surfergrl

down not out

2010-02-17T20:26:00.003Z

Lots of change going on… I am now unemployed, so it's bye bye Cornwall soon and hello Wales…and the world. Hopefully I'll get to see some of it again! It's mad to think I've not been on an actual holiday for nearly five years (yes, magazine surf trips count, if you like stress, hassle, looking after teenagers and standing on the beach with a camera and dictaphone) so I reckon it's time to hit warm waves. What else is redundancy money for?!

Surfed today and it was no quieter than a weekend cos of half term. 2-3ft quite peaky, couldn't catch fuck all. This time of year is so bloody hard for intermediates, especially if your fitness isn't quite all it should be. I kinda give up for a bit. Unless it's sunny clean and nice I won't bother. I know it'll be okay when it's warmer again, always is. Right now, I question the hours and hours I've spent surfing when I can't catch a decent wave in an hour! Grr!

Got a contract to write a how-to surfing book, so I'm stoked on that, and I'm so happy to be going home. Hope the swells continue up there…

walking, surfing, thinking

2010-01-28T11:06:00.003Z

I'm lucky to walk the beach path every day. On this morning last week, the Headland Hotel floated in the mist. Headless.

I just like this. The footing for some sort of pole, I guess. It's so weathered, it makes lovely reflections, it disappears and reappears as the sand levels change. It has a collection of very differently coloured pebbles held in the hole at the top. It's kind of like a little castle, surrounded by a moat, guarding its treasure.

A few days ago on the morning dog walk, a little brown hawk began to hover over me, looking to snaffle an early morning breakfast of the rodent kind from the bank above the Windswept Cafe. It was supremely confident in flight, feathers flipping here and there, body totally still. It turned to look at me, standing there updating the MSW eyeball surf report, dismissed me (despite some goon hollering "Wow! What a good photo you're going to get!" and carried on). It got really, really close, and caught something furry.

On Saturday I was surfing Gwithian, out from from the Jam Pot (yummy egg butties), and a dolphin/porpoise surfed a wave in front of me as I paddled out. It was a split-second view of a perfect arc. S/he had more fun out there than me - it was Baltic!

I've had a mad week this week, and I'm so looking forward to more of the above - quality time wtih good friends on lovely beaches! This is Rach, Abs, Laurz and Furtle in Marazion.

Back to business

2010-01-20T15:00:00.005Z

Went for a surf on Saturday with friend and colleague Jane at Tolcarne. It was so sunny and quiet at 9am, most of the town still abed. Nice to surf the Bay without hordes of people in. No girls other than the two of us. We made it out deceptively easily, but a big wipeout and relentless closeouts did for Jane with her bigger board – no duck-diving that beast.

It was two foot-ish and clean, perfect to get into it again, but I couldn't get up! Popping fine but tripping over myself. Got one closeout — hm — and five where I tripped. But it was sunny and I wasn't toooo cold (hands were, gloves are thick as but not great still). Stayed out a couple of hours though so not bad. Don't feel too unfit. Duck-diving was hideous, pure tortre after one or two. But the air was clean and the water smooth, and the last wave was a funny wipeout…so I'll take that.

Monday saw a quiet day so I took the chance to head to Fistral which had perfect three-foot peaks in sunshine and the doleys/hospitality workers/self-employed were making the most of it. Here I fared a little better and paddled as hard as I could to grab a couple of okay ones. It was more the chance to sit and unravel a few things in my mind that sticks it as a good surf. And the beach so empty, the time just mine.

Everything unfrozen, there seems more life about the beach now. The fogs have been crazy recently; always make you look at the land anew. And I've seen a huge dead jellyfish (rare that size, rarer still in winter) and a very much alive hawk, hunting the bank above the Windswept Cafe. Plus snowdrops are poking up by the front door. Nature, waves and yoga are prising my conciousness up from a recent slump, and I remember tajitu and the interconnectedness of everything.

disconnected

2010-01-13T13:47:00.003Z

Today I spent my lunch hour in Aldi carpark, watching the waves. I should have got in there. Three feet, clean, calm and sunny, and actually peeling for once. A handful out down beyond the baby waves of Towan. It was beautiful.

My initial reaction? Not to belt it back to my van, fight into my suitbootshoodrashyglovesplugs combo and race in, but just to stand and watch. How often do I do that? Rhetorical question. Never. Neverever. I live here, surf here and work here, so there's always something to be doing other than gawping like a tourist (best way to insult a local, tell them they look like a visitor).

What I did do, in fact, was drag out the iPhone and tweet. I had the urge to update my Facebook status as well, but then another set rolled in and I just watched it. I am always updating endless accounts wherever I go, mostly for work, but sometimes I don't want to. I just want to keep it to myself (and the crusty hanging off the railing next to me). This view and these 20 minutes of peace, chin resting on hands resting on fencepost, eyes resting on horizon, are mine, just mine.

Half-asleep in the sunshine, I idly thought about SUPpers (why, no really, why do they do it?), where bomb sets come from, and other questions that only occur to me when my fingers (cut-paste-tap-tap-slide) are forced to cease fidgeting, lulled by rare sunshine on rare unglovedness.

Then NatWest texted me to tell me my balance. Why do they call it balance when it's always sliding hellishly towards a Mines of Moria darkness? I was jacked back in. So I bought the Super Six in Aldi (RedLasering a few things as I went) and came back here to write a randomness. Now my cut-paste reflex is revving up, so I must get back to work.

…I should have got in there.

snow time

2010-01-11T11:16:00.004Z

Snow yesterday, and it was beautiful for a little while, but the salty air did for it by this morning. A snowy picture of mine appeared on the Stranger website (I love Stranger). Cornwall (and especially Newquay) definitely retains more of a sense of wonder about the snow, as we see so little of it.

snowy newquay

2010-01-07T13:13:00.002Z

One of my photos of snowy Fistral made it onto a BBC report about all the snow in Cornwall.

Pretty chuffed with that, especially as it was taken with the iPhone (the one above wasn't!). I am loving everything I can do with it, especially the Pano application. Got the best panorama of the snowy golf course and surroundings this morning. I also love Gorillacam, and I'm now searching for the best filters app I can find. Love a bit of sepia.

Atlantic Hotel sunrise and Great Western Beach.

There's no surf though, and I'm missing Wales like mad (there's loads there…).

happy surfers

2009-11-12T11:41:00.003Z

This is Gus, who bought my old T&C board about six weeks ago. It was rather hard to tell whether the board would suit him or not, as he lives on the south coast and I live in Cornwall, but it looks like he's pretty happy with it! Makes me rather sad as I bought that board in Fuerte and it really ramped my surfing level up when I came back from Oz. Good memories, but hey, I outgrew it and I'm glad someone else loves it too.

I've had one really good surf at Fistral recently, but work and dark nights has precluded the amount of waves I'd like to have grabbed… Yesterday was nice, 2-3ft clean peaks but the crowd was pretty bad and the new bright pink-armed wetsuit makes me feel like a right prat. Still, it was a bargain…

Nothing like a proud mama for taking surf photos on a cold crappy day!

Heather Clark

2009-10-26T14:11:00.004Z

Surfer's Village: 'South African Surfing Champion, 2008 ISA World Masters Women’s Champion and former World Championship Tour surfer, Heather Clark, is in hospital today after being seriously injured in a car accident near her home in Port Shepstone Thursday (October 22).'

Six or seven years ago I went to a Gul one-day surf coaching event on Fistral and Heather Clark was there. The waves were the usual 3ft of lumpy onshore, but we all had a great time and she was lovely – the first pro surfer girl I'd seen, so I was blown away by how well she surfed in crap waves, and she was happy and positive; she answered everyone's questions in detail and came out for a surf, cheering us all on.

Some arsehole drunk driver has put her in hospital with serious injuries which are racking up big medical bills, and he's walked away without a scratch too. There are appeals going on to help her pay, and I hope she recovers well and soon. If you can afford a few dollars, donate via JettyGirl.
Update: Join the Facebook group

the nog

2009-10-23T16:29:00.002+01:00

Got two little surfs in back home in Wales. I've got used to Cornish consistency and one surf in two weeks about drove me mad! But it was gorgeous as ever up there, and it's home...

Back and a few surfs down here, it's been all time. Getting a bit cold in my suit which is full of holes. Wish I could afford a 4/3.

More swell on the way...

cliffs

2009-09-23T14:59:00.002+01:00

Friday we did some 'team building' around the Gazzle with Newquay Coasteering. Jumps not very high due to the spring tide, but it was fun. Spot me around 43 seconds-ish, followed by my colleague David.

Been surfing recently, plenty actually, but it's been nowhere special and nothing special, so I've not been updating here. I need a roadtrip/holiday/something. Just surfed the gay Bay, four 3ft drops to straighten out. Yeah it's good practice for other places with big drops, but…it's frustrating to the max when I've got speed to burn.

Might go somewhere where the drops turn into barrels tomorrow, depending on the wind…have to interview WQS no 26 Sarah Beardmore, our new British National Champion. Might as well go for a surf then!

Next Friday heading home for two weeks of Welsh surf and some proper jumps.

snap

2009-08-25T15:38:00.001+01:00

Couple of foot in the Bay, a few sneaking through that didn't close out, a reasonable lunchtime session. Better than last night, where the waves were better but I caught nothing, lost an earplug and snapped my leash...

Surf Watch iPhone app

2009-08-12T14:25:00.004+01:00

There are surprisingly few surf apps around for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and most of them are a bit crap (with the notable exceptions of WindGuru and the Oakley surf report). Enter Surf Watch from Tap Tapas; at £5.99 it’s not the cheapest, but I think that’s probably an accurate reflection of the development time that’s gone into it. From the neat little clicks and James Bond-esque sounds down to the thorough help screens and the seamless, uncluttered interface, it’s quality.

Just pick your buoy/s anywhere in the world and you can then view past data including tides, with your top three buoys displayed dashboard-style for at-a-glance checks. But the beauty is the forecasting and alerts. Enter the ideal conditions for surf nearby, and when your criteria are met, it’ll tell you via an alarm or alert between times you specify. Never miss a surf again!
It couldn’t find tide data for any of my buoys which is a bit disappointing as that’s so important in the UK — maybe they need to keep adding data. It’d be quite nice to have a choice of skins as well, but that’s just me trying to find something less than positive to say — this really is a wicked little app. Also, the developer was super-quick with help and advice, which is always a bonus.

So toss out some of the less-than-stellar freebie apps for tide times, buoy data and forecasts, add this, and I think you’ll probably end up using it more than the rest of them put together.

Here is the link for the iTunes store:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=300739477&mt=8

Website with video:
www.surfwatchapp.com

OceanDaze and Whoopsadaze

2009-07-29T10:20:00.004+01:00

Two more ace surfs…one was at the Bay, and boy was it crowded - loads of spongers left over from the Wedge Air Jam, all DKing and paddling around people on the peak………anyway I had loadsa waves and one long left with a cutback and a re-entry as well as a few turns…it won't last but it's good!

Then Whoops last night, 'Don't even bother to check it Kat just get in there, you'll love it' and I did. Along with Lev and home, I just can't decide which is my favourite. Good surfers out there yest, good waves. Whoops teaches, but yesterday it just served them on a plate. Yum.

Also waiting to get paid so I can reserve myself a ticket for the OceanDaze festival in Sennen, a perfect end to the (so-called) summer. Going to be sick.

hoot

2009-07-24T17:33:00.001+01:00

Been playing on Facebook...

It was about 3ft and high tide when I got down Fistral. My best wave was my first one. It was hard to read out there, I was a couple of peaks short of south and the biggest ones were coming in to the north of me. Punching through the shorebreak was ace, but then I sat there for a while not able to get on anything because there were ones going fat then ones going square…was just thinking I'd have to go for a do-or-get-out suicide one when I grabbed a right. It went supersteep and davy jones dark green instantly and I just gritted it, too late to pull off - bang onto my feet properly, leaned in hard, and holding it. Bottom turn straight away to avoid the guy who must of had a fucking heart attack when he saw me coming, but I had that unshakeable, I AM going to make this one. That board is so good, it just shot down the line for maybe 25m and I was so close to the wall. If only it'd chucked - haha. But I felt that I knew how to work it if it had… I had quite a high line waiting for it to make up its mind, but the section came down ahead of me, gutted, and I just pulled out in front of it going, phew. Then heard the guy hooting…he yelled something about 'go hard' at me but I couldn't really hear because I was plugged up. Big smiles.

Then I had a nice left and a few more though the bumps threw me off a couple and made me laugh. Anyway I was super pleased with that surf, just that one wave was so lush. Last wave was okay for a change as well!

whoops

2009-07-16T14:25:00.003+01:00

Wow I've been slack…loads of good surfs though Glasto disrupted things a bit!

Went straight to Whoopsadasies after work last night and glad I did (avoided cos of size night before, and regretted going to the gay Bay again). The wind dropped and the push gave it shelter, it was still messy but I enjoyed it loads and loads… Only a few people out, 3ft lumps pushing through. Made a huge sucky drop on one right, sheer determination. Missed quite a few but it wasn't an easy ride. There was a navy rescue copter buzzing over us for a while as well - I have an irrational love for them.

Got quite a few waves happy enough, but in general just a much better session though I got loads more waves in the bay the day before. Happier to challenge self a bit, though in the end it was more like my perfect size really, nothing to scare me. Fell off one (in front of a smirking boy of course) really hard, winded myself and hurt. Whoops always teaches! Always. But apart from the last wave I was taking off properly and doing what could be done on them. It's so gorgeous there and peaceful too, so much enjoyed.

white and pink

2009-06-11T10:09:00.001+01:00

three lil things

2009-06-10T09:50:00.003+01:00

Lovely morning on Fistral beach (though that Boxer was mad – why don't owners say sorry when their dog harrasses yours?). Found some sea glass.

These appeared from eBay, part of my Masked Ball outfit - the photo does not do them justice!

Got pooped on by a seagull, so it's my lucky day. (Er, no photo of this one.)

seal mama

2009-06-09T11:22:00.003+01:00

Wow, seems like it's been flat for ages, but really it's not that long at all. Had a perfect surf at Fistral last weekend despite a hangover. It was quite small, but sunny and peaky and I had loads of waves. A small seal (Baby? Female?) appeared out of the back of one wave and took a look at me, then dived and swam under my board. That's happened a few times now but never gets old! No-one else even noticed it. Yes I did pick my feet up, just in case.

Sunday was a beach day, cliff jumping and paddling about (finally in the 3/2), then sitting in the sun drinking far, far too much…

Having trouble concentrating today as a report just came in that Levy is working on this south swell. I have no chance of getting there but I won't be able to sit still all day now.

a few reasons i is quite happy today

2009-05-29T10:58:00.006+01:00

lovely perfect surf
sunshiiiiiine
fun last weekend down south
more to come this weekend, north and south
been paid
am the Country Life centrefold (not seen it, sure it's hilarious)
being left to work in peace
scored tons of freelancing work
going to a birthday party tonight with my girls
goin' dancin' tomorrow night (and maybe sign painting?)
think have scored a new 5/4/3

Divers in a RIB.

Pednvounder, mind the nudies

Masked Ball tickets

2009-05-27T10:25:00.003+01:00

Got some Masked Ball tickets for sale at the office or direct from me...excited already, perfect Glasto warmup!!

Lineup:
SIR VINYL OF THE FATTEST
GET WAXY/RESIDENTIAL DANCE HOME
SAMUEL J AND THE LIVING REVOLUTION feat 3CS BBOYS AND YML CREW
YOUR BOYFRIENDS ARE DJS
JAC THE DISCO
SOUTH CENTRAL

£25 inc. free camping, champagne, strawberries and so many possibilities…Levy clifftops. Might go for a surf the next morning...haha.

good day so far

2009-05-20T10:27:00.005+01:00

Sweet little couple of offshore feet at Fistral, 'Golf Terrace Peak' doing its thing... Made peace with the Resin8 (but it'll always be second best - just not lively enough) and had plenty of good waves. Feet cold though.

Then 'helped' with the board shoot, aka touching up about 10 lovely retro shapes from Down The Line. Would not be able to choose which to try first - it's between these two:

and there was a wicked purple one too…and the Byron Board…oh…

aw, fanks

2009-05-18T16:25:00.000+01:00

Best bit of spam ever received.

upping the game

2009-05-15T13:33:00.007+01:00

Surf picked up yesterday, from nothing to 3-4ft in the evening. Fistral was busy (always two guys for every wave) and it was a disorganised, lumpy, cow-shit smelling, cold new swell. A sudden roar quickly followed by wind which has ruined it today. I didn't get far but there were quite a lot of frustrated faces around.

I wish Mitch would hurry up fixing the levy-kisses in my quad. I just don't like the Resin8 toothpick, it's corky, and when I got a good right it just felt so slow in comparison (plus my feet were frozen, = painful cutback). It's too small for me, I like my boards 6ft plus and loose. Like men...!

Anyway I don't really mind, still happy I had a few more at Levy the weekend before last...one late takeoff steep right fast as. I felt like Layne haha. And only five of us in after the morning crowd had faded away — a touch of onshore sent them all to the north coast. Kelv lost his board to the rocks and I dinged myself and the S4, fook tis shallow, but makes me smile. And had a few at Hendra which blasted sand into my suit, ears, eyes... Have had some good times round that end of the world recently.

I'll take the blue house, thanks.

Explorin

can't surf :-(

2009-04-26T13:45:00.003+01:00

So one minute I'm getting loads of long rides, doing proper cutbacks, re-entries and even getting some spray off top turns and having a couple at Levy, the next minute I can't even take off properly. I know surfing goes in stages, but this one can fuck right off...hence lack of posting, as it would all say the same thing - 'getting to my feet with all the grace of a lumbering elephant with moon boots on'. Nor-appy.

Do have a plan - don't stress it too much, do loads of dry-land popping up, get fitter (2 surfs a day should do it, plus am running, yoga etc.). And just wait for it to pass...

london

2009-04-17T10:58:00.001+01:00

04-09 London cultcha