Check this out.... wonder why his wife didn't call the coastguard. Perhaps he has good life insurance!

http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20030327/northwest/30332_ARC.shtml

Mind you, I almost always surf on my own and windsurf on my own more often than not.

Hmmm.

Al.

Can't be helped sometimes I guess. I nearly always put on too warm a wetsuit now just in case i do get stuck out there for a while. Surfing can be bl**dy knackering for us townies as it's difficult to train for.

Yep, if I'm out sailing on my own I make sure I have proper protection from the elements. I also tell Anna where I'm sailing from and phone her once I'm safely back to shore. If the winds are offshore then I'm extra careful and never go too far from the shore. I ALWAYS wear a helmet as well now. I started wearing one with a face mask because I kept knocking my teeth out, but wear it all the time now... It makes sense really as you wouldn't last long out there if you were unconscious, and what harm does it do?

I think you always have to be prepared to ditch your rig if neccessary and just get yourself back to shore (on your board)... Richie (Geordieboy) had to do just that last year after his UJ snapped, and he wasn't on his own either... I swam out to help him... And his rig is still out there somewhere.

Surfing isn't so bad though. Theres very little that can break whilst out surfing, you're not very far from the shore and as long as you understand rips etc. there always an easy way back in... Things would be a bit different for those big offshore wave surfers, but for most of us surfing 'should' be fairly safe.

As far as training for surfing then it should be easy... swimming, swimming and more swimming!! Its the perfect training. I used to swim about 15 miles a week. It certainly helps with your overall fitness, you are unlikely to injure yourself doing it and even if the actual stroke is slightly different to that you use for paddling, it still uses pretty much the same muscles and helps you 'feel' the water for improved efficiency... Now, finding the time and motivation to swim 100's of lengths a day in the local pool is the problem.

Al.

Once this darn Marathon is out the way, I might be able to get some swimming done (and maybe even some windsurfing/surfing - woo hoo!)

And maybe join an F-O-N weekend. I would have loved to join you at Easter but Borth is a bit of a hike from London & i could only do a couple of days. Maybe a future Gower/St Davids trip?

[Edited on 11-4-2003 by markh]

Hope the marathon went well... What time did you do?.. Or should the question be how much money did you raise for good causes??

Shame you can't make it for the Easter weekend, but it is quite a trek from London. We'll definately be organising trips to the Gower or Pembrokehsire soon. Its always good to get new people sailing together and helps build the community spirit here, so I shall try to organise trips as often as possible.

of course theres nothing stopping anyone else from organising things, or even just telling everyone where you'll be sailing/surfing at the weekend so that others can meet you for moral support or to laugh at your crashes etc.

Al.