Newton (Porthcawl), Wales with JK and Clive

7/10/10

Headed out to South West Wales with John and Clive for a late afternoon session at Newton near Porthcawl.  When I first arrived John was on his 6.4m Boxer SL and 110L and Clive was rigging a 6.5m +110L.  I was a little more optimistic as I saw the forecast said it would die for a bit then pick up more later.  Repaired my 6m Amp again with stickers as I had just dropped the 6.1m NP firefly in for repair at Blue chip in Cheam for a quoted £150.  Rigged this with the 91L 27cm fin and headed out.  After a couple of OK blasts the wind dropped and I struggled to back in, wishing I followed JK’s and Clive’s lead.  Luckily the tide was flowing in the opposite direction to the wind so any downwind loss when sailing/trying to balance was counteracted by upwind current when in the water.  Once back on shore we hung around for about an hour then the wind kicked in again to order.  I was pleased I took the 91L at this point as there was some great sailing to be had out there and managed to get about another hour on the water until it started getting too dark.  Unfortunately I didn’t get any photos here.

Newton Bay Beach location at the end of Beach Road

Blightly Baptism of Fire (Camber)

1/10/10

Arranged with Mike to go windsurfing at Camber Sands, Kent in the morning.  After a brief chat with the Kite surfing centre on the front there at low tide we decided to head east to get less on shore conditions.  After my first full English breakfast, we found a car park at Romney Sands to park up at and rig up.  The wind was absolutely storming easily gusting 30+knots so we headed out on 4.4/4.5m sails and 90Litre boards.  After quite a walk out to get to the water as it was low tide we got out in cross shore winds with the wave heading cross on in Southerly wind direction.  The waves seemed to be rolling in nicely and we both got some good jumps out there.  Later on the wind picked up even more, so I decided to try my 75Litre RRD Wavecult and strap the Gopro HD camera on for the first time (Video below).  I found the difference between this and the 91L in cutting through the waves quite something else especially when heading through the break.  What a great day to come back to windsurfing in the UK, I found that these were some of the best conditions I had had in the last 3 months maybe minus the driving rain and gloomy skies though. 

Romney Sands Car park opposite Romney Tavern

Mike pulling a face like a Hamster in a wind tunnel  

75L +4.4m with Romney tide becoming high in background.

Goodbye Greece - Back on the road again to Blightly

26/09/2010 

Heading onto Patra from Athens, I boarded the ferry to Ancona, Italy.  After the usual trying to find out exactly where to go. Finally on board, because I asked for ‘Camping on Board’ which is basically sleeping in the campervan, they said they don’t do that but would give me a cabin and free meal for the same price.  After relaxing in a nice cabin, after my meal another guy opens the door to the cabin whilst I’m writing this blog and starts to make himself at home.  Speaking no English he show’s me the card with the same cabin number,  so after having a moan at reception they said I have to share with 3 people or upgrade for 40euros for a cabin on my own and that it was a good deal.  So just a note of warning if you go with a crappy ferry company called Minoan, you have to ask about every conceivable situation as they don’t tell you anything on the phone and it says nowhere on the tickets – and these bunch of cowboys were supposed have won customer service of the year.

27/09/10

After a good night’s sleep (luckily the Bulgarian trucker slept quietly) I still had a bit of time on the boat then finally 22 hours later (4pm) arrived at Ancona, Italy.  Headed in the direction of Milan and stopped to fuel up in Bologna and had a 15 minute conversation with a keen non English speaking Italian pump attendant (Max) from what I understood was also a windsurfer.  He also put me on the phone to his Mum who explained how to get to the large supermarket, so I could get loaded up with Italian wine etc.

Heading on, the obvious stop off point was Lake Como near to the Swiss border,  after about 30euros  worth of Italian toll costs, I found a parking spot at this very picturesque area where the mountain is littered with houses and mansions lit up and cut into to the rock face overlooking a calm lake.  There are many parking restrictions here but I found a small car park where the toll free hours were midnight until 8AM which was when I arrived.  I must admit I am glad I didn’t have a vehicle larger than the van as is would make it difficult to navigate some of the roads here and it would have been difficult to ‘free camp’ here which would have meant staying at one of the service stations on the toll roads which is not a bad option but it is nice to go to some of the small bars they have in these off the road locations.

28/09/10

Headed towards Zurich, Switzerland through some lovely looking countryside and some great toll free road infrastructure and through the 3^rd longest tunnel in the world (St. Gotthard Tunnel) at approximately 16.4km long and contra-flow-wow!  By the afternoon I was there, I thought I stay here and have a look around the city. I enquired at the campsite for parking up for the night and was told it would be 31 Swiss Francs (25 Euros) instead I parked over the road in small car park for 2 euros and cycled into town.  Looking around Zurich was quite interesting but I would say it was not a great place to visit with everything being so expensive e.g a coffee from Starbucks was the equivalent of £5 and even a dodgy hamburger you are looking at £7.  I stayed the night and a first time use of the winter sleeping bag was required, I can see the acclimatisation back to British weather is going to be difficult for me after the nice Greek summer.

29/09/10

Headed towards Frankfurt and out of Switzerland, I always seem to get stop at the borders and asked if I have anything to declare and if I was carrying more than 10,000 euros after saying ‘Switzerland was too expensive’ and ‘I wish’ respectively. They let me on my way.  That night I stayed with some family friend’s in Germany near the Luxemburg border I found it quite funny that they had a neighbours pig called 'Paulina' that would roam the street and venture into their garden eating the chestnuts.  Thanks Jeanette and Bert for putting me up.

30/09/10

Headed onto Dunkirk for the ferry to Dover, I arrived that night for nice home cooked meal at my Parents – great!

Goodbye Paros, Hello Athens

17/08/2010

It was time to leave Paros, the forecast was not looking so good and it was becoming very quiet on the Island.  I headed back via a stop off to Naxos to return my boom to Flisvos.  At Flisvos I met Martin and showed him the boom, no questions asked he swapped it for another new one and he said he had never seen this happen before, so hopefully it was a one off.  Having a look around, I also purchased a 6m Neil Pryde Firefly as my 2006 AMP has started to go brittle and has a split on the top panel, has a hole in the luff and has a poor repair on the bottom panel. I also needed a 430cm mast as I had been previously rigging my 6m on a 460cm. Mat kept telling me I need a smaller fin to loosen up the 91L so bought a 24cm Chocco fin.  Due to seeing the GO pro HD footage of Yoshi and John, I decided to get a Go Pro camera also with boom mount chucked in for free.  Really, I only went to change boom but the deals I was being offered were too good to miss in comparison to UK prices (sorry British economy but if we continue to get ripped off we will have to buy from other EU member states – my understanding is that in the UK the supply are passing through too many hand with each putting a mark up on).  To top it off, he said do I need anything else.  Mat and I had discussed getting some cheap old school wave boards in the 70L range as they would have been good for the 2 4m days we had, so I asked.  He showed me 2008 75L RRD Wavecult that has had a repair from Peter the guy that did a good repair on the Mistral – 150 euros – not quite old school need I say more (picture to follow from first use in Camber, UK)

Took the Hispeed ferry to Athens (3 hours instead of 6 hours) this thing really shifts – looking at the wake at the back it is like being on a gigantic speed boat.  Hit Athens at 10pm to meet with friends.

21/08/2010

Was on Evia, a mainland connected Island North-East of Athens. Went on a long search for wind to a place called Kymi as the direction was coming from the North.  Looking back I should have just headed back to the South east side of Athens and maybe got the best of it at Lavrio nr the Power station.

22/08/2010

Drove to Anavyssos on the west coast South of Athens to meet Zanetos who we met on Paros.  I got there early and rigged a 5.3m +91L.  When venturing out I found the conditions very gusty with an all or nothing type wind as it was coming across the land from the north, maybe it would have been better from a southerly.  The water was super flat, but going to this bay makes me finally realise that I like the waves/chop and the variances that they bring and hate all or nothing wind scenarios. 

Rigged the newly purchased 6.1m Firefly on the 91l and then the 110L due to the on off conditions.  The sail performed great and felt very lightweight and handled the gusts well.  Right at the end of the day I was trying to catch a gust to get planning, the point when the gust hit there was someone downwind and ahead of me heading towards me.  Usually I think I would have been OK and held the sail but it seemed to be a catapult or crash scenario, so I went for the catapult and ripped the upper section of the sail L .  I sailed it back in but was obviously annoyed.

Anavyssos Bay

Zenetos

Broken centre panel

23/08/2010

Went to Loutsa beach East of Athens, this point was further south of the main point where people sail from at Loutsa.  I found the location less crowded and a friendly bunch.  The spot is said to get less clean wind and you have to sail further out to catch the wind as it was a Northerly the land spit provides a shadow for the wind for the beach and the first 100m so it is good if you want to go with non windsurfing friends in a Northerly etc.  I repaired my old 6m Naish with the RRD sticker set I had and took the 110L RRD.  Once out I found the wind very consistent and with chop and a few ramps.  Not wanting to miss the opportunity I quickly changed to the 91L.  It was great to get out again in good conditions and getting some good air time again, a great note to finish my tie up windsurfing in Athens and even Greece.

all this fitted In one Van!!

Except the Starboard Carve 111, which I will ALWAYS take with me from now on!!!!

Van conversion:- in hind sight the Fiamma Turbo Vent is a must.. and the 40w solar panel I purchased was not man enough for the job, need at least 80w

the conversion worked well enough but not enough for two sleeping.. as I found out at my cost, and had to sleep on a camp bed outside the van..

Tom had no problems with his conversion, I think the only problem being with wet kit in the living compartment and sand..

BRRRRR Nederlands

Anyway got bored of Tom talking about his RRD 91.. Blah Blah .. only kiddin mate.. and headed back to the cold.. back through Athens to Vassiliki then to Igoumenitsa.. maybe witnessed the most craziest driving of my life in Athens.. where people would race along the motoway and overtake on the inside without their headlights on.. where the road didnt have street lighting..

Ferry to Ancona then to Lake Garda for one night, through to Zurich past lake Como and through a 17km pass through the alpes.. you can see the weather change as soon as your though the alpes.. rain and more rain!!

camped up for the night just outside Freiburg then on toward sunny Amsterdam.. to meet up with my friend Mark, who I used to sail with when in lived in Amsterdam..

Parked up in Muiderburg outside of Amsterdam towards Almere, as I knew this spot and wouldn't get hassled free camping.. and the locals bars and restaurants are very good!! txt'd mark and the wind was arriving right on time.. meeting in schellinkhout, 11am the next day. So old Mark arrives 2 hours late (fair play though he just have a little'un to sort out) in the tinyest rental car that I think was available packed with windsurf kit.. a proper Noddy car! Mark pointed out that even the interior light had water leaking into it.... i'm rigged and on the water 5.7 Naish Sessions and rrd FSW 96.. what a great board this is the first time I used it.. super sweet and easy to jump.. the kode 103 will have to go.. had a great days sailing, and Mark on his 5.7 Simmer ion and 85 pocket wave, nice. Its been along time since i've sailed with this guy and it was truely great to be blasting out again with old matey!

Schellinkhout the following day, looked like the same wind strenght again.. but out back it was seriously over 35knts and gusting.. close set of waves, which meant you would have to gybe super tight over the back of one set or take a longer gybe over two sets of wave.. tricky! great ramps out back 4-5ft with clean vertical faces meant point your toes and crank it in!! a great day out on 4.4 with the good old 85 rrd FSW, and matey on his 85 pocket wave and newly purchased 4.7 Simmer ion! he must have been serously overpowered! feeling the cold here as I had to purchase a summer pryde suit with 2mm underlayer.. trying to acclimatize from 35degrees to 15degrees.. brrrrrr

I wont remind Mark about bringing his boom next time as he has two now!!

Ferry Back to Blighty

Anyhoo

Just uploaded pictures.. including:-

A View from a restaurant In Paros/ Parikia.. Great stuffed Calamari washed down with Alpha beer..

Pounda beach/ Paros.. Flat Water, but the wind seemed more constant than the other side of the island...

Gyros Pita.. We lived on these things.. Pita bread/ Grilled Chicken/ Chips/ Tzatziki sauce.. Nice!! we ate 2 of these, or with Greek salade at 2.5 euros each and cheep Alpha beers...we befriended an Albianian waiter who would find us the best seats to watch the gorgeous Greek women and then at the end of the evening ask us what we were prepared to pay for the food!!

Tom evening sailing on his Tushy Lightning 9.4.. Naxos Lagoona.. strangely with no-one else on the water.. normally it was packed with Freestylers and beginners! Had one of my best days sailing.. out past the markers through to the large swell further out.. Its Starboard jumping in Naxos and Port-tack in Paros.. so I prefered sailing in Naxos!

Agios Georgios/ Naxos.. wind was pretty pants but had potential to be excellent..

Where we free camped in Vassiliki/ Lefkada (mainland Greece)

Smoking Clutch..Hermaprodites & Piri Piri Chicken

We raced down to Solden in Austria to Watch the England v Germany game.. got there as the game was just underway.. and at a quick glance I though we were winning.. but Germany was playing In white.. Shit! A quick glance around and we were surrounded by Germans!! so off to a typical Austrian Bar where they all supported England.. we lost! a result was I pulled an Austrian Hermaphrodite who proposed that we move to Amsterdam and live a happy contented if not rather bizarre life!!.. i've always got that to fall back on..

through the Bremmer Pass.. where we stopped half way down and the brakes were smoking on both vans!! damn I left the Handbrake on when the brakes were super hot... not a good idea as the disks are now wharped and everytime I break hard the van shudders to a stop..

Italy.. all I can say was, you know when you cross the border from Austria into Italy.. the women are amazing.. Tom and I stopped off for an expresso at a typical motorway service station.. to be greated by a very cute girl making the coffee.. all smiles and eyelashes.. hmm and then in came 3 other very attractive ladies.. this was more like it, and they dont mind me looking at them rather than Engish girls who would rather poke me in the eyes!

Lake Garda 7days.. well what can I say.. can't be bothered

Croatia..10 days..we found this great campsite for burning out clutches.. needless to say that Tom gave it his best shot..reversing up a steep 1:4 incline and reving the tits out of his van, to be engulfed in a cloud of clutch smoke.. and no reverse gear.. I though that it was game over for the T5 and off to a local Garage but we let it cool down and it went on to do over 5 thousand more miles. The thing I found about Croatia is that it was serously over-priced.. the cost of fish and food was way over the top and the standard low.. so we stuck to BBQ with the "Son of Hibatchi" a great litle BBQ that served us proud, we usually ate Chicken in Hot Piri Piri sauce with Pasta and salade.. washed down with Peroni Larger..( the beer and wine, we brought in Italy, super cheap and really good!) .had a few days good windsurfing but nothing really of note so we decided to leave and off to Greece..

we traveled to Split where we booked the Ferry From Ancona to Patras.. we Arrived in Ancona from Split, queued for 3 hours in pure sweaty chaos and pandamonium to hand over the booking reference that we received from the agent over the internet some few days previous.. only to hear the response, "Er sorry that number doesnt mean anything.. you can try tomorrow if you get here early.?." the next morning we arrived early to be greeted by a girl serving who was seriously not interested in our predicament.. she explained that she hadn't had her morning coffee and could we come back in half an hour?! Half an hour later, returned and tried again.. she was less that clueless.. she asked her manager and then sat on the phone for another 10mins then passed me the tickets..breathe in Breathe out...We we on the ferry to Greece

Better Late than never..

So here in hot sweaty Singapore with a few hours free I thought that I would add a few photos and comments to the blog...

taking it from the top..leaving Dover to sunny Calais.. Tom had purchase a new shiny LWB VW T5.. OK, OK with a fiamma roof vent and converted by Mark at vans for windsurfing (still not an ultra reliable T4 though ;-)).. he managed to pull out all stops and convert the van for windsurfing in under two weeks.. good work Mark! The problem with the newly purchased T5 was the gear change, grinding noises changing from 3,4 gears.. bit upsetting for old Tom as he was feeling the pressure, purely from myself, to get on the road and pull his finger out!.. and was worried the lemon he had brought wouldnt make the trip.. so back to the Garage, but no luck still the same bag!

"Sod it, lets go" was Tom's response after picking the van up from the garage.. thats the spirit.. so 2 hours later we arrive in Dover for the ferry to Calais!!

Stopped of in Brugge, to sample the local delights..i.e women on Bicycles and Belgium beer.. we brought the bikes with us after some deliberation about security ( attached to the back of my van) but cycling around the Belgium town is the only real way to see it.. epecially after a few Westmalle beers!! we brought the Satnav with us to find our way back as I've had experience of being lost in Brugge before after a few too many!

I've uploaded a picture of Tom ( I think he's breathing in) wandering around Brugge.. I may come to the weight issue later but.. seriously the scales in Naousa were fixed.. and theres no-way I weigh 2 kg more than the "albanian"

Finding a camp site in Brugge we discussed with the receptionist a pitch... but they were full, they would however let us camp in the reception car park for the full price of a pitch... Hmmm.. so we camped 50 meters down the road from the camp site and used their facilities... thats the way it was going to be... this is Europe baby and were not following the rules!

Down, across to Antwerp then across to Germany and down towards Stuttgart.. parked up in some very quiet German town for the evening just outside the Blackforest.. to find the only pub in town that had an all you could eat BBQ on... SWEEETT!! so we made ourselves truly at home.. smiling alot to the locals as we couldn't speak a word of German and they couldn't speak a word of English... the war wasn't mentioned once!

uploaded picture parked alongside a river, not the best idea in summer, as you tend to get the Mossie massive and once in the van can tend to drive you insane!! but nice cuppa in the morning..