Tuesday 24th November

'Disappointing' waves after the last few sessions, but in comparison to usual, still not bad. Well-powered 4.2, with a decent angle on it, meant that you could sail much less conservatively than eg Monday. Even got a few aerials. However one attempt coincided with a gust and the subsequent crash meant a dead arm, gratitude to Gath, and the end of the session.

Plenty more wind and waves on the way though.

Monday 23rd November

Bonkers windy session at Pagham. Decent waves in the head to half-mast region but ridiculously windy, gusting F9. With 4.2 as a smallest sail was well overpowered, but still managed to get some decent long rides in. Up the near spit there were some nice clean, almost bowly (for the S Coast) sections, if you got a lull when one of these came through pure joy to smack it into the middle of next week. If it coincided with a gust it smacked you, or you got blown out the back. Really good fun, perhaps a bit surprisingly, as I thought I had grown out of silly conditions :)

Friday 20th November

Some decent headhigh+ waves at Pagham in a flukey cross-off wind that faded away as we sailed. Scored some sweet clean waves, even if at the end I was having to take off really late and so not really in a position to do much with it. Only took the small board when clearly a bit more float was needed...

Thursday 19th November

A bit onshore but great fun at Pagham with some reasonable mid-sized waves to bash. Sailed on the push with 4.2 and was stacked at first, but underpowered by lunchtime. Really sunny, mild, nice people about - excellent session.

Lee from LAR was ripping on his new Quatro Tempo - I want one.

Same again tomorrow please!

Monday 15th November

Cracking sail at Littlehampton. Went to Paghama at first but it was a bit offshore and choppy - got better later apparently.

Went to LA instead, rigged 4.2 but then some bigger guys on 4.5s came in in a lull, rigged 5.0 instead. Got mullered in the shorebreak, then got out and wind came up honking. Good fun at first if a bit choppy and hectic, then tide dropeed the required amount and and it cleaned up and with a WSW wind had some great clean riding. Eventually the wind came a bit more onshore which made riding the short period waves frontside a bit harder as they were alwas behind you, but still loads of fun.

Monday 13th July

Fun windy windswell session at LA.

Weds 26th August

Bit of mid-tide chop bothering at Pagham. Broke my mast in innocuous circumstances. After doing not much noticed it had just cracked. Replaced it with an Amex Taper from LAR (leeboy went back to shop to get it for me, top man).

Sails set nice on it, and sail perfectly well. Looks like it is a bit better made, more heavy duth than the Naish.

Wednesday 15th July

A game of three halves at Niton. First half was sailing maxed out with a 5m in overhead+ breaking chop, you could bottom turn but then it wasnt clear if you should be top turning on the section in front or behind you. Still managed to avoid munchings, swimmings and trips to the rocks.

Second half things cleaned up a bit, wind dropped to sensible 5.0 and we started getting some decent turns in, also some faster swell seemed to come in so you didnt need to turn as tight to hit the wave on your top turn. Overcooked it on one and had a decent swim as a result, then a long trip downwind in the rip before I could get going. Wind dropped a bit so came in for a bit to eat and a drink and to think about using a bigger board.

As we were drinking, the incoming tide slackened right off and things started to look much much cleaner with swell coming in in lines. By now there were quite a few surfers out in the lee of the cliff and the sets were properly overhead. But it was high tide the tricky keyhole launch was looking like russian roulette. Somehow, more by luck than judgement, I managed to get out on my 78 and had some real clean wave joy in the bonus third half, never masses of turns linked, but with things so smooth some really nice critical take-offs and smacks. We were sailing quite close to the surfers, if they knew how surfers should behave they would probably have been pissed off, but that wouldnt be very Isle of Wight. They did have a good laugh when my mate took off a bit deep and ended up on the rocks though.

Anyway, great fun, and a massive two of us out. I love sailing there; heading out is like sailing into a Turner painting, coming back a Constable.

Noticed one of the surfers had a quad when he put his board in his truck, then noticed they all did. When did that happen?

Monday 18th May

Went for a looping coaching session with Ant Baker. Decided during session 8th May that I was doing something fundamentally wrong and sure if within 15s of us leaving the beach Ant pointed out that blasting out at World Cup slalom speed was no way to go about it.

Some adjustments to my rig, and after introducing a generally more relaxed vibe to my sailing and it all seemed a lot less scary. After a fair bit of sailing one-handed, to get used to sheeting out and getting my weight more on the front foot, and quite a bit of chop-hopping really off the wind, we were ready to have a crack.

First go, take off and initiation all perfect according to Ant, forgot to sheet in, head hit mast and split ear open :)

Fortunately one of the guys I was with, Gareth, lives on the beach and his wife is a nurse so she cleaned it up and put some steri-strips on. Didn't hurt at the time (although it did a bit the next day) and I was still psyched for it, but it just wasn't sensible.

Anyway, it feels really close now. Ant, being a gentleman, says the session is unfinished and is to be continued next time it is windy...

Friday 8th May

At last - a decent SWly!!

Stacked on the 4.7 and Guerrilla 71 at Littlehampton. Had lunch with my brother at East Beach Cafe, then a great session maxed out with waist hight waves. A bit too onshore and windy for many loop attempts, managed about 4 or 5 slightly pathetic ones, but loads of big jumps and some great chop bothering, both frontside and backside.

Love the tail on the 71, it breaks out in a much more controllable way and you can really feel it slicing the wave and chucking loads of spray.

Monday 27th April

Splash and dash at Sea Lane Cafe Goring. Well powered on 4.7 and 71 with some Ok backside waves considering there was no groundswell. Had to rush off for tooth extraction but wind died when I had to leave anyway. Wind at last!!!! 6 or 7 weeks without a decent blast on the waveboard at this time of year is dreadful.

Hopefully the European Summer Monsoon will be a good one to make up for it this year!

3rd March 2009

First session for weeks. Noone about at Pagham so went to Goring. Had forgotten to fix my Guerrilla 78 despite the lay-off so had to take the 71. When I got to the beach, it wasn't windy enough so went to the local shop Worthing Watersports in search of footstrap screws.

When I got back to the Caff the wind had come up to a SSW F5/6 and after a bit of chat and faffing rigged up and went out and had a good fun 90 minutes in pretty onshore conditions but with some decent waist-boom high peaks to do backside aeriels off.

January 12th 2009

First sail of the year after a terrible December and it was a really cold one at Pagham. Sea at 3-4C :( Having clocked how cold the sea had become during a cold December was hoping to have gloves and thermal vest sorted from LAR in time but for various reasons didn't. Paid the prices and now have them. Waves were pretty good, overhead on the sets and clean, sailing on the 4.7 on the 71, but once the tide turned was getting bogged by the current in the lee of the spit where they were cleanest and steepest. Wind was a bit onshore making it difficult to string to together long fast rides, but by going frontside/backside you could get some good smacks in.

Realised it had been a lot of fun once I thawed out.