Those first summer surfs can be painful, even with no barracuda in sight. Thank's God the increasing numbers of girls out there all year long has diminished the surprise factor.
(Click to enlarge)
Over & out.
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Saturday, 26 July 2008
Saturday - Bertha
Tropical storm / hurricane Bertha managed to send us a few pulses of West swell all the way from the American shores. Most of the Spanish North Coast didn't get much (as the coast faces N/NW and the swell was W/SW), but down in Portugal and on the French Atlantic central coast they managed to score a few nice summer sessions:
This is what home was like on Wednesday am before i drove to the French coast where i had a lovely surf on a brand new board at a nice little reef/point set up:
This is what home was like on Wednesday am before i drove to the French coast where i had a lovely surf on a brand new board at a nice little reef/point set up:
Further up in Hossegor it was all-time at certain banks... while flat at others. In the afternoon the off-shore was so stiff that it almost killed the swell (by Gecko):
On Thursday there were some nice little lines still to be found on the Île d'Oléron, North of Bordeaux, a beautiful area that doesn't really get much surf in summer. Photo courtesy of Tristan Mausse.
And the circus is in town. The ASP is back in town after five years, for the Vans Pro Junior. There waves are very tiny, the ASP broadcast focuses almost exclusively on the French surfers -in spite of plenty of local and Portuguese surfers doing very good so far (this is what happens when the ASP regional offices happen to be in France)- and the weather is beautiful. At least it is helping me out heaps for my upcoming article for 3sesenta.
Over & Out
Wednesday, 23 July 2008
Wednesday – and another comic strip
Ultima ola (last wave) – only a surfer knows the feeling
Two interpretations: (1) how sometimes we keep waiting for that last wave when it is clear that it is not going to come, and (2) the pleasure all of us take just by being in the water (only a surfer knows the feeling).
(Click to enlarge)
Over & out.
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
Ten days – late
Yes I know, it’s been ten days since I last updated this blog and for this I must apologize to the hordes of visitors/readers/fans that have been requesting to find out in what mood the bay was since my last entry. And so it has been because last week was one of the busiest weeks of the year: sales meeting week, and in Capbreton… which meant the opportunity to score some little waves in nearby Seignosse before, during and after work. Not bad. Shame though that the ocean was not very cooperative and we had to content ourselves with small waves, but at least we got to surf and that is always good, especially in summer.
I haven’t had much time for anything else. I know there are a couple of things going on and the Jazz Festival has started on the beach in Donosti. I remember this time last year I went down for a surf really late one evening (we’ve got light until well past ten) and the concerts on the beach were starting while I was still surfing: it was an odd combination to have hundreds of spectators a few meters from the water, dancing to the music, while so close some other surfers and myself where working hard to get the last waves of the day. The side I don’t like about the Jazz Festival on the beach is that the sand is packed with trash, bottles and other rubbish the morning after when I go for the dawny.
And in terms of waves, there hasn’t been much lately. A couple of little swells here and there. Truth is it hasn’t been totally flat, but the swells are quite weak. Here’s the crop of these last ten days:
First a couple of photos from last Tuesday in Galicia by Esnifa Salitre (nice elbow)…
…and Salinas by Clau.
Thursday was the biggest day but I’ve found no evidence on the blogs, while Salerno took the time to play in the Landes shore breaks on Saturday with what was left of the swell.
Pantín is one of the most consitent places in the whole of Europe, and that’s what it offered yesterday (by Dani).
While today I went for an early surf. The tide was very high and the swell too weak, so it wasn’t the best of the sessions, but I still managed to get some.
While according to this photo by Esnifa Salitre, Pantín was quite pleasant-looking today too.
And... over & out.
Sunday, 13 July 2008
Monday to Sunday – forgettable
We are having waves; not great waves, not perfect conditions… but we are having waves pretty much every day and when you think that July is traditionally the flattest month of the year around here (along with May and June) we cannot complain. I didn’t manage to surf every day and I missed the best session of the week (Wednesday at dawn, with off-shores and before the swell died) but on the other hand I managed to take my bicycle (with board) down to the beach a couple of afternoons (it is totally impossible to park near the beach in summer after work) and enjoy a nice after work ride – surf – ride work out combo. And when you know how steep the hill on which top I happen to live is, rest assured that the second ride (back home) of the combo is an exhausting one.
But strangely, with all the waves there’s been on the coast I haven’t really found much photographic evidence in the usual blogs. Still, on Tuesday I spent the day in Capbreton again, and while I didn’t surf, I managed to take a photo of what was happening in front of the hotel where we are having our sales meeting:
Further west, in
As I said earlier on, the session of the week was Wednesday’s early one. I missed it and had to see it unfold from the pc screen…
Everybody (me included) knew it and hoped that they would still be some waves left for the after work surf. But it was not to be: it was very small and extremely crowded, as seen here in Sopelana by Surf30:
And there was another pulse in the swell by Thursday, especially in Galiza (by Fiz_Bertels)…
…and
On a different note, the guys from Alaplaya, the best Spanish surf portal, have launched a new edition of their on-line magazine: Gure North Shore Mag. In this issue they are focusing on Mirata, one of the spots along Zarautz’s beach front, and which happens to be enjoying some very finely shaped sandbanks this late spring – early summer. Enjoy the photos here.
The Thursday pulse died on Friday, and we were being left with small weak on-shore wind swells for the weekend. And the forecast doesn’t look too good for this coming week. Maybe a little pulse on Friday and that’s about it. I’ll spend most of the week in Capbreton for the sales meeting, so provided there is something left I hope I’ll have a few surfs in between meetings or early in the day. I will update this blog next weekend, while struggling to finish my new article for 3sesenta and in between surfs (hope). Until then…
Over & out.
Saturday, 12 July 2008
Sunday, 6 July 2008
Monday to Sunday – busy
Lot of work and some waves during this past week. But first of al let me introduce you a little cartoon strip I’ve been busy drawing recently. The characters are two shortboarders, Reflex & Ion. In Spanish “reflexion” means “reflection” (as in deep thought), hence the name of the two main characters. Please do not pay attention to the drawing; it’s all about the idea. Here is the first entry:
(click to enlarge)
Waves: Well, we’ve had swell but also our share of on-shores. And one magic day: Friday, probably the best day of this summer so far. Shame I couldn’t get a surf until late in the afternoon, when the swell had dropped lots. I’m sure there’ll be lots of good photos from this day in the next few days.
…and at home:
On-shore on Wednesday in the morning at home…
No photos from Thursday (on-shore and big). On Friday it looked nice at home (turns out it was not so good due to the shapeless banks)...
Yesterday (Saturday) it was small and on-shore from early in the morning and today it is big and equally on-shore, grey and cold. Apparently the waves should last –at least-until mid next week. It’s a very nice run for summer.
On the social front I missed the MIACS inauguration on Friday (but it’s on for a couple of months, so I should be able to visit it sooner and later).
Over & out.
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