was quite nice. We swapped back and i decided that i ought to get back. Charms was up and ready for breakfast ~ fruit and coffee nice

We spent the rest of the day walking the beach, all 6k of Playa Guiones, chilling by the pool and just dialling into Costa Rican time. evening Meal was at Dee's a basic, fast food Vietnamese place, followed by a couple of beers back at the hotel. Still on a UK body clock ~ going to crash right now. . . 12-01-2009

In the water for 6am totally glassy about 2' maybe a bit bigger on the sets. Fantastic, dialled in instantly and cruised my way through a memorable session. Got out at 7'30 for brekkie. It does not get much better than this. Some guy on the beach asked about the Uli ~ said that he had heard that someone had an inflatable on the break but had to check it out for himself. He introduced himself as Jeff and said that he had some decent pics of me surfing. That would be a first! He said to check them out at the Guilded Iguana later.

After breakfast we went for a drive to Playa Pelada, on into Nosara town and then on to Playa Ostional. Interesting drive, - three river crossings



all on what's in effect the road to Camborne.

14-01-2009 Up early before dawn small but fun wave and then back for a decent breakfast. Read for a bit in the hammocks and then decided to break the routine and get on the road to Mal Pais to check out the wild life parks.
What a trip! On the map we had about 60 km to drive even allowing for the roads here I thought 3-4 hours would shake it - yeah right. We were making good time down to Playa Samara, unpaved and potholed but no problem. Samara was bustling and quite pretty, set in a bay with a couple of islands outside. We nosed about for a while and then checked with the local police where we could get fuel. Fortunately there was a gas station just outside town. We topped up and armed with a new map we turned off the main road onto the coastal trail heading south.
The dirt roads always seem to be heading into someone's back garden before heading off on some twist or turn into dense forest. The edges of the track often appeared to be built up banks of soil on the verge of collapse. Bridges came out of the wooded gloom suddenly, always single vehicle, often with no curb or rail. Other traffic was scarce. We wound our way round the coast before turning inland and climbing up into the hills all 1st and 2nd gear stuff with the 4wd lock light permanantly 'on'!

Descending we caught tantalising glimpses of pristine looking beaches framed by luxurious forested hillside.




At one point we passed a guy on horse back towing a young lad on a bike up the snaking climb. It was miles further on before we found a small village. A normal day for them yet a bloody epic adventure for us.

We had now been driving for over 5 1/2 hours. As the roads levelled Real Estate signs became more apparent - civilisation at last. Wrong.. The next turn dropped us into the biggest river crossing yet, one that seemed to lead us around in a circle just to be faced with the same crossing having first driven up the bed of the same river. Madness. We retraced our path took a right 'that should have been wrong' and found a sign for 'Montezuma 21k' fantastic. We met a British couple in a Honda 4wd at the next junction. The track led into another crossing bonnet deep in places the exit was greasy steep and boulder strewn. The British guy had just got stuck in the river attempting it. Having hardly seen anyone on the road we were joined by a Spanish couple who were also en route to Mal Pais. With a bit of attitude the two 4 wd soft roaders made it through - just. Carlos got stuck spinning wheels on the bank. Eventually with a bit of manual labour we got him through and continued on only to be confronted with a similar crossing a few k down the track. We had now been driving 6 hours in 32’c heat – the aircon barely holding it’s own. After the river we climbed again before descending to the beach and heading on through Santa Theresa and finally on into Mal Pais. We checked into a beach side complex that was a bit run down – we didn’t care - had a beer and a cocktail at the bar before going into town for a sushi.’

Part two to follow if you can take it

ULI Lopez Model V Naish 9'3"

Separated at birth?

I guess it's not a secret any more - I have been sitting on this picture for a few months now dying to post it but couldn't. This new ULI is the Gerry Lopez inspired superlight ULI. Gerry Lopez is described on Wikipedia thus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerry_Lopez

"He was widely recognized as the best tuberider in the world, and won the prestigious Pipeline Masters competition in 1972 and 1973. The Pipeline Masters, recognized as the most prestigious professional surfing contest in the world, has been named the Gerry Lopez Pipeline Masters for decades in recognition and respect of his deep and hallowed association with this legendary wave."

That's going to be one hell of a surf board - In the pic above I have compared it in plan to my Naish - I just gotta get one. The Naish is nuts - the ULI Steamroller 10' is so cool it's sublime but a ripper it isn't - it will glide and cruise with the best of them but when you want to really let your hair down (spot the bald patch?) it could do with some more rocker and a little less nose.

Still lets me do this




and cruise into no end of these



as always - click the pics to enlarge

But the Lopez is calling and I love the grey deck grip - prefer it to the shark version.

Costa Rican ULI Odyssey update 2

Phew just got back tonight after 24 hours travelling - made a crappy attempt to keep the blog up from my phone but the intermittent internet connection and my fat fingers and touch screen made it next to impossible. I will do a bit of a write up when my head stops spinning in the mean time some shots of me enjoying some of the mellow Nosara waves - more to follow.



Probably the closest I'll ever get to a nose ride.








I like this shot - I'm not sure who is scared the most, me or the girl paddling out!




Exit Stage Left after day one - deck grip almost intact

Costa Rican update

Just a quickie as I'm trying torf was shoulder high on the sets and clean although the wind was fairly strong offshore. It took me a little while to settle down, i thought the Uli would be a doddle after the Naish but it wasn't easy. I pearled a few then caught a few then got into my slot as i dialled in. I nailled some nice cruisy rights and lefts before racing a section and getting a peach of an under the lip coverup. Wave of the day for me.
I chatted with a couple of guys whom seemed pretty freaked that the Uli was inflatable, one even swapped boards with me for a while. He had a fair bash at it but couldn't fully get to grips with the board, his Al Merrick was quite nice. We swapped back and i decided that i ought to get back. Charms was up and ready for brekfast ~ fruit and coffee nice
update the blog from my phone whilst sitting ina leather rocking chair on our cabina porch. i've lost everything a couple of times already so forgive the crappy posting. pictures may follow - oh yes holiday snap hell .

Whoever Where ever - Happy New Year

Happy New Year to you all - thought that I’d sneak in an early new year surf this morning but checked it out 1st thing and . . Too small, too windy and too bloody cold - I must be getting old - decided to start getting my kit together for our holiday - usual malarkey pull out the travel rods (fishing) service up the reels sort out my ULI just mooching about really.

One thing that I thought I would do is check out the traffic on the site - how many views - where you have all come from etc - makes fascinating viewing for instance from the start of the blog 25th of May 2008 there have been : -

3,148 Visits from
1,611 Absolute Unique Visitors who made
4,437 Page Views

You guys have come from



which breaks down as

United States 1,422
United Kingdom 1,046
France 201
Australia 86
Spain 62
Canada 50
Netherlands 47
Nepal 24 NEPAL?? Katmandu actually - unbelievable.
New Zealand 21
Ireland 18
Brazil 15
Sweden 15
Japan 13
Germany 11
Switzerland 8
South Korea 7
Finland 6
Portugal 6
United Arab Emirates 6
Puerto Rico 6
New Caledonia 5
Mexico 5
Italy 4
Singapore 3
Israel 3
South Africa 3
Indonesia 2
Taiwan 2
Russia 2
Belgium 2
Thailand 2
Greece 2
Austria 2
U.S. Virgin Islands 2
Norway 2
Denmark 2
India 2
Hong Kong 2
Czech Republic 2
Reunion 2 Maldives 2
Argentina 2
Guadeloupe 1
Peru 1
Slovakia 1
British Virgin Islands 1
Barbados 1
China 1
Costa Rica 1
Jersey 1
Trinidad and Tobago 1
Hungary 1
Bahamas 1
Dominican Republic 1
Latvia 1
Saudi Arabia 1
Turkey 1
Venezuela 1


Even allowing for the fact that a lot of these visitors probably ended up here by accident I’m so gob smacked by the fact that 48.75 % of you felt that it was worth returning to the site, so chuffed with this thank you.

Happy New Year to you all - thanks for stopping by feel free to say hello. Catch up in 2009.

ULI Mania - fill your boots

Anybody who regularly reads this blog will know what a fan I am of the ULI boards. My biggest problem with them is actually keeping one available for myself - Steve from Sunset has just got back from touring New Zealand with my 10' Steamroller model and with a bit of luck should manage to get it to me in time for my holiday to Costa Rica - it's hard I know, but someone's got to go there.

Offshore prevailing winds and stunning beaches 3 minutes from my bed. OOOhhh!! Warm warm water - boardshorts - cold Imperial beer eating fish every day - stop me if I'm boring you. Message me if you want the lowdown on how to organise a seriously cost effective, megaa chilled family friendly holiday that'll blow your mind. Like waking up with erupting volcano's in your front room window.

I digress - back to the ULI - for those that have not trawled through the dross of my last 12 months worth of blog posts - well, it's the ULI that made me start this thing.

ULI - Ultra Light Inflatable (get it) surf and paddle boards. No Seriously. These boards are the absolute mutt's nutts. Basically you ride it - hard, you can't hurt it. Then you pull out the plug, roll it up - put it, the pump and the paddle (3pc) in a kit bag check it as normal luggage, jump on the nearest plane and chuckle to youself everytime you see a post about 'how to travel with a SUP' or how I got raped with an excess baggage charge by the world's freindliest airline.

ULI's are Ace and if you are really quick you should be able to snag yourself a bargain as they are having a bit of a clearout at the moment -

www.uliboards.com

the saving in $ should cover the import duties to the UK, that coupled with the reduced vat at the moment (applies on the carriage as well remember) now is a good time for some inflatable loving.

If you need to see one I'm seriously thinking of renting mine out in the new year - I have heard that there is a new model on the way and I have to subsidise it somehow.

Which brings me to this - anyone interested in a Pope Bisect Carbon Stealth Wayne Rich 9'0 longboard number 007 ??? great travel board - real performance shape cost over £1200 into the UK and judging from the recent forum posts we may not see too many more of them - damn shame as the two pc boards are bloody good - the carbon is out of this world. £750 delivered into the UK - mail me for details and pics.

Advert over

The Devil is in the Detail

Sometimes I think that I can spend too much time thinking and not enough surfing - then every now and again I'll have a conversation with someone that 'gels' all the thinking and possibly takes the surfing on a stage or two.

For instance - quite often I think that the best thing to come out of these blogs is not the post itself but the conversations resulting from, and reactions of others to the post - moral ALWAYS read the comments - and if possible leave one - even if it's to say 'wrap up'

I'm guessing that most people are like me - they want a 'magic bullet' to take their surfing on to the next level - perhaps it's a board or a fin combination or a paddle - but I want that shortcut - although honestly deep down I don't think that there is one overall quick fix.

It is fun trying different boards but is one better than another or is it just different? Everytime I ride Gavin's 9'0" Starboard Extremist I think 'this board is so much fun' but then I bog the nose down. That's my failing not the boards' - a decent surfer would make the board sing - probebly any board. But Im just mediocre and happy to search for the fix in the tools rather than the technique.

My BK Pro amazed me the first time I dropped into a late, steepish wave it instantly blew away all the trouble that I had keeping upright on it. It made it worth persevering with - pretty much my whole SUP story - dozens of challenges coupled with heaps of rewards always coming at a pace that would maintain my interest. Which brings me to the Naish, and a conversation from the comments section of the blog with Dwight from ncpaddlesurfer - he recently revisited a PSH 9'3" and it didn't have the same effect on him as the first time he rode it - it's still a good board but there are other things that he now looks for or prefers in a board - and hopefully soon he will find it in his new C4 Sub Vector.

Can't wait for the results.

All I want for Christmas is . . . .

Pretty much what I got from Charmaine this afternoon really - we finished about 1'ish closed the shop and she said 'If the surf's that good you might as well make the most of it' - it was so we did.

Shane and myself high tailed it over to Gwithian to catch the high tide. 10mph bang offshore and 7' at 14 seconds - thank you Santa.

I was a bit nervous as there were loads of people out pretty much from Godrevy to the Rivermouth - but there were gaps and the sets cleaned up a few more spaces as they came rolling through - still new board and I was apprehensive that I was going to look like a bit of a dick. Paddle out was uugh bracing but not as hard as I feared Shane, John and myself soon found our slot and I got stuck in fairly quickly - nerves washed away with the rinsing inside. Shane and John were both riding shortboards under 6' I was on my new Naish.

I'm always amazed how my opinion of a session can change with a single wave or event - I was having plenty of decent rides and not falling off too much between waves but still feeling a bit clumsy on the board. I had fitted a larger centre fin and this seemed to slow up the tipping slightly and after an hour or so started to feel a bit easier on the board. Then the session just seemed to switch with a single wave.

A peachy head high left found me in just the right place to stroke in and ride it cleanly backside just in front of the curl - might not sound much but I was stoked, in my book that was a good one. Paddling back out I was way left of the others in a big empty gap pretty much as soon as I got out a set started to show I paddled to where I thought I would be best positioned and waited for the first couple to roll through before taking a half decent right. This was my wave of the day lots of power hard bottom turn off the top and back to start all over again and again and again to pop out at the end and paddle back to the lineup. Please did anyone see that - John did YES - Shane had got out. I had gone from way left to way right for me absolute perfection. A succession of really nice waves seemed to follow although none as good as that - well worth it though.

I got out tired and content - I really like this board - a lot!

So thats it hope to get a few more in over the holidays - catch up soon.

Many thanks to all who have passed through here - have a fantastic peaceful and wave drenched Christmas all the best Steve.

Naish 9'3" - Quick Update

Just finished shivering on Sunday when Gav's text came through - 'Come on milky eyes - give us a go on your board' well something like that. It was nearly 2pm and with only a couple of hours of light left we met in the car park at Perranuthnoe. Still pretty busy but lot's of people getting out.

The wave was clean, waist to chest high on the sets and quite punchy with the pushing tide. It always seems to be steeper faces on the south coast. It was also a damn site warmer than my morning session.

I wasn't putting on much of a show doing my best to avoid the surfer's - I'm never comfortable in crowds. I had a couple of half decent waves but as the two main peaks were packed I stayed in the dead zone in the centre where the rides were way too short to make anything much of them. Still board time is board time.

Gavin had a quick bash - I think he was quite impressed it certainly ruined the next few waves for him when he got his Starboard back.

Another couple of guys came in on their C4's and I followed them into the quiet corner where we had a few waves to ourselves. Both looked pretty smooth on their 10'6's getting in nice and early - while I struggled. It was one fellows 2nd session - respect.

I made a little mental note for next time - bigger centre fin while I get used to it - it seems to have worked for me in the past by just slowing the board up to the tipping point a little bit. It is manageable and easier than I first found my BK pro however conditions were good and I'd like to think that I've improved a bit (as far as balance is concerned anyway).

So that's it - hopefully get in next Sunday then into the holidays and grab a few more sessions before packing the ULI up for Costa Rica. Now I wander if I can persuade Jim form Uli to lend me the new superlight surf model . . . . .

LOOSE AS A GOOSE

I was going in today regardless - nothing was going to stop me - I even had a single beer last night so that I wouldn't lie in - The forecast was verging on the EPIC for both coast's - wind was offshore on the South so I had half a plan for Perranuthnoe first thing but thought that I would check out Gwithian first - closer and familiar. After all it was a special occaision, a sort of a coming of age. Today I would take out my new Naish 9'3" for the first time. I always want the first time to be special you know the type of thing -

'I paddled easily out through the oncoming breakers that sparkled in the early morning sun, - held my station under clear blue skies for a moment before turning effortlessly on my back foot and dropped into clean 4' face weighting my back foot and inside edge I started cranking a . . . .blah blah'

Nope - didn't happen like that - I drove to Gwithian - huge, howling onshore mess. Made my way across to Marazion. Clean calf to knee high but held back by the strong offshore wind and fairly full tide.

Quick blat up to 'uthno, still early not yet 8.45 and bugger me, about a million cars in the car park - what's going on? This was always my quiet south coast bale out spot. There was no way that I was going to paddle out on an unknown quantity amongst that crowd.

Carbis bay - not a chance - even the quiet corner wasn't happening.

'This isn't how it's meant to be'

Last chance trip back to Marazion hoping that the tide had dropped back - it had - a bit, some sets were pushing through at waist high - just!. So in I goes.

THE BOARD

The most noticeable thing for me about this board is the lack of it.

It's very light -

It's very short -

It feels far shorter than Gav's 9' Starboard - ok there is only three inches difference in length between these boards BUT the nose is so pulled in if you told me that the Naish was 8'6 and I didn't know better - I'd believe you -

It's not a Short Longboard Sup -

For me it's a Long Shortboard.

Jumping on a board for the first time to paddle out you can usually tell if things are going to work out. My initial thoughts were if I can paddle it - I can surf it.

I could paddle it - phew - in fact it floated me easily don't get me wrong it's not rock solid stable and my feet had to be exactly on the sweet spot, that I found to be where my heels were level with the rear of the super deep hand hold.

The yaw effect appeared to be similar but no worse than the Starboard - I'm probebly going to make lots of comparisons to the little Starboard as that's the shortest board that I have ridden however as I said above although the Naish might be longer tip to tail it actually feels dinky.

Conditions were not good and although I managed to paddle out, it took a few minutes for me to reset my calibration boundaries - that's just a poncy way of saying that I fell off a couple of times. . .

Settling down a bit I held my station under clear blue skies for a moment before turning effortlessly paddling . . . aahh nope that was bull.

I waddled my way across the path of an oncoming waist high set wave - the wind was strong cross off and bitingly cold - I paddled hard, pulled myself off balance and fell. By now it was also raining heavily with an accompanying squall. Arse.

I paddled out and around again - the peaks looked pretty good but the wind was taking me a bit too far out - there was no way that this board was going to 'glide' in from way out. Paddling had to be 'easy not wild' small, shallow, rapid strokes were much more fruitful than deep stabbing ones again suggesting that the board was more responsive to paddle accelaration than speed - could mean I have to get a smaller blade.

I circled around and across once more and dropped in late to another waist high wave and WHHOOOA off we went, no fuss no drama - this baby goes late - way late. The wave was a little right and I scooted up and down a bit before kicking out and falling off - that was fun - this board surfs.

Paddling back out I tried to ignore the ice cream head that I'd just incurred and concentrate on what what happening - The Naish cut it's way through the oncoming wash almost surgically - that was the pronounced nose rocker - that's what I'd longed for in my Starboard.

Another wave - and again the incredibly intuitive feel that I'd first experienced with my BK PRO but without the physical effort required to crank it round, in fact the Naish seems to turn from the hips - my hips. I tested this out by standing parallel footed on the board and 'punched' my hips side to side the nose turns - noticebly. I think that this is the short length accentuated by the incredible rocker running from nose to tail. The 9' Starboard has some this 'skatey' feel, my old 9'8" Starboard didn't - nor does my BK Pro - it must be a length related thing - is this what some call 'swing weight'?

The BK is very loose and fantastic to surf but hard for me to maintain station when not under way due to it's 27" width, I also find it harder to turn either of my 10' C4's within their own length. Something that both Starboards are brilliant at, might be a bit too early to call but the Naish seems to achieve this through traditional, good old fashion rocker and it's short waterline.

By this time I was in pain, the air temp was 5'c when I went in, the wind chill must have been loads less. I hate wearing hoods so I don't - no gloves either which is why my hands were now technicolour red and purple - my core was fine (matter of opinion) and I just knew that I'd gone in a man and would get out a girl.

Just one more wave - I paddled around again trying to maintain my position as the squalls came and went - there was no one else in - the next peak reared up and again I forced myself to go late and again off we went this time a seemingly endless left (I like lefts) that I managed to milk hoping that there was someone, somewhere watching - decent rides were that few and far between and I needed to regain some honour. The board held it's line hard on the wave face allowing me to get further forward, I know it's not a nose rider but with the stiff breeze I needed to keep the weight forward in order to maintain speed and not stall. Nice wave!

Just one more wave - I was enjoying this and my calibration reset was almost complete - I hadn't randomley fell off for ten minutes - this board is going to rock - I can do it - I like it - I can't feel anything in my extremities but I want to go out again - just as soon as my frostbite heals up . . . Dont laugh - as I'm writing this there are snowflakes the size of pidgeons falling out of the grey skies - snow - in Cornwall - that ain't right.

I caught my last wave - and following my mantra of 'get out on a good one' I hussled a decent little wave in to the shore.

To sum up - no epic bottom turns - no radical reo's (whatever they are) - but fun, especially given the conditions - and the board - it has all the elements that I want - I think!

The shorter length makes it easy to turn in front of and on a wave.
The rocker ditto - the rails - the nose the tail - and the looks - It is the prettiest board that I've ever seen and it's mine.

One thing that is obvious - it's going to make me a load of new freinds - my take off zone has just got closer to the beach . . :-)

I struggled with the wind carrying it back up the beach thinking - 'that session was too short to actually write anything' . . . .

I'm 5'10" - currently 199lbs - 14 stone 3lbs 90.5kg.

oops text from Gavin - Kids party over - do you fancy another bash? - I'm off . .

Naish 9'3" - Did I say Moist - I meant Drenched!!!

This post is going to ramble on a bit - there's gonna be lots of new Naish pic's with some 'What I did to my new Naish stuff' then - I'm going get deep. Blog deep. Let me know what you think 'cos I'm sort of revved. That's the effect a new board has - here goes.




Blogger.com list uploaded pics in the wrong bloody order - this one is me fitting some clear protective tape to my rails - it seems to have worked on the C4.



1" wide - normally used for cycle protection - quite thick.



That's nose!



That's nearly 7" of nose lift - almost more than Joan Rivers.



More pics of the clear tape.



That's the money shot



Nose - oh yeh!



Cute little fin - supplied - along with FCS side biters.



Original shape by Harold Iggy - Naish stats. Mine are

Tail 17" 1' off the tail
Nose 15" 1' off the nose
Weight 19lbs with all fins



I'd call that a keel - what the hell is that going to feel like?



Super sharp rails that seem to go on and on.



Check these pics out - it looks like a fat boy's shortboard.




















Look I'm really sorry if my last post got a bit out of control - you know filled with sexual metaphors - about a paddle board - But if these pics don't move you - you got no soul.

But Hell that's the beauty of blog's. I can say what I want - It's my ball.

I honestly feel that the majority of people that take the time to write these things do so because it's how they (we) see it. Does that make sense? I mean - you buy a magazine - you want to read a review - but you just can't help thinking that there may be a tad of a commercial bias in there somewhere.

Even with forum's quite often they are dominated / frequented / sponsored or moderated by people that may have a commercial interest. Nothing wrong with that but sometimes I'm too scared or too intimidated to say stuff on a forum because - I don't surf 20' waves - I dont build my own boards - I can't get air, I don't know Laird Hamilton or ride endless tubes - or paddle 25miles downwind, but you know something - I dont care - I have fun - I'm always learning and if you're happy reading this stuff, well - I'm happy to write it.

Not quite sure where that came from but basically just wanted to qualify where my opinion stood in the scheme of things - I'm a paddle board numpty - I've been at it a year or so NO MORE HONEST - made some progress and been in the fortunate position where I've been able to try out a few boards.

BUT now I'm scared - I always said that my BK Pro scared me - it does - I always think that I'm never going to be able to ride it -

BUT I always do -

I've had my best surfs on that board it's sharp - it should be - it's 27" wide - Christ that 8-9" less than my waist measurement!!

But it's also 10' long - I've ridden shorter and I like it -

But the boards are as wide as France and flat as a a baking tray.

Now I've got something that I've bought that has more rocker than Elvis, and I've told the whole world (that reads this blog) about it.

What if I hate it? -

What if it's shite? - Worse -

What if I'm not good enough??? I'm going to look like a Paddlesurf blogging Cock!

You know - I don't care - I'm just like you - no different - that's why you read this - that's why all these blogs are so damn relevant - I feed off of Dwight's blog - I follow Eric's beginners blog - I love Casso's reviews - oops havn't linked to him yet - because we dont have ads - it's just how we feel - it's how you feel - it's not that we are right (or wrong) it's just an opinion -

This ones mine.

New Naish 9'3" Wood deck SUP first Impressions

Fantastic - Rich pitched up tonight with my new Naish 9'3" - WOW - it's gorgeous - sort of proper full in a curvy, comfy, buxom kinda way - but you could tell that it's got nails that'll make you wince (or is that rails?) the sort of girl that you just know would do . . . . sorry - lost it for a minute there - miles away - anyway the board looks pretty good.

We had to rush off early tonight so I'll have to post the pics and the 'Tale of the Tape' tommorrow - but it's paddle board porn - - dirty dirty dirty seems a shame to put a grip on - better safe than sorry though.

Just a quick once over and my first thoughts are - It's got nose - lovely, pointy, pulled in (and up) nose, and rails that are so hard and long and sharp - and a keel - well I suppose it's a double concave through the hull at least from the waist to the tail and . . . did I say nose?

It's got a dinky little glass over wood centre fin with two side biters that I have not even had out of the packet yet. We were in a hurry!! There is a two piece white full length deck grip and twin leash plugs on the beautifully formed tail all wrapped up in a decent storage bag. The carrying handle is so deep it almost go's up to my elbow - well not quite. But what a piece of kit. I'm excited -



I can't wait.



I'm almost moist.



Gotta go - b. . .

SMALL BUT PERFECTLY FORMED

Staff Christmas do last night, started off easy but ended up having a bit of a session - the prospect of an early morning surf - the first for ages - was slipping away - fortunately the 'eye' of my hangover storm seemed to pass over at about 9am so I hauled off to Gwithian and met Gavin for a frosty, knee high perfect wave on a pushing tide.

We were both a bit rusty - not so much balance wise but I felt sort of clumsy on the board - my feet always seemed to be in the wrong place - too far forward, wrong side of the stringer sorry centre line just plain rubbish for the first half an hour or so but soon as the session went on we both started to pick up the game and got stuck into a few small but half decent swells that washed the hangover mugginess away.

We swapped boards part way through, Gavin's 9'0 Starboard felt like a skateboard after the 10' C4. But it was such a blast the C4 turns from the tail the Starboards turning point is directly under my feet seemingly at the mid point of the board. If the Naish mimics this feel but with more nose rocker I'm going to be in for a treat. Roll on Wednesday.

Swapping boards made me think about how far we have come and how good these boards are. Gavin rated the C4 over his Starboard - I did not want to get off the Starboard - what's going on? Perhaps we get to a point where there isn't better or worse - just different - just different enough to take us out of our comfort zone and give us something different to think about.

Also managed to pick up a secand hand Kialoa Shaka Pu'u paddle - that should turn up next week. The pu is a slightly smaller blade and full carbon - my fibre glass paddle has been fantastic but I've always hankered after a carbon never even used one - now we'll see.

Slow Time

Been 'Off It' a bit recently - I've always been a feast or famine sort of guy - France was a feast, great weather - warm water - endless waves and then back to - dark evenings and trying to get the Sunday morning thing going again. Sometimes real life just gets in the way - last Sunday was my first real chance to get a wave since I've been back and I jibbed out.Conditions were a bit shite to be honest but we surfed far worse and in hindsight I should have gone in and resumed play.

On the bright side my new Naish 9'3" is on it's way - should be a week or so which is great timing as Charmaine is getting me a big chunk of it for my birthday. That means she either loves me loads or just wants me out of the house more. Sort of win win really.

Here's a taster of the board -



Mmmmnn mmnnnn - I was all up for the 9'6" but having made real progress on my BK Pro this Autumn coupled with the times that I have ridden Gavin's 9'0 Starboard made me switch and opt for the smaller board.

- Plus Gavin's Naish 10'6 has a real nice carvy off the tail feel to it coupled with a classy quality look and feel.

- Plus I just did not fancy another fish - too many edges to chip.

I'm really looking forward to this - I know it's going to be skitty but judging from Dwights board comparison chart over at NC Paddlesurfer I should cope . . just . . . . I hope !!!

Here's the official Shpeel


'The smallest board in our line creates a new dimension in SUP. This innovative design gives you explosive turning and short board-like performance never before experienced in an SUP'.

Dimensions are

9'3" x 29 1/2" x 4 1/4"

Now I'm under no illusions that this is going to be an all round board - it's not, but so far I been amazed at how quickly my 'Capability Parameters' have been reset with SUP over the past year, especially with the BK. If the Naish gives up some of the 'slash' that the BK has I'm going to be a very happy bunny.

2000 miles of surf.

Picked up the Guys at Andru's place at 7.00pm and loaded the van before heading off for the ferry at Plymouth. First things first, get the sounds sorted - so we plugged in the first cd of the trip - Kings of Leon 'Only by the Night' this album is soooo good it has been played pretty much non stop in the shop for the last month or so. So good it was pretty much the only album played on the trip. Probably wont do much for the band's credibility when you consider that we had a combined age of 134!! Trust me if you like bass guitar this album rocks.


Onto the boat - buy the regulation 50grms of trip tobacco (don't smoke at home) - I know - it's wrong but it's more ritual than anything else. Get a few beers down and then sleep for most of the crossing. We drive off the boat at 8.00am into a fantastically sunny Breton morning and headed off to Penmarch.


At 11.00am we paddled out into a clean 'La Torche' breaking at chest high. Chest high but so punchy. Punchy enough that I get a cracking SUP rail 'kiss' on my left knee as I bale off the board in the face of oncoming wash. That'll teach me.


'Sheeet - that hurts' I struggled to remain balanced on my newly aquired C4 for the rest of the session and limped off up the beach an hour or so later on with my tail between my legs. Back at the van I didn't know wether to revisit my brekfast or the French squat loo's beside the La Torche creperie - I managed to pass on the first 'Just' but had no option other than to execute an interesting straight legged manouvere in order to deal with the second option.

The guys returned to the van and told me that another stand up had paddled out - he looked to be cranking it up as well. Having sunk a couple of Ibuprofen I began to feel a bit more human. It was 3pm - we assesed our options for the rest of the day - food no problem - campsite - argh!! nothing open locally so we decided on a last minute dash to Bretignolles where we knew that Les Dunes would be open - three and a half hours later we pulled into the site pitched the tent and sloped off to the local cafe' for food and beer.

Next morning we paddled out into a clean waist high beach break. Fuelled with croissants and numbed by Ibuprofen I had a whale of a time - more so than the guys who found the wave a bit lacking in 'punch'. In the distance was a guy riding a big red Gong - I saw him a couple of times but always from the other end of the beach - eventually I caught up with him for a quick chat as he was getting out - very quick my French needs huge improvement.

My C4 was proving to be a great choice for the trip - instantly at home on it, stable but still sharp enough to not wish that I was on the BK pro - well I know what I mean. I must try pushing the fin forward.

After an hour or so I swapped boards with Red who was riding my 8'6" mal. He climbed on the C4 and to be fair gave it a go - not quite up to catching a wave but he stayed on it and remained reasonably upright for ten minutes as well. I surprised myself on the little mal catching the first wave that I paddled for resulting in a perfect (for me), long walled up right pretty much to the beach - followed by a few more with a couple of nice lefts thrown in and I thought 'Hey - this is alright - shame I'm not on my BK!!'

Andru and myself got in again that evening - great little session with a stunning sunset as a backdrop. We got out when we could not see anymore.

Next morning we broke camp at 9.30 and hit the 'Peage' (toll routes) and rolled into Lafitenia by 4.00pm. Slight hassle with the pitch, having set up the tent we were asked to move as the ministry of tents or someone had restricted the number of pitches on the site. So we had to move and an hour later we were in the water at Bidart beach due to there being at least 20 surfers all over the right hand reef break. The beach was clean and a solid chest to head high. A bit close outey at times but plenty of shoulders to work with. As usual I paddled off the main bunch and settled down in my own 'no mans land' in the middle of the beach. To our far left we could see Guethary breaking in the distance, often ridden always head and a half plus.
Andru and Red standing guard over our soon to be moved pitch This was an interesting piece of kit perched on top of a BMW X5 - a roof top folding tent - looked just the ticket for weekend getaways solving the need to faff around with tents. Looks like they are available complete with board racks as well - Italian outfit I believe called Autohomes - you wouldn't want to fall out of bed though!!

We made plans to get up and surf Lafitenia at first light but the tide was too full and the wind had spun round a bit strengthening in the process - not to mention the copius amounts of cheap vin rouge that made the sleeping bags a better prospect. With the shift in the weather came rain - amazing how when we spend most of our time in the water a day of rain can change your mood when camping. Today we passed on the surf.

Next day first light and there were twenty people all over the reef like a bad rash - as the day went on this number climbed to over 40!!! The swell had jumped up as predicted to head and a half at least - the scene below us was mesmorising every wave saw up to five people paddle in - each person that caught the wave would then look left and pull off if there was anyone inside - there usually was.

Guys would often take off so deep inside they would surf out of the wash to 'claim' the wave. Bear in mind this was at least a head and a half and breaking over some pretty savage rocks that often sucked dry. We pussied out and passed. The last thing these guys needed was a fatboy on a 10' SUP sloshing around on the break. Shame though. Finally Red could not bear it any longer and paddled out. Andru and I sat wisely in our folding recliners and watched - as Red watched - wave after wave after wave pass him by, always someone deeper - always someone on the wave. NUTS.

We went back to Bidart beach where we got stuck into a powerful fast breaking wave that on more than a couple of occasions saw me almost end up on the stone groyne in the middle of the beach. My leg was still sore but what hurt more was a complete lack of bruise to back up my whinging.With the days rapidly running away we checked the surf forcasts and decided to pack up camp early Thursday morning and make the five hour run back to Les Dunes in order to chase the predictions and get an evening session in. It proved to be a good move. We rolled into camp at 4.pm and got stuck into a decent chest high session in bright perfect conditions aided by light offshores. We surfed until dark with the swell building all the while. Still no takers on the SUP's - heh ho you can lead a horse to water!!






Friday morning we got in early and surfed for hours in a perfect head high beach break - there were a few close outs but the beach seems to hold at least three decent peaks and you could always find a shoulder to work with. Fantastic. My shoulders were in bits by the time that my leash decided to part company with the swivel - I wasn't sorry - Red managed a solid four hours on his 6' Surftech fish.

Swapped the leash, had a late brekfast early lunch - got some evening provisions in - marvelled at the seafood counter in the local Supermarche' and steeled ourselves for the evening onslaught.

We pretty much had to force ourselves in that evening but what a session - the swell was forcast to build over the next couple of days and it had jumped up a notch through the afternoon. We got on it and soon got over our lethargy - Red reckoned this was one of his best ever sessions - endless decent waves - warm(ish) water - no crowds and another stunning sunset to cap it all off. We slept well that night.

Next morning was Andru's birthday (happy birthday you old grey beard)



ANDRU'S 'BAD FURRY SHIT' - it's an anagram - answers on a post card - or blog message!

and likely to be our last surf of the trip - foolishly I harboured plans of riding Red's 6'fish having had the waves come so easily on my mal. So I opted to take out my mal in what was pretty much epic conditions. Being Saturday there were more in the water but still plenty of room - I had a few decent rides on the mal but to be honest I was pretty much shagged out. The week of paddling, camping, drinking and roll ups had taken it's toll - I was not up to much and every time I got caught inside it seemed like someone had shifted the peak to plant set after set on my head.

Finally I caught up with Red and swapped boards - paddling for my first wave I got tossed into the mother of all bodyboard rides and did little more than hang on gutsliding my way to the beach - that was it - I was spat out and surfed out. I hung around on the beach trying to look like the the master of the tiny little red fish I was holding - muppet!! Red must have seen me on the beach and caught a wave in to swap boards - 'Thanks' he said 'Thought you needed the paddle out practise' I replied. He paddled out for more - fair play.

Back at the tent I pulled my wetsuit off and immediately began to feel a lot better - the bruise on my leg had finally surfaced - black and yellow engulfing the front and back of my knee, calf and thigh - 'See - I'm not a ponce' I said to the lads later on, standing outside the tent with my pants around my ankles. MMnnn probebly best leave that one hanging.

So that was it - the 'team' accounts showed an all up total of £430 each for food, ferry, fuel, accomadation, booze, insurance the lot. Fantastic 2000 miles of surf in 10 days - it don't get much better than that.