Birthday Fix...

Yours truly. Not this evening but making the best of litte'un few weeks back.

Try to get a surf on my Birthday every year and managed to sneak a quick one before dark. Wasn't the best conditions but waves are waves and its my first time in the water for nearly 3/4 weeks!

Also have the internet at home again after 18 months without, so you'll hopefully find a few more posts here too!

After the drought comes the rain...

Yours truly at a spot he surfed alot in the past week. And shouldn't there be a bit of drop knee there Thombo?

After last weekends mini-mission I was lucky enough to get in the water locally most nights last week. True it was far from being the biggest or most memorable surf I've had but the warm weather and late night sliding gave me my fair share of stoke. Noticed elements of my surfing progress too due to just consistently being in the water. Just need to hold unto it through this next system of northerly winds and drought of decent waves...

Nothing ventured, Nothing gained...

There wasn't much a doing locally Saturday morning so Aaron, Steveo and myself decided to put the boards up top and hit the road.

Some unexpected weather caught a few off guard...
The few behind the windscreen and between the hedges

After checking a couple of beachbreaks which were clean but tiny we stayed on the flats hoping something was a doing

Rocky Right

but Aaron unimpressed...

Back on the road

and a North-west left nearly but not quite doing its thing

With time running out and not a wave surfed we again hit the road with the thought of a certain spot in mind. A view of the pigs back en route...

Stiff offshores, a set of small but clean lines, sunshine and crystal blue water was enough to set the boys hearts racing and Aaron's legs running over one last dune...

The gold over the hill. Far from macking but after a day of driving it was more than worth getting in for, especially Steve who was buzzing to be surfing (and ripping!) a wedging left again no matter how small...

The locals wishing us good Baaaaaaaye!

Soft sand and cold hands...

Aarons wagon on a different day and harder sand...

Got word of some unexpected waves from a stranded Awog yesterday who was waiting to get his car pulled free from a spot of soft sand by a local farmer. Enjoyed some leashless, small but surprisingly punchy rights with the lads till well after dark before the walk back to car numbed my hands to the extent I couldn't even grip my car keys...Agony! lol

Back for more...

Cleaner than last night but not any bigger...

Air temps made it feel a bit crisp this morning

Aaron's 6'2 wasn't quite in full flow on the pretty small, flat wave faces. At least he found a bit more success on the fish.

Aaron's girlfriend Laura (who is also my next door neighbour) , supastyling. Found out Laura's currently painting one of my older shots onto a three piece canvas at the minute too. Stoked!

Awok trying to unrun another section on the fish

Yours truly lining up a wee one.

Light Head

Nothing spectacular but ridable...

Few waves and Aaron's ever increasingly pimped out wagon

Turned into a beautiful evening

From sea to shining sea...

Found a few waves after touching down from Scotland at midday. My 12th flight in 21 days. Not quite the lifestyle of the ecologically minded Environmental Scientist. My head was spinning and was feeling pretty lethargic for the first hour or so until the pushing tide started to add a little more size to the small waves and Aaron arrived to share a few laughs. Cheers for the stoke as always bud!

Day Tripping...

Yours truly enjoying to be out again...

The Blondie Bro.

Three Amigos

Marty looking for some fish

He was getting there though

But surfing a 6'2 and 6'6 on your first surf is a steep learning curve

Shorty got low...

(Thanks Anne and Ads for the shots!)

Played tourguide on a wee trip up North today with the cousin, her boyfriend Martin, the bro and his lady.Took Marty for his first ever surf en route too. Not easy on sub 7 foot boards but he seemed to enjoy giving it a whack. Despite being tiny t'was fun getting out for the first time in three weeks. Was starting to feel the land locked blues in Africa. Was also my first time having a sesh in the "shorty" I made and was really impressed by the warmth and extra flex. Definitely be giving it a few more sessions before the water temp drops...

Small but Sunny...

Theres just something I love about watching people paddle out on their knees

The lineup after we left

Silhouetted right

Post surf snacks...

After the washout at yesterdays North West, it was good to score a few small wans in some unexpected sunshine.

River Mouth Bumps...

Unexpected...

Surfed some lumps in front of the river mouth last night. It really was tiny. But I was celebrating. Handed in my last ever bit of uni assessment yesterday. Nuts...

Unexpected finless fun...

My first sight of todays swell. Clean, well shaped but not a lot of size to it. Headed round the corner instead to find something a bit bigger.

After an hour or so in the water I foolishly set the board on top of the car forgetting it was blowing pretty hard, resulting the single fin becoming a zero fin complete with a few scratches.

Every clouds got a silver lining though. Turned out that small clean waves are perfect for a couple of hours of finless fun...

Mini lefts...

First ever water shot couple of years back.

Dissertation due in tomorrow but I kinda promised myself I'd fit a surf in this weekend. Beautiful weather, light offshores but only miniature waves were on offer. Here comes summer...

Rehab...

Summertime longboard peelers a couple of years back

After having the stuffing beaten out of me at footy last Wednesday, the knees felt good enough to go for quick rehab session at the local before lunch yesterday. The waves were small, offshores howling and the closeouts a plenty but it felt damn good to be out there again.

Saw Waveriders on Friday too when I was home working, t'was hard to resist really after reading Paudie's review. It isn't so much an out and out surf film but more a documentary telling the stories of Irelands (surprisingly) rich surf history to the current big wave exploits. Highlights, were seeing so many familar faces and having the north coast featured in a surf movie! The best was definetly saved for last though as the film ended with the Al Mennies, Richie Fitz et al's session at Mullaghmore at the end of 2007, the enormity of the waves really being conveyed by the big screen.

So if you've got a couple of free hours do yourself a favour and go see it here.

Sunny Monday

Not much a doing this morning

Went in search elsewhere

Watching the ankle slappers

The occasional wave

After Sunset

.

Beautiful day here up North. One of those days where you want to be in the water no matter what the waves. Local was really small and mushy so we went in search elsewhere but didn't find much better. Headed back close to home round sunset for a quick wee sesh with Owen and the boys. Small, glassy, closeout fun!