Thanks to Dave Jones for these superb surfing images and look forward to seeing more from his surf travels. If you are looking for decent surf shots of yourself and you are based in the Swansea/ Gower region then Dave is your man.
From September onwards it is time to pack your bags and visit the South West coast of Portugal. We run Live Surf Travel breaks and long weekends for intermediate and upwards surfers.
www.algarvegsd.com
GSD is open all year on Gower, in addition to offering next step lessons on the Algarve in South West Portugal and small groups and 1-2-1 lessons on Fistral Beach in Newquay, Cornwall.
When the Fall comes we head out to the Algarve for some late sun and warm waves. The beaches are empty and the local surfers super cool.
Portugal Te Amo.
On Friday the 4th of August a small ground swell pushed on to Gower, part of the welsh surfing coastline. There to greet these perfect waves were the wave hungry junior surfing academy armed with their INT wave riding vehicles. Parents/guardians and spectators stood on the becah and cheered the surfers on. Yeeehhhaaaaa !
All pictures are the personal property of Fluidshotz.com and Chris Vaughan.
Chris is as passionate about his photography as his surfing and aspires to be one of Wales' most exciting photographers.Chris is a surf coach for GSD surf school and a crewman on the Mumbles Lifeboat. Be sure to check out his site at www.fluidshotz.com
3rd of August at Caswell beach, Gower. A group of young people from all over the Uk hit the Welsh surf. The surf was perfect, with offshore winds and sun shining the group rode these perfect small waves with style. GSD welcomes them all to the surfing family.
Every surfer, should come and visit the surfing Mecca. With waves for all abilities from first timer to kamikaze it is all here on an 8 mile stretch known as the country. The opposite of this is known as town or 'wacky wacky' which is also a fun place to surf a 12 ft barge with your family on it.
If you plan on visiting the aloha state then make sure you sort out your place to stay way in advance as in the northern hemi winter months places are few and far between. In fact I was told of a young surfer paying 300 dollars a month to sleep under a house up near sunset beach!!
Talking of Sunset Beach, today and over the next few days it is hosting the Stand Up World Tour and has amazing conditions on tap, pic below was taken this morning by myself when I went to catch up with friends whom are competing in the event.
After watching some of the heats and the swell grow I opted for a fun session at pinballs with only a handful of other surfers in the water on massive surfboards it was a fun session and the vibe in the water was so mellow with everyone cheering each others waves.
The swell is going to be much bigger over next few days so will post more pictures and info of what's happening on the north shore.
Below a beast in Europe tamed by GMAC, pic and info on Billabong XXL site
Wow, it is mainland Europe and not in USA or Hawaii, what will the surf media do now?
Over a decade ago surfers were still migrating to the North Shore so as to quench their quest for surfing the 'biggest waves'.
A decade on and surfers are now basing themselves on the West Coast of Ireland, Portugal and other secret spots around Europe that present massive XXL waves courtesy of the North Atlantic.
To even write something like this short article, over a decade ago, you would have been laughed out of town or sent to a hospital.
Now, well the evidence is out there, big wave surfing is moving out of the old places. Big wave surfing is dynamic and organic so should we be surprised?
Those are just the spots that are highlighted in the surf media, the others are still being kept quiet for now and hopefully will stay that way for a while. I wonder, if we will now see a quieter North shore as an exodus to places in Europe occurs?
Just off the press, Surfline has run an article on Europes XXl swell (not swells) > Europe goes XXL
Time will tell, one thing is for sure, monsters are out there waiting to be ridden, good luck.
In one of my recent posts I allowed myself to get carried away by 'surf forecasts' the post is here big wave surfers.... First and foremost sorry to anyone that sat and watched the Mavs 2013 contest and secondly those that took Tuesday off work to go surf big waves. Why? Well there were none to be had and Mavericks well.....
The Mavericks 2010 winner Chris Bertish following his 2nd round heat was being interviewed by the webcast team and summed up the whole event with this statement when asked about the conditions... 'it's a great day for a game of golf..' I laughed so much I nearly fell off the sofa, what a classic statement from a guy that won the Mavs contest in the largest paddle in surf for a contest to date.
However, it appears that the west coast of Ireland yet again did manage to get some good XXL waves on Monday here is the video of a nominated Billabong XXL ride love the filming.
Down south in some of the Atlantic Islands 20 foot faces were reported and I am sure Maroc was a good size too, but it appears that the swell focused soley on the Irish coastline. Which, if it had sun would be as busy as the North Shore of Oahu for sure.
As for Gower well we had some nice waves and conditions but only small in the 2 meter range, see pic below I took yesterday. The only upside was, two of us out, prob because it was minus 1, snowing and baltic!!
As for surf forecasts, I have returned to just observing the weather charts like we use to years ago when watching Mike Fish on BBC 1. The best site for this is Tony Butt's weather/surf forecast site > Old school weather charts however, do not rely on charts that are predicted to far ahead in the future, they are ok for an early warning system, but ultimately you need the storm in the water. Then when they are active you can track them via numerous sites and then via wave buoys.
Anyway, sorry for getting carried away with the thought of big waves here.. will be more conservative in the future!
Surfline, Surf Model and Storm Surf forecast are both showing two XXL storms, one currently in the North Pacific which could trigger one of the following events > The Eddie, Mavs, Nelscott Reef or Jaws.. the betting money at the moment is it could be the Mavericks event that runs so keep a close eye on their website (would like to see Cristo win again).
Also a secomd massive storm is forecasted to develop and send huge watery mountains towards Ireland and west coasts of Europe and yes even here on Gower will be blasted!! However, this storm is not in the water yet so fingers crossed and lets hope it happens.
Below is a screen grab of my Surfline Premium accounts forecast for here in Wales.. so far it's showing XXL so will be nice to surf some good size waves at home for a change, the last time was with elite surfer Tom Fisher nearly a decade ago.
There has been a massive push by the media to highlight big wave surfing and slab surfing, which inturn has stimulated a demand/need for more surfers to step forward and take the plunge so to speak.
Pretty images of waves on their best behaviour are displayed on facebook pages and always on view in surf mags and websites which is great, but, unfortunately they have started naming spots and giving information on them mostly for financial gain of course ie to rent out their properties, sell mags etc etc
I have recently read two awesome articles in the last few weeks, both posted by long time, hard core Gower surfer Mike Maunder which address the subject of risk and big waves.
Link 2 was written by Greg Long a highly trained and experienced big wave surfer, he survived the Cortes banks hold down event because of his personal training regime and the team surrounding him. Think about that one, the team support saved his life. Compare this with link 1's story and ask yourself who is taking the biggest risk?
Many hardore old skool surfers would say, 'once you jump into the ocean you are on your own anyway..' or the late great Mark Foo RIP, said, 'to experience the ultimate thrill you must be prepared too pay the ultimate price..'
One of my surfing heroes, Mr Ken Bradshaw once stated when interviewed about wipeouts in big waves..' it's not about surviving, I know I am going to survive, it's all about reacting the best possible way to deal with the situation that I am in..'
With all this in mind, do you still want to ride big waves? Well here is a 10 point plan if so.
1) Don't do it, opt for chop hopping instead
2) Buddy up, or create a small network of guys that want to charge and train with you.
3) Take a Beach lifeguard course.
4) Train hard, include sea swimming in rough conditions.
5) Equipment, fine tune it to what works in specific conditions, watch the big wave events on webcasts and listen to the competitors talking about their equipment choices.
6) Talk to the older guys, try to log as much info on 'what if scenarios'
7) Get a mentor who can help hold your hand on the first few years of big wave hunting.
8) Learn about the spots you want to surf, small details like getting in and out, what if I lose my board? Nearest hospital, how do I get in if the usual spot is maxed out?
9) Diet and drinking, with the forecasting info available now we know anything up to 10/14 days in advance of XXL conditions somewhere on the planet, if your going to attempt it then ensure you cut out binge drinking and focus on food sources that will ensure you are tip top for the big event, just in case the worst happens.
10) There are loads more points, but you are probably bored by now or just thinking that this old guy is trying to scare me etc etc if so return to top tip 1 chop hop instead it is safer!
Anyway, 'fools rush where Angels fear to tread..' see you out the back in 2013 a big Aloha, Mahalo to all my surf buddies including Mr Mike Campbell AKA 'The Coach' for being a fantastic mentor over the last 6 or so winters on danger island.
p.s have to tell you this little gem quickly.. the other day I was surfing the jewel it was packed, due to Xmas break, & the pimping of the spot. It was small (dangerous combo) and I watched a female Euro surf start paddling around the line up like she was in a soft beach break in France AKA (a water spider).. anyway, I thought long and hard about it and finally said to her, I advise you not to paddle for the first wave of the sets, leave that to the crazy people... she looked at me and said, But, I am crazy!!
Yep, WTF do I know, should have kept my mouth shut, instead of parting with a tip that may save her from a smashing or worse... What would you have done?
Pic above: me happy to be back on dry land with a part of my beloved Bonzer 5 shaped by Malcom Campbell.. I had a few beers that arvo I can tell you :))
Currently the North Atlantic surf charts are showing 3 macking swells heading full steam to the best spots in Europe, I am sure that there will be some XXL rides over the next week possibly Ireland, Portugal or even Pais Basque... Interestingly even Kernow is going to take a beating due to the westerly direction of the storm systems with 2morrow arvo showing a long distance swell and building rapidly with southerly winds perfect for north coast action see you down there!
What an awesome week in the Pacific, it was amazing be able to watch my 3rd eddie live from the safety of miserable mumbles (thank you Quiksilver). While Crazy Chris gets ready for Mavs to embrace the Eddie swell..Jaws has also been doing it's thing. As for here, it has stopped raining for the moment....
Several places will be going off the scale over the next few days the well known spots named above and those semi-secret places, the special ones hidden away in the Atlantic and Pacific embracing the full northern hemi winter swells and producing mountains for the few to ride.
Saw this video nasty the other day and it is really heavy > Jaws, Maui wipeout
For information on Mavericks click here > Mavs surf
For update info on the amazing waves at Oxwich and Gower surf > Gower live
If your not into scratching for the horizon then you will be glad to
know that places like Oxwich will prob work again this week don't
forget your swell board!
Gower is a great place to learn to surf due the nature of the waves we cater for beginners upwards and all are welcome > Gower surf school
The above picture shows David in his boat watching the boys tag a few bombs. These of course produced by a series of super low pressure systems that made it a very special winter here in the Atlantic.
Here is hoping that we get more of the same next winter, oh well summer is here now, time to train and stay tuned until that magic moment of dropping down one of these mountains happens again...
Cape Town - Red Bull are proud to announce their ninth edition of the Red Bull Big Wave Africa surfing event. This event, one of only three big wave paddle-only events in the world and the second longest running event, is set to take place at the big wave spot known as Dungeons, off the Sentinel in Hout Bay, Cape Town.
The waiting period for the event runs from 1 June until 31 August, with a 48-hour call for the event day to allow international surfers to make their way to South Africa. The contest organisers have opened up the field to allow 24 surfers to compete in the event, giving it a wider field and more scope.
Come on Cristo, the guy that did more for big wave surfing here in the UK than anyone else and helped develop us on K38 training courses is in this event and you can see his profile along with all the other competitors via the events website below. There are also some pictures of the hell man on this blog click here Chris bertish big wave surfer
The Red Bull Big Wave Africa website is going to be the central hub from which all information, images, video and downloads can be found, as well as athlete profiles and a history of the event. This year the event is going to be have live streaming, so that people from around the world can watch the event live. If you would like to receive event status reports and updates please register on the event website www.redbullbwa.com
With the Cape having already experienced some phenomenal waves this year, things look good for a great event. Dungeons has proved that it can produce some of the biggest waves in the world, and this year we wait in anticipation to see if it can turn on to its full potential.
I love Hawaii, it's that simple. Every wave tests you and your ability. I truly believe that if one is to be a surfer he/she must travel to the home of surfing to sample it's delights at least once.
Here are just a few of Richards surf shots, how good would it be to have your logo on his boards! Well now here is your chance, he needs a sponsor for the forthcoming years to help him compete on the BPSA and travel the world surfing radical waves.
These cool campers are now available from the guys at www.surfseekers.co.uk the M.D has surfed for 30 plus years and travelled extensively in various types of surfer vehicles and came up with these beauties.
At the Eisteddfod Swansea 2006 our Welsh speaking surfing coaches held a Picture contest. Fun was had by all including some as young as three years old. Local Welsh artist Rhys Mason was on hand to pick the top pictures and they have been selected for our surf blog.
Four of the artists will be recieve a phone call over the next week to claim their free surf day at Caswell with us.
Thank you to all the young people that entered and had fun at the Eisteddfod
GSD surfing staff are available for events and exhibitions around the UK. If you would like us to visit your show please contact us. We offer a surfing lesson, surf contests and offer great prizes. We have worked on stands including the Welsh Tourist Board and Welsh Assembly.
