Wednesday 3 October 2012

Progress

Another session down at Towan (Fistral was closed out and big, thanks to the strong winds that had been blowing all night). Towan is a nice spot and probably my favourite, except for the flights of steps to get down to the beach and get back up again!

I made a lot of progress today. My big epoxy board has finer lines than a foamie and is made to be manoeuvrable and, due to this, it is less stable, mainly because the tail is narrower. I had also been too far back on the board and not on the widest, most stable point. Common sense of course when you think about it, but it hadn't occurred to me as I'd been concentrating on not nosediving! Once that was sorted, I could stand up easier and faster and I was neither stalling, going off-balance or nose-diving although my feet are still a little too close together, which is something to work on. My final few waves of the day weren't hugely successful but that was due to tiredness setting in, and I had succumbed to the 'one more wave' syndrome. I am pretty pleased with today and feel more like a surfer than I had in a long time.
The waves got more powerful and dumpy, just like the ones at home (only those lack power, with the English Channel draining them of energy) and more closed out, due to a large swell arriving, which was predicted to get to over 10 feet later.

I have another session with ESF booked tomorrow, that was a last-minute decision, and I hope that I can pick up where I left off today. Conditions permitting, I will try and get out to Compton next week. I'm now in the ranks of the unemployed (temporarily I hope), so I'll have some time, if not money, on my hands.
By the way, thanks to Rob Barber and the others at ESF/Newquay Activity Centre for looking after my board for me. I can also leave it there tomorrow night, before taking my car along there to pick it up Friday morning.

I still intend to book a foreign surf trip for late January/early February. Two weeks somewhere warm, where I don't have to wear a wetsuit, and with consistent waves will do wonders for my surfing, with the added bonus I escape a couple of weeks of one of our epically dismal winters. Maybe then, I can have another few  days down here in the spring.

I've taken a few pictures with my DSLR, I'll upload them when I get home because I didn't bring my CF card reader with me.