Shut-down. Winter arrives. Where is the swell ?

“Its not that bad”. You have to tell yourself that.
Ok, its not summer anymore, the nights are cutting-in, and the air is getting colder.
But it gets a lot worse than this.

Grey Abyss

Autumn is usually a decent period for swells, and although its not been flat, we’ve not had it epic yet either.
A few decent glassy afternoon’s at Bamburgh have been rewarding, but we want more.

With the dark and cold becoming ever-more ominous, the villages have shut-down for winter the last few tourists will be here for the schools half-term, and then at the end of October the caravan sites will close for winter, and that’s it for another year.

The shortboards and thrusters are being cleaned-off for the big winter swells, the fat fish, eggs and mals are put away.

I had better find those gloves…

In the meantime with the surf and water locally providing little inspiration, there are a few distractions to look forward to. The end of October means Halloween, and the village of Beadnell takes this very seriously, with competition, prizes and a grand night to be had. Some locals have been making their costumes for a month already… no names mentioned.

Halloween Lantern

Check out the Craster Arms on the 31st for all the fun.

To help pass the time, there has also been the European leg of the ASP Tour, France and Spain just finished, the boys are in Portugal awaiting the event to start.

With only two events left, there are ten potentials aiming for the title. Parko has slipped in the last two events and Mick Fanning has had two wins, with the Mundaka event being won by Adriano. Bede, Taj, CJ and Bobby are all in the running.

Slater is in 5th, and you know he’s still a threat, with Pipe to come. Check the rating here.

Some highlights from the last events below. Not exactly perfect conditions at either location… but worth a look.

See you in the water.

Activities – fill those days with adventure !

There is PLENTY to do up here, really there is – ancient castles, sprawling coast-line and countryside, wildlife and nature reserves, culture and heritage – but if you are looking for something with more of a challenge or adventure, then we can supply that too.

The beaches around Beadnell, Seahouses and Bamburgh are literally throbbing at this time of year, and the long sunny days are both a blessing and a curse.

What do you do with all that time ?

Answer – you pick an activity and go for a ride. Some of the activities available in the area are linked below, why not give them a try ? and remember – every weather condition is perfect for the right activity!. :)

Surfing

Although this stretch of coastline is not especially famous for the surfing culture, you can enjoy as good a day as any beach in Cornwall with the right conditions. Talk to the people who know and get the right day and you’ll get your own slice of the sport of kings.

http://www.northside-surf-school.co.uk

Northside Surf School

Kiteboarding

Kiteboarding is one of those activities that needs wind, and wind is usually pretty common around here ! If the surf is flat – get the kite out and go for a ride.

http://www.ka-kitesurfing.co.uk

KA Kiteboarding

Windsurfing and Paddleboarding

Windsurfing obviously needs wind much like kiteboarding, but if there are no waves and no wind, paddleboarding can get you around and in the water with a smile on your face.

http://boardskillz.co.uk

Boardskillz

Horse-riding

Horse-riding is a superb family activity for those warm and suny days. Take a trek through the beaches and countryside past the ancient castles and along the golden sandy beaches.

http://slatehallridingcentre.com

Slatehall Riding Centre

Fishing trips

Fishing is fairly condition exempt – obviously its much nicer to have good weather and blue skies, but once you land that monster Cod, it all fades to grey.

http://unityfishingtrips.com

Unity Fishing Trips

Sea Kayaking

Ideally, calm and light conditions are required for long adventures, but paddling along the rocky coastline and beaches is easy and safe.

http://www.active4seasons.co.uk

Sea Kayaking

Snorkeling and Diving

The Area around Beadnell is rich in sealife and is peppered with rocky outcrops and reefs, further afield the Farne Islands are a popular location with experienced divers.

http://www.thedivingcentre.com

http://www.farneislanddivers.co.uk

Grey Seal

And now… its all about the fishing.

With August looming on us, the kids are all on holiday, and it been raining for two weeks, it can mean only one thing. Its definitely summer time here in the north-east. And that means no more swell or any chance of waves… No problem. Break-out the jet-ski, the diving mask and the kite-board… plenty more fun to be had – including some fine fishing. We’ve been eating very well recently on the freshest of fish direct from the Bay – Sea trout, mackerel and cod. Superb fresh fare !.

Cod from the Bay

This leads me (conveniently) into the plug for the first Beadnell Bay open-boat fishing competition.

Open Boat Fishing Competition Poster

Many fishing contest are run throughout the year here, and you will see shore-fishermen most days along the coast, but this is the first of a hopefully annual event for open-boats. Details are as follows;

• Taking place sunday 23rd August
• Heaviest fish only
• Top three heaviest fish win
• £100 cash prize
• £10 entry fee
• 9am start – lines-up 4pm -weigh-in 4.30-5pm
• Contact number – 07944 943181

If your looking for some inspiration, try the videos below, you might even hook one of them fellas…  :)

A week of solid surf…

Well, what an amazing week we’ve had.

Clean swell on monday

The previous post outlined and the predicted swell, and some early snaps indicated that it was going to be good, but really we have much more to talk about than just the waves.

Marching swell

A few highlights from the week just ended.

• Early morning session in huge overhead conditions in the middle of the Bay – including creating a new hole in my knee
• The new and highly questionable smell coming from my car
• Jumping-off Stag Rock to paddle out in huge waves with Steve, James and Murds in a classic old-school session
• Getting a luscious Sunday evening session with light off-shores and gorgeous golden light
• Covering god-knows how many miles and spending £70 on fuel chasing waves around the coast (not exactly sure this is a highlight…)
• Making ‘The Sacrifice’ successfully, twice, and scoring as a direct result… its as guaranteed as paying taxes
• Meeting and surfing with lots of new faces from up and down the coast – great to see more people in the area

Big and onshore

All things considered, we have had a sensational week, lots of swell, mixed weather including plenty of sunshine, new faces, new boards and shapes to eye-up and plenty of spots visited and surfed.

Of course there are downsides, I appear to have developed a nasty chest-hack, and my head is a bit full -hopefully with just a summer-cold and not anything to do with swine-flu ;), and of course there are always the odd gripes over who should be surfing where and what photos get taken.

Beadnell Point reeling

Racing the wall

Big hack...

The happy place

There really are not many surfers up here, and of course this is one of the attractions of living here. But once you’ve lived and surfed in genuinely busy spots such as Croyde, Bude, Newquay – all of Cornwall actually – Australia, New Zealand et-all, you can realise just how good we have it. With that in mind im never going to subscribe to the narrow-minded, selfish and generally childish mentalities of some people. Life is too good and too short to hold these sort of feelings.

The long paddle-out

So with the swell gone and a return to normality lying ahead, im sitting here watching Occy and Tom Curren tear-apart perfect JBay…  I had better hold onto these memories, they will probably have to last until the next decent swell sometime in November….  :).

Peaking...

Big out-east

Seahouses harbour taking the brunt

Screaming right

Big screaming left

Sunday evening slash

Lining-up...

Tucking-in

Sunset shimmer

It does look like there might be some nice waves at Thurso next week mind… maybe a trip is in-order.

See you in the water.

Aloha.

Weather and summer.

As everyone knows, England, despite having an average summer, never does very well for surfing conditions in summer.

Or as we thought.

For the second year in a row, we’re going to get some of the potentially largest and best swell ever seen in the summer months on the east coast.

Ive just returned from the water having decided i should get the board out and get the arms ready for the rest of the week. It was huge – overhead and barreling all down the beach. You just don’t get waves like that on the East coast of England.

So, the rest of the week is supposed to get bigger and bigger… the charts look like this –

Swell forecast

Remember today was at least 5-6 foot.

And with the radar looking like this…

Chart

Im pretty sure we will have decent overhead surf for the next week…  with a ten second period. That means getting the jetski’s out and towing-in with the sun shinning, and seeing all those secret reef’s lighting-up.

Bring it on…

Some snaps form the session this morning;

Clean lines

Marching swell

Inner Farne setup

Workable...