QPR Monday Blues, originally uploaded by s0ulsurfing.

First day out with the camera in 2012 and a trip to my old home to catch some winter waves. Bit of a paddle out if you fancied a surf on this particular day at Freshwater Bay!

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.

Some great GoPro HD footage from Compton Bay on Sunday the 20th of February 2011. Thanks to Nigel Bulloch for his camera, editing patience and skills.

I missed this whole week of swell with the arrival of my son William, but its great to be able to experience it via this footage and some of the other great photos and videos that have been shared on wightsurfhistory.co.uk

Compton Sun 20-2-11 from Nigel Bulloch on Vimeo.

The thing about having a surfing blog / website, is that every now and again you feel obliged to write something to justify all the trouble you went to in building the thing in the first place and all the other time you’ve spent filling it with content in the past. You’ve got to have something to accompany all the surf photos you’re taking, and the search engine robots want to see regular updates and they’re not very good at indexing images alone, so for all those reasons, here’s another dose of my aimless soulsurfer ramblings.

—- Winter’s here, I should have been here yesterday! —-

Seems like every week since that first september swell arrived here on the isle of wight that we’ve been blessed with decent waves, and I think i’ve been spoilt this autumn by an unusually high number of days with good surfing conditions. The right size swell (not too big or too small), at the right angle (not just closing out), combined with the right tides and obliging winds blowing gently offshore. It’s been an amazing run, and i’ve enjoyed every wave, but it’s made me complacent and fooled me into thinking that there will always be another good day along soon.

But this week has reminded me that winter surfing here is different, the window of opportunity is smaller, and you need to be patient as well as alert to make sure you’re on it when everything comes together, and sometimes you just got to get in even when conditions aren’t right, because that’s what its all about here, getting in and enjoying it no matter what. And you have to put the work in on the hard days, because its the days getting battered by big pounding close-outs that make those good days all the sweeter when they do come.

Everyone knows the expression ‘you should have been here yesterday’ when you turn up to the beach and all the talk is about how good it was the day before (when you were working, or sick, or stuck somewhere you couldn’t escape from) but whats the expression for those times when you were here yesterday, and you didn’t go in because you were fussy and the conditions weren’t quite right and you thought it would better later or the next day? and then of course you woke to find that it wasn’t.

Whatever it is, I’ve been kicking myself for the last few days, I can sort of blame the dentist for missing out, but really i’ve only myself to blame. I drove past the bay early Tuesday morning to see it absolutely firing, big hollow waves being held up by the strong offshore’s and the lines seeming to come marching in in an endless procession. I knew it wouldn’t be too long before the big spring tide would be making bouncy backwash from the sea defences, and the vision of heaven would become a frustrating mess, but i really couldn’t blow off the dentist as i’ve still got a great big hole where my wisdom tooth extraction became a dry socket, and i really needed to hear that was getting better (the pain of exposed nerves and an infection in your jaw bone can focus the mind)

So two hours later, after driving through torrential rain along the military road, and getting the all clear from my dentist, i’m back at the bay after seeing every point along the coast doing its thing on my return trip to Ventnor. And thats when i first got it wrong, I stood around and watched for a while but spoilt by remembering all those lovely clean peeling sunlit autumn waves in my mind, i turned down the chance to join the few brave souls out there in the big challenging semi-close-outs in a freezing cold howling north-easterly and went home for something to eat and get a bit of work done while the wind and tide sorted itself out.

But as the saying goes, time and tide wait for no man, and this isn’t a story with a happy ending, i’d waited to long (4hrs) and by the time i got back there, the swell had left the bay completely, the waves that a few hours earlier had been breaking boards, were nowhere to be seen and all that was left was the cold wind and puddles from earlier. I drove on to Compton hoping for a few leftovers, and there was still a few out there, but i let my disappointment at what i missed cloud my judgment, and i didnt even go in there, telling myself that the best plan was to wait for the pushing tide in the morning with the promise of sunshine and lighter winds. I took these pictures whilst hanging around debating whether to go in or not, and now i’m here looking at them i cant help wondering wtf i was thinking and why didnt i just get wet whilst there was still a wave at least

So Wednesday morning came, and the sun did shine, but inevitably my early start wasn’t rewarded and i had plenty of time sitting around in weak messy cross-shore 1ft surf to think about the real waves i’d let pass me by just 24hrs before, and now i’m looking back at them on my camera and monitor it seems really dumb as there was clearly still the odd nice wave coming through.

Still, its early in the winter swell season and another big swell is probably already brewing somewhere in the North Atlantic, and i’ve re-learnt the valuable lesson of south coast surfing…. I should have been here yesterday, and he who hesitates is lost… (rodney)

This Saturday sees the start of the IOW Surf Club Frost Bite Series!

• Essentially it is a winter league.
• 1 Comp a Month.
• Oct-March
• 6 events
• Your best three results to count.

How will it work? First Saturday of the month that has contestable waves means the contest is on. i.e it is a rolling waiting period.

• Open Division (shortboards and longboards)
• Womens Division
• Groms (U18 Boys & Girls)

This sat is the first event. 8am meet at Hanover with hopefully 8.30 start. £10 to join club and then £2.50 for every comp after or £5 entry for non members.
See you all there!

Frost Bite surf comp!

****Update****
****Results and report from the first comp!*****

Report courtesy of Oliver Harvey & The Isle of Wight Surf Club

The first ‘Frost bite’ competition of six being held this winter, sponsored kindly by the boys at Rapanui was a great success.

Greeted with pretty grim onshore head-high waves at Compton, first up we saw the groms test the water. Both Robin & Dylan snagged plenty of waves each but Robin gradually took control with a couple of good waves to take the first event. The waves continue to prove challenging for the mens Open, as the pool of 16 riders entered the water in 4 man, 20 min heats.
Julie Tortajada, in the first quarter final, took the Ladies title getting several fun waves. From the first round the following progressed into the semis:

Heat 1:

1.Richard Gray

2. Jamie Whittle

Heat 2:

1. Nick Whittle

2. Foz Heat

Heat 3:

1. Jo Truman

2. Al Reed

Heat 4:

1. Doug Richards

2. Matt Harwood

Semi One saw Douglas Richards start to show his quality, making some nice aggressive turns , and following him after a somewhat slow start, Jo’s local knowledge paid dividends, hooking into some good little rights, his smooth style saw him up his wave count and into second place only 0.5 points behind Dougie & just ahead of Rich who surfed well in both his heats.

In Semi Two, Matt, keen to progress, started with a bang – getting several scores on the board in quick succession. Al also posted some scores whilst Jamie & Nick, who both showed good form earlier on, were quiet until the last quarter, when Nick started to make a come-back, but too little, too late saw Al & Matt progress into the final

The Final was closely fought battle , the waves failed to improve, which saw the judges favourite going into the final, Doug, making a subdued start. We did see glimmers of his solid style, but the waves just didn’t go his way. Matt, with a great high scoring first wave, continued to post some respectable scores, streaking ahead on wave count alone, Al found a solid right all the way into the inside, showing some style with cross-steps & smooth cutbacks. Jo’s consistency and nack for finding those fun inside walls, meant he edged ahead of Al into second and Matt taking the top spot with skill & tenacity.

Final Scores:

1.Matt Harwood 11.83

2. Jo Truman 11.53

3. Al Reed 10.16

4. Doug Richards 9.63

The IOW Surf Club would like to say a big thank you for all turning up to make it a great little event. Hopefully we’ll see even bigger competitor numbers, in the next round in the IOW Surf Club Frost Bite series, as what seems like a 1/3 of the IOW surfers return from their Indonesian adventures! Boys, you missed out today !

A big shout out for all girls & groms wanting to get involved. I’m sure Julie, Robin & Dylan would love to beat you in heat & there’s hoodies, t-shirts & other prizes to be won !

It costs £2.50 per comp for existing members

£10 for non-members, which gives your Isle of Wight Surf Club Membership also including your BSA Membership www.britsurf.co.uk/bsa-membership

And that brings me to a last big thank you to Rapanui , who are very generously sponsoring every event of the Frost Bite Series.

For those who haven’t heard of them, Rapanui are an award winning Eco-Fashion company based/born’n’bred on the Isle of Wight.

They make some damm tasty ethical clothing using natural organic fabrics and manufactured using renewable energy in a Fair Wear Foundation audited, wind powered factory. Check them out:

www.rapanuiclothing.com/about

Got there in the end, this is the final batch from the afternoon of Friday 3rd September, just after low tide with a pretty stiff offshore breeze making it good fun as the tide pushed in, Fingers crossed for some more waves on the way (this weekend if we’re lucky).

September Swells on the IOW, looks can be deceiving (1 of 2), originally uploaded by s0ulsurfing.

Fingers crossed we have more waves on the way this weekend, so i’m clearing out the archives in expectation of them.

Is Ross Williams just about to slip into a little barrel? or does that look suspiciously like a closeout?

———————————–
©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.

Fingers crossed for some new hurricane swell on the way (this weekend if we’re lucky), and i’ve finally got around to sorting out a few more photos from the great swell at the beginning of the month.

This batch are from the afternoon of Friday 3rd September, just after low tide with a pretty stiff offshore breeze making it good fun as the tide pushed in.

A short surf video by Paul Blackley shot for the Wight Surf History Project, its from Friday September 3rd at Compton Bay, and if you look closely you can spot me a few times

So, the swell has peaked now and there’s time to look back at more photos, here’s another batch of shots from Thursday 2nd, shot straight into the evening sun again so there’s a few more mono edits trying to make the most of the back-light and silhouettes.

The next batch will be from mid afternoon and the pushing tide on Friday 3rd which although it wasn’t what you’d call really big, we still saw a broken board, a broken head and a snapped leash!

Back-lit Split Tone Mystery Surfer Shimmering Silhouette Saturday, originally uploaded by s0ulsurfing.

September Swells Lighting up Compton Bay!

South coast surfers spend long flat summer days dreaming of September swells arriving from far-off tropical storms and hurricanes, this year they arrived right on time! A lovely long range groundswell made its way up the channel yesterday (2nd Sept) and built through today (3rd Sept), fingers crossed it keeps coming for the weekend!

It’s the first solid swell since i got the Canon 7d, so as well as enjoying some proper waves myself, i made sure to hang around and take lots of photos too. The first two batches are shot into the early evening sun, so at times all i got was shimmering silhouettes (which is why i went for a few monochrome shots edited in Lightroom) but every now and then i got a little back-lit beauty too.

There’s a few shots of Joe Truman making the most of it and finding a little shade on a warm sunny afternoon.

Part Two (more from 2nd Sept) and parts 3 & 4 (more from 3rd Sept) will follow as soon as i get time to upload and look through all the shots i took (so maybe when the swell is over?)