Returning to a familiar theme for this blog, and probably for most surfers too, the old ‘you should have been here yesterday’ routine.

Over the last 20 years I’ve built my life next to the sea and the West Wight in particular, with the simple (and now not so secret) aim of leading a quiet life and surfing whenever possible,  as well as trying to avoid hearing that dreaded sentence ‘you should have been here yesterday’ as much as possible too.

But sometimes life has other plans for you, and after a few weeks of niggling broadband complications and lots of support calls and emails (involving a long boring story of telephone exchanges being upgraded to ADSL+, a ten year old router not being able to keep up with the change, and then a mystery line fault that pretty much seemed to me to have lots to do with a very windy and rainy night)  i couldn’t really be out when the engineer was finally scheduled to come and test the line and put me out of my misery.  I wanted to but couldn’t really hang a ‘gone surfing‘ note on the door and hope he would come back later (why don’t BT introduce that as an option when you sign up?)

Of course the only time-slot available on the morning of Friday 16th December, coincided with the biggest swell in weeks, and of course it was also the only day the wind blew offshore after endless days of howling onshores.

So, the day after triple overhead clean sets were reported as being ridden at my local break (from reliable local sources, who wouldn’t exaggerate the conditions) Saturday morning found me at Freshwater bay bright and early, full of hope and excitement for what i might find. Inevitably the classic conditions from the day before were long gone, and to be honest what was left looked pretty unappealing out there with the wind now blowing cross-shore and the swell not really doing it with the sets barely head high.

BUT… remembering my last blog and how i ended up kicking myself for passing up what turned out to be the last waves for a few weeks, this time i didn’t hang around in two minds and encouraged by a couple of hungover locals, pacey & sam, who turned up for a look too, decided to get in there and blow away a few cobwebs anyway.

The good news is that the swell picked up a bit and although it certainly wasn’t anything like the classic conditions of the day before, we had a few overhead sets, and a few bumpy but fun rides, and of course, its always better to have been in than sat around thinking about it.

After a quick surf and to make the most of the morning, i grabbed my camera and headed up onto the cliffs and got a few shots from a different point of view (away from my old favourites of the cabbage patch or right in front of the albion hotel) Whilst Andrew Court, Matt Harwood, Ian Pacey and James Ranson made the most of what was left before it really did get a bit windy. Even managed to get a few shots of some local birds and a random fishing boat in the line-up.

Sitting here today, on a miserable grey December day, looking out the window at howling on-shores blowing out any chance of getting any decent waves, and i’m looking back over a few pics from a surf session that i voluntarily missed out on a few weeks back. I wasn’t too busy, i didn’t have to be somewhere else, I wasn’t feeling poorly, or even lazy, and i didn’t even have a hangover as the title suggests… it’s just that I had recently had too much of a good thing, and for some reason (that seems insane now) I decided the little clean waves weren’t worth the effort and spent half an hour not making my mind up on the beach instead of just getting suited up and going in for a bit of fun. What a knob-head.

My reasons seemed sound enough at the time, I’d surfed some amazing waves the night before (so only about 12 hours previously) and for most of the previous week (November was an epic month for surf this year on the South Coast), and as the swell had dropped off so much, i didn’t want to erase and replace the great waves i still had in my mind, with the little tiddlers on offer in front of me.

In my defence, i didn’t completely waste my time, at least i took a few photos, managing to catch a few rare photos of Paul Blackley surfing, the even more rare sight of Pacey on a longboard, the quite common sight of chris court falling off a SUP and  few nice ones of a puppy playing fetch on the beach, but looking back at the pics now…. just stop thinking about it and get wet and have some fun, you never know when the winds gonna turn, and its been blowing onshore pretty much ever since.

Dreaming of an Endless Summer, originally uploaded by s0ulsurfing.

i’m just about to head out into a freezing fog looking for surf this morning, and my mind wandered back to my last trip to Cornwall and surfing under these beautiful skies at Gwithian. The idea of an Endless Summer really is just a dream for most of us surfing here in the UK.

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©2010 Jason Swain, All Rights Reserved
This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.

Hipsta Holidays, originally uploaded by s0ulsurfing.

Finally remembered to upload some photos from my iphone, here’s a SOOC hipstamatic view of the lighthouse and beach at Godrevy with little fluffy clouds and surfers.
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©2010 Jason Swain, All Rights Reserved
This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.

My photo (Offshore, Empty wave @ Logan’s Rock, Porthcurno, Cornwall) is featured in this months (December 2010) edition of Digital Photography Enthusiast Magazine.

I know pride comes before a fall, and i do try to keep a good sense of perspective on any ‘success’ i might have with my photos, but i will admit to being a bit ‘chuffed’ (thats english for happy for my global friends) when this popped through my letterbox at the weekend.

I’d been asked to be in the magazine quite a few weeks back, but had no idea what sort of size the image would be, so it was a really nice surprise to find a double page spread inside.

The mag itself is billed as a “digital lifestyle magazine” and looks like a pretty good mix of product review, how-to articles and interviews with photographers (i’m not on the payroll

Digital Photography Enthusiast Magazine

Empty wave at Porthcurno

Godrevy Surf School, originally uploaded by s0ulsurfing.

©2010 Jason Swain, All Rights Reserved
This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.

Empty cornish waves, originally uploaded by s0ulsurfing.

Fragments from a beautiful day at Porthcurno.
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©2010 Jason Swain, All Rights Reserved
This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.

The perfect wave!, originally uploaded by s0ulsurfing.

One for the surfers today….

OK, maybe its not THE perfect wave but its definitely a really nice one coming through at Godrevy, Cornwall.

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©2010 Jason Swain, All Rights Reserved

This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.

Godrevy Surf School Twist and Shout., originally uploaded by s0ulsurfing.

“Well, shake it up, baby, now, (shake it up, baby)
Twist and shout. (twist and shout)
Cmon cmon, cmon, cmon, baby, now, (come on baby)
Come on and work it on out. (work it on out)”

Welcome to the weekend, have fun doing whatever you do.
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©2010 Jason Swain, All Rights Reserved
This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.

The healing power of surfing #1 (tilt-shift?), originally uploaded by s0ulsurfing.

A bit of fun with shifting focus at 300mm, i like how this shot from Godrevy, Cornwall has a slight tilt-shift feel about it.

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©2010 Jason Swain, All Rights Reserved
This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.

I’ve got those Yin-Yang wisdom monday blues., originally uploaded by s0ulsurfing.

Post surf sunset at Gwithian in Cornwall, no photoshop flood filter required, nature does it for you.

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©2010 Jason Swain, All Rights Reserved
This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.

Salt water baptism. A cure for the common cold!, originally uploaded by s0ulsurfing.

Two hours of getting pounded in closing out UK beach-break (still wearing a summer wetsuit in October) followed by a large hot-toddy! Well, maybe not quite a cure, but it hasn’t made me feel any worse than i did before.

Huey and Neptune (the surf gods) sent a surprise groundswell yesterday, and despite having a man-cold i just had to get out there on my birthday and try out my new surfboard (I call him big-red, he’s 9’4″ long, 23″ wide, 3″ thick, classic single fin old-school longboard)

Thanks for all the birthday wishes yesterday, this is another shot from my trip to Cornwall last week.

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©2010 Jason Swain, All Rights Reserved
This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.