The General Election is days away and the country is alive with talk of the next government.

Beadnell, meanwhile, is plodding-on with charming predictability.
The only real changes, which I’m sure will cause a wave of discussion, is the new menu about to be released at the Beadnell Towers, and the semi-permanent marquee that has arrived at the Craster Arms in preparation for the World Cup next month.

The end of April gave me the opportunity to take a trip up to Thurso for the most prestigious surf contest in the British Isles, the Oneill Coldwater Classic / Highland Open 6 Star Prime WQS.

The surf was mediocre, the wind was strong, but the backdrop and area was stunning, and we got to meet some childhood icons along with way. All in all a good trip. Some photos below.

The surf here has been pretty decent in the last two weeks, much better than the previous months, and we’re crossing our fingers for more of the same.

I even managed to make a quick edit for the San Sebastian Surf Film Festibal in Spain. :)

More as it happens form the shores of Beadnell…

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Crew

VT

The village has slipped into dormancy, happily, after a busy summer. The weather is cold, the days are dark and short. There is snow on the ground as I write this post.

The surf has been pretty average for autumn, a few clean swells but mostly junky cross-shore, small period mediocrity. Ive still been getting in, but more out of desperation than desire.

December was a massive month for surf news, with Hawaii firing with epic huge swells. The ASP tour was won by Mick Fanning after Parko stumbled in the Pipe event which was eventually won by Taj, for the first time, with Kelly coming second. Parko, although pipped at the post for the world title, took the Triple Crown Title for a second year, after Sunset and Haleiwa both produced quality entertainment.

And finally, the Eddie ran. 5 years in the waiting, with 30ft+ swell, it went off, massively, with Greg Long winning in the last heat to steal 1st place form Slater. Epic.
I watched all 8 hours straight on the web, one of the best live streams ive ever seen.

I was doing some tidying-up the other day and found these shots from the end of summer, and so thought I should share them.

Hope you like the flash-back to a warmer, sunnier Beadnell.

So, back to reality. at least the winter solstice has now passed, and its officially getting warmer and lighter everyday.

The New Year will bring new swell.

See you out there. :)

b

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Not much in the way of notable swell, but still getting in every few days.

Below, find a photo set taken recently whilst watching the water.

We hope more decent swell rolls in before Christmas, but the snow is falling in the alps, and before long the winter will bring adventures sliding sideways of another kind.

We’ll look forward to it all.

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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.

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But, before it fully arrives, September and October should deliver the sweet gems of bliss we all love. – September traditionally brings superb swell, with warm water and light winds.

Silver Glass - Photo by www.CapturetheAdventure.co.uk

We’ve had very little swell of any size recently, which is to be expected up here on the east coast, the picture above was taken on a freak occasion a week or two ago, the guy taking-off was actually just out paddling about for some exercise  when this slab hit. This was the only wave of the day…. nothing came before or after it…  *sigh*.

So, to get you in the mood for the what-we-hope-is coming September Sessions, we have three bits if video to share with you;

The first was a little edit I chopped together whilst out diving with the seals on the bank holiday weekend with Farne Island Divers. – Not especially surf-related, but hey, no-ones perfect.

Farne Islands Divers – Diving with Seals – August 2009 from swinhoe on Vimeo.

The second is, “Yeah Boy “- shot on location in the Mentawai’s – a wet-dream that arrives via our cohorts at If 6 Was 9 in Noosa, Queensland.

Yeah Boy from if6was9 on Vimeo.

The third is….  well, it something a bit more grounding after the Indo sequence…  – Arctic Surf Film Part 1 – via some very brave boys from California. – Good on ya…

See you in the water..

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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

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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.

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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...

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Ben Southall at Bamburgh

We stopped in over at Bamburgh for a few press shots and then headed to Beadnell to check the surf and have some food.

Ben Southall and Ben Patterson at Bamburgh

The press article made the national papers and the local Journal.

Ben Southall in Beadnell

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