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Sunday 27th October 2002 (Isle of Man)
As forecast, all hell broke loose today. Someone recorded 96mph winds at Cregneash on the Isle of Man, and everywhere there were trees down and roads closed. The sea was mad with huge plumes of spindrift absolutely everywhere, a decent sell hitting the Island and ballistic winds. I went to Port Erin at first, and although it was a decent size it was blown out, so I went out at The Point, Port St. Mary instead where there was a nice 3-4 foot left hander breaking into the small bay between the flat rocks. Further out on the flat rocks huge waves were breaking in the shallow water with 20 foot plumes of spray being blown off the tops of the waves by the storm force winds....Cool!
After that I headed to Gansey for a pretty poor surf in closing out 3 foot beach break waves.
I then went to Derby Haven where Doug was out windsurfing with a 3.5m sail after having just changed UP from a 2.7m!! Apparently he had been completely blown off the water even in the protected bay of Derby Haven with his 2.7m sail earlier...the winds were mad. I didn't join him for a windsurf session as the surf was still going off elsewhere. I went to Castletown instead where there was a lovely little (2-3 foot) right hander breaking over the rocks to the east of the river mouth.
Another good day on the Isle of man, but sadly the last of this trip. Luckily the winds eased considerably in the afternoon and our Ferry managed to sail so we got home as planned. Not a bad trip really as I managed to get out on the water 8 days in a row.
Saturday 26th October 2002 (Isle of Man)
Yet another good day at Castletown. I was out on my Hifly and 5.7m sail to start with, but that was way too much so I changed down to my 5m and my wave board. Spencer was out too with a 5m sail and small board and we had a perfect session blasting up and down the bay over the chop and rolling swells. We worked our way upwind as the wind became more onshore and had some nice long runs right across the bay a few feet from each other. Doug came out later with a 4.2m sail and wave board and after that a kite-surfer joined us in the bay. Another excellent day with some nice jumps off the odd steep wave and good gybes on the faces of the waves.
Friday 25th October 2002 (Isle of Man)
A mad day at Castletown. I had an excellent sail on my wave board with a 4.5m sail. Completely overpowered all the time but I made some good jumps. All on my own although I did later find a couple of intermediates practising in the more sheltered waters of Derby Haven
Thursday 24th October 2002 (Isle of Man)
The wind had dropped a little today so I had a nice couple of hours cruising around Castletown Bay on my Fanatic Cross 100 with a 6.3m sail. I was perfectly powered up and just pleasantly cruising around the bay, so nothing spectacular. First I tacked way upwind and out into the bay before blasting back at full speed to the beach. There was a little bit of swell out in the bay to gybe on and every now and then I was passed by a low-flying plane from Ronaldsway, literally about 50 feet above my head!!
As I was packing up a squall came through and the wind suddenly increased to 26 knots. I was glad I wasn't still out in the bay with a big board a 6.3m sail!.
Wednesday 23rd October 2002 (Isle of Man)
I had a good few hours windsurfing at Castletown today. It was way too windy at first, but then Alan turned up with his F2 Powerglide and the wind eased off quite a bit so we rigged 5.0m sails. The wind continued to drop so we both changed up. I went out with a 5.7m and he went out on a 6.0m. But, as soon as we got on the water the wind kicked in again and we were both overpowered. I came back in and grabbed my 5.0m and my wave board while Alan struggled to get back in the increasing wind. He eventually made it back to the beach and also changed down.
Would you believe it??? As soon as I got back on the water the wind dropped again and I sunk! I managed to wobble back to the beach to get my bigger kit again, but just as I was walking up the pebbles back came the wind and this time it stayed, so I was able to get back out on the smaller kit. This time the wind remained constant and I was well powered up the whole time. Alan Struggled with his kit as his board was far too big, so he packed up and watched instead. Craig tunred up a little later and came out with a 4.5m sail and we had a couple more hours sailing on the choppy water. I was well powered and occasionally completely maxed out.
A good session with some sunny spells and nice little jumps off the rolling swells.
Tuesday 22nd October 2002 (Isle of Man)
There was loads of wind and rain overnight and we awoke to find the house we were staying in flooded with a couple of inches of water on the ground floor. After helping clear up for a bit we headed off to do some shopping as there was little wind left and then after a trip to MacDonalds headed off to the West Coast and Glen Wyllin. We sat there waiting for the tide to drop so that I could check out the beach. As we sat there a few surfers turned up and much to my astonishment went out 'surfing' in the 6 inch wind blown chop...They must have been desperate. However, the wind started to fill in and their presence motivated me to get in for a sail, so I rigged my 6.3m sail and Fanatic Cross board. As I rigged the wind continued to pick up, so before getting in the water I changed down to a 5.7m and my Hifly. Once again, in the 5 minutes it took me to re-rig the wind had picked up again and now there was a 20 knot wind blowing and some decent wind blown waves rolling up onto the boulder strewn beach. I couldn't be bothered to change down again and went out anyway completely overpowered and just going for short runs out through the steep dumping shorebreak, with some bug jumps off the perfect ramps. I didn't last long as sailing overpowered in such conditions was difficult and the wind continued to increase in strength. By the time I got out the wind was blowing at a solid and steady 30 knots and the sea was getting pretty rough...if only I had rigged my 4.5m and my wave board!
That was my first session at Glen wyllin and I enjoyed it.
Monday 21st October 2002 (Isle of Man)
Another good session today at Castletown. I rigged my wave board and 5.0m sail and also rigged my 5.7m and my Hifly. I went out on the bigger kit to start with. Toby (on holiday from Halifax) turned up and rigged a 5.5m sail, but soon changed up to a 6.2m sail. As he was re-rigging a mad squall came through and I was completely overpowered with the 5.7m as sheets of rain blew across the bay stinging my hands and face. Toby was way overpowered and decided to call it a day, but I stayed out and had a good session in the NE wind and small clean swell which dropped off as the tide dropped. Fairly flat water so nothing too exciting, but a decent sail and things felt a litle warmer today too.
Sunday 20th October 2002 (Isle of Man)
Anna and I arrived on the Isle of Man on Friday morning and then recovered all day from the long trip there. On Saturday there was no wind but we went off and did some exploring anyway, but by Sunday the wind had kicked in and it looked set to stay that way for a while...Maybe we've picked the right week to visit!!
We got to the beach at Castletown this morning and found two people out kitesurfing, which seemed a little risky to me considering the proximity of the airport, but they apparently had permission from Air Traffic Control. I went out windsurfing with a 5.7m sail and my Hifly in the Easterly (Cross-shore) winds. I sailed for an hour or so, perfectly powered up and then a few others started to join me. Neil Clegg, Neil, Dave, Toby, Craig and a few others were out during the day which was good as I had been told that not many people sail on the island these days and they certainly don't arrange to meet up and sail together. They all came out with 5.0 or 4.5m sails and after a while I changed down too as the wind was increasing. In the end I was overpowered with my 5.0m as well. It felt really cold today with the easterly wind, but I was out for about 4 hours which may have had soemthing to do with it as well. Dave was forward looping on almost every run as usual and aerial gybing etc. Speaking to him later, he hadn't been sailing for months as he had been concentrating on kite-surfing, and I think he wished he didn't go out today as he managed to hurt his back whilst looping.
Tuesday 15th October 2002
What a ridicuous day. It was absolutely howling all day and it just seemed to get stronger as I arived at the estuary at Ynyslas at around 3pm. I rigged my 3.4m sail and my wave board and headed down to the water to the bemused look of the onlookers, all of whom were too scared to get out of their cars let alone go out on the water... Maybe they had the right idea as there was no way I could hang on in those conditions. I managed a couple of completely out of control runs, just flying over the closely spaced steep chop, a couple of little jumps and then everything got ripped out of my hands and carried about 30m through the air (double looping as it went!). The kit then landed in the water, but as I started swimming towards it, the wind got hold of it again, picked it up out of the water and carried another 10m or so through the air. When I eventually caught it back up I managed to sail it back to where I started from and decided enough was enough, today the 'Forces-of-Nature' had well and truly won! So I struggled back up the beach to my van which was getting completely and utterly sand-blasted and packed up. I measuered the windspeed as I was leaving and it was a constant 30-35 knots with gusts of around 40 knots!!...Ridiuclous.
Sunday 13th October 2002
It seems as though I was at the beach for the only couple of hours with no wind!. When I got to the Estuary at Ynyslas, there was a 20 knot NE wind blowing so I rigged a 5.7m sail. By the time Dave and Sarah arrived, this had dropped a little so I changed to a 6.3m, but by the time I got on the water the wind had virtually disappeared, so I managed to bobble across the estuary once before sitting in my van waiting for wind for an hour. It didn't materialise and as it was really cold and I had stuff to do at home I packed up and went home. Radical Rob arrived as I was leaving and went on about the best day he's ever had on Thursday. 5-5.7m weather and sunny (I missed that one as well...grrrr).
The worst thing was, not long after I got home it started blowing an absolute hoolie!! Sounds as though everyone else got some wind in Cornwall, Dorset and the Gower for starters though.
Saturday 12th October 2002
I had a pleasant little windsurf session in the Estuary at Ynyslas today. Dave phoned me around 10.30am to tell me there was some wind...I was just about to leave anyway, but got a bit of a move on now that I knew it was windy. It looked pretty windy on the seafront. but as the tide was almost high and it was dead onshore I decided it would be more fun to sail with everyone else in the estuary. It was a bit prtoected in there, so I rigged my biggest kit (6.3m sail and 99L board). David went out with a 5.5m sail on a big board but coudln't get going, so Sally, Dave and Sarah all changed their minds about the 5-6m sails they had rigged and rigged something bigger. I got out on my kit pretty quickly and headed off towards the channel where I found some wind and had a good time cruising around on the green waters under a nice clear sunny sky. The others got going in the end and seemed to have a good sail. The wind continued to drop and after a while I spent 50% of the time off the plane. Ben came out and joined us too. Not a particularly thrilling sail, but it was nice just to be cruising around on what will probably be the last summery day for a while. I did sail across to Aberdovey at one point too which is always nice.
Back at the beach Sally had bought sausage and chips for everyone, so although Simon turned up and we were going to go kitesurfing, by stomach got the better of me and I sat there eating and chatting instead. Everyone seemed to have had a good sail, so not a bad day altogether.
Tuesday 8th October 2002
At last, the wind has returned. The forecast was for the wind to pick up this afternoon, so when I saw the sea at around 11am and it was white with spray from the offshore winds I started to get excited. Unfortunately when I got to the Golf Course Car Park, Borth the wind had dropped again so it was out with the 6.3m sail and Fanatic Cross 100. 'Radical' Rob and Nick were already out planing on and off with 6.7m sails. I was overpowered at first with my kit, but as the wind continued to drop felt nicely powered up and had a good sail in the relatively flat water and gusty SSE winds. Rob packed up and went home as the wind had dropped too much for him, but Nick stayed out with me. Just as we thought the wind had dropped completely and we bobbled back to the shore, I went for one last run and managed to find a gust and got planing nicely. Nick was on the beach watching and after I had a couple of runs with good down-the-line wave rides on the 1ft clean swell and a decent jump on the way out, he soon came back out and joined me. We had another half an hour playing in the waves before packing up and heading home.
Sunday 6th October 2002
Another early start and we were in the water before 8am. (Well, James, Dez and I were). This time the surf was perfect. 3-4 foot and a glassy as you can imagine. James and Dez have only ever surfed on the Isle of Man before, so had never really seen proper waves before as all they ever really get is wind-blown mush. They got pretty excited as they walked over the dunes and saw perfect sets rolling in with no wind at all. We were lucky and managed to paddle out in a lull so got out the back dry-haired, Hui (the surf god) obviouslt took note of this as James then took a big drilling on his first wave and managed to scare himslef by being held under for ages so decided to play around on the inside in the smaller waves after that. I had a good surf with some perfect little lefts and rights. Dez was doing OK too and managing to get to his feet OK. Juan and Sarah then came out. Juan was doing OK and Sarah was enjoying herself playing around on a big foam board in the white water. The swell droped off a bit then and James came back out the back, and Sarah made it out there for a while too.
After the mornings surf session we sat around in the car park playing with the moutnain board and chatting. Dez wanted to buy a green surfboard from PJ's, but decided against it in the end (unless he bought it later on the way home). We then went down onto the beach and flew my 4.9m Blade for a bit and played with the mountainboard before we all went back out for a surf. This time the swell had dropped back down to 2-3 foot, but was holding up nicely in the 10-12 knot offshore wind. Everyone enjoyed themselves again, excpet maybe Joe who as a windsurfer couldn't see the point of 'ALL THAT PADDLING". Sarah was doing well and managing to stand on her foam board while the waterwater lapped around her ankles. James and Dez were having a good time too, and beginning to get the hang of surfing in proper waves. I didn't see much of Juan as he drifted north along the beach, but I saw a little too much of Joe at one point as we managed to collide on one wave. I was surfing along it, and then all of a sudden Joe appeared lying on his board riding the white-water. We hardly touched really, but it was enough to put a fairly big hole in the rail of my board that joe was using and a little ding in the tail of my fish. Joe was the first out, I stayed in for a couple of hours, but then got out and packed up, while the others stayed in for hours. Eventually, we all packed up and went home after a good weekend away. Everyone wanted another trip to be arrnaged for a few weeks time, but Anna and I will be in the Isle of Man, so the next Forces-of-Nature trip will probably be sometime in Novemeber.
Saturday 5th October 2002
Anna, Steve and I arrived back at the beach at around 7.30am. Anna and I had had a nice comfortable nights sleep in the van, but Steve didn't fare so well in his car. He never does, but having been working nights the week before just made matters worse. We met Ken in the car park. He had stayed in his tent on the campsite. We then went in for a surf before breakfast in nice 2-3 foor waves. Steve and ken didn't stay in long, but I had a really good session. When I got out, Joe, Dunja and their two children had arrived from Telford. We then all just sat oin the beach in the sunshine chatting and every now and then wandering off to wacth the surf. There were quite a few people flying kites in the light breeze, and also people hangliding and paragliding from Rhossili Downs. Jpe and I then went off to get BBQ equipment.
When we got back, Steve had decided that there was no wind forecast so rather than spend another uncomfortable night in the car was going to head home. Ken decided the same and they both left around mid-afternoon. The rest of us then stuffed our faces arond the BBQ! Joe and I then got back in the sea for another surf. Despite the forecasts for the swell to have dropped off, it was still a good 2-3 foot and really nice, although trying to actually see anything whilst paddling out into the blazing sun was impossible. Joe didn't stay in long as he doesn't really surf and just wasn't used to paddling. I had another good surf with some really nice punchy little waves in the shorebreak. Joe, Dunja and the kids then eventually decided to stay in a B&B overnight, having planned for the four of them to stay in the back of the car. Anna and I went off to the pub again (for yet more food) and met James, Dez, Juan and Sarah in there. The three boys are from the Isle of man, but are living in various places on the mainland at the moment. After a few drinks Juan and Sarah headed off to their B& B and the rest of went to sleep in our vans.
Friday 4th October 2002
Anna and I drove to Llangenith on the Gower for the first ever Forces-of-nature trip. A few people had pulled out of the trip as the forecast wasn't particularly good wind-wise and a couple of others had either gone back home or decidd not to come as they were ill. We arrived on the beach at lLangenith at around 6.30pm and found a 2-3 foot swell with loads of people out, so I quickly got changed and in the water with my 5'10" fish and surfed until it was dark. It was nice to be surfing proper waves again and all of a sudden surfing felt easy again. I had some pretty good waves in nice surroundings watching the sun set.
We then headed off to the Kings Head pub in Llangenith. We met Ken there (a windsurfer from the Midlands) and a little later Steve turned up. We had expected Steve to get to the Gower before us, but it had taken him 5 1/2 hours to get there from Birmingham! After a nice big meal and a few drinks it was off to bed so that we cold get up early in the morning and catch what was supposed to be a dying swell.
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