Yay! The surf's arrived.

Finally after three weeks of little to no surf we've got a solid swell that looks set to continue for the next week. Water's warming up slowly too and I've taken off my gloves but it's only just warm enough to surf without them. The hoods gone too which is a big relief especially as I got sunburnt yesterday which would have made for very stupid looking tan lines had I been wearing it!

I've been making full use of the last 3 days of surf and as a result am feeling sore and tired and have done very little work but now I've got the desperation out of my system I'm going to have to knuckle down, not the easiest thing to do when you can see the surf's pumping on the webcam.

Helen and I went up to Llangennith yesterday to interview Pete Jones who runs the surf shop and surfline surf report for the area. He talked to us about the changes he's seen in his 40 years of surfing Gower. We then headed to Langland for a surf in the sunshine. His interview should be online next week sometime.

Next weekend is the Welsh Nationals in Pembrokshire so I'm heading down with some of the other girls to give it a go and looks like the swell's going to stick round too. Should be a good weekend.

See you in the water.

Carbon Offsetting and a Party (No surf though!)

What a rubbish month for surf. Apart from those 2 lovely days on the 30th and 31st March. But April has been dire, either flat or really windy, all in time for the start of the contest season! Hopefully it'll pick up soon.

In the meantime Helen and I have been busy working on ideas for the feature length version and doing some more filming.

This week we went to Bristol to interview Richard Whistance the founder of The C Change Trust, a carbon offsetting charity with a difference.

They're a UK based charity and the money goes towards re-establishing, planting and maintaining green spaces and native woodland. Renewable energy projects and educating school children.  Richard was great to interview and very passionate about sustainability and climate change I think he'll be great on screen I just don't envy Helen wading through what was a long and interesting interview and getting it down to a couple of minutes of screen time.

Tonight we're going to the Tonnau Surfers Ball at Langland, Gower. The magazine are organising a party at which we are screening some of the film so far and if we have time my surf film Grey Days.  Should be a good night and be good to get some feedback before we get going on the finished film.

I'll blog on how it goes and hopefully there'll be some surf by next week!

 

Funding and some lovely surf.

Surf's going flat this week but we've had a couple of lush days over the last couple of weeks with last Monday being the best of them. With sunshine, light winds and 4-6ft of swell it felt like summer was on the way. Unfortunatly it doesn't look like we'll be seeing anything like that for at least the next 10 days.

We got some good news from the Welsh Film Agency who have offered their support for the film and have awarded us a grant in order to get the film another editor and for marketing. They would like to see the film making it to the cinemas and hopefully with their support it will. Exciting times! All we need now is the surf!

Issue 7 now online.

Issue 7 is now online and looking good.

 It can be seen on Blip TV  or on YouTube.

The facebook group can also be joined here!

As far as the surfing is going at the moment I've not got much to report as I've been ill the last 2 weeks and when ever my friends have rung to say what a lovely surf they've just had I've just stuck my fingers in my ears and hummed to myself. But I'm fit and healthy again and as sods law would have it it's flat!  Hopefully there'll be something around the end of the week.

See you in the water!

OnthePush 07

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Save the Waves protect surf spots- and coastlines.

12th March 2008 Good surf and storms.

Well it's been another mixed couple of weeks. I've had 2 days of stunning surf on (Big) Wednesday the 27th Feb and Tuesday 4th March, the sun shone and the winds were light and I surfed until my arms were noodles and there was no feeling in my feet.  This is the first winter in 10 years of surfing where I have been able to manage 3 surfs a day. Up until this year I've normally found it hard enough to go in a second time let alone a third. My new wetsuit has a large part to play in this but it is the warmer air temperature that's making a real difference.  It is also the first time I've got sun burnt at this time of year, a nice bonus you might think - looking tanned at this time of year but unfortunately wearing a winter wetsuit and cap have lead to silly tan lines so I've ended up looking like I either haven't washed or rubbed my foundation in properly.  

Days before it appeared in the news surfers were muttering about the storm of the winter being due this week along with the biggest tides. And as predicted it's been big and stormy but no more so than it is every winter here.  The big tides that have come at the same time were the biggest worry but it seems the Welsh coast has stood up well. The pictures in this blog were taken this morning on Porthcawl sea front. It was awesome to watch the shear size and power of the waves, beautiful and scary - I was glad to be on land.

On The Push - Issue 7 is due online at the end of the week and features interviews on the dredging of sandbars, a natural sea defence in both Gower and Northern Spain. An appropriate issue for if storm like this one become more common we are going to regret removing sand from offshore to build houses (often in flood risk areas) onshore.

The films will also soon be up on youtube too.  

26th Feb 2008

Well I've been surfing nearly everyday but the last couple of weeks haven't been anything special. I've no complaints though as the surf has mostly been joined by sunshine and an hour of sun at this time of year does as much for me as a surf.

Last Friday saw the 2 week sunny and dry spell (another January record!) broken by a steady drizzle and as Murphy's Law would have it it was also the day we had also arranged to interview John Powell otherwise known as the Gower Weatherman. He's been monitoring the weather from his place on Gower for 47 years. All the information he collates then goes to the MET office. He also does the weather report for local radio. 

He confirmed what all the papers have said and what we all noticed that January was the mildest on record. On the 10th it didn't drop below 10.3 degrees all night - exceptionally warm. On average Gower was 2 degrees above normal all January.  It might not seem like much but the flora and fauna notice changes in temperature a lot more than us and it will have knock on affects that we wont even realise.

I remember last winter being really warm and if this winter has been even warmer again I'm wondering what next year will bring?

 I'd be interested to see if there have been any changes in patterns of ocean storms in the North Atlantic over the last few years too, not just as a surfer but as someone who lives in an area of coastal flooding. This is one of the other predictions for global warming. So if you know or are some one who has access or knows where we might get this type of information please get in touch.

Well the wind's dropped and there's a decent swell on the buoys so I'm off for an early night and I'm not sure if I'll notice those extra 2 degrees at six in the morning it is still winter for me this week!