I am sitting in the back of my car trying to occupy myself whilst Beej drives us back from Cornwall. We have spent the past 4 days surfing in Newquay and have had a mixed bag of both weather and waves: a few sunny days, some rain, plenty of wind and varying degrees of small, fun summer waves.
We surfed Great Western (one of the town beaches in Newquay) due to there being too much of an onshore wind at our usual sport over at Fistral. This time we controversially left the 8′2 mal (a.k.a Mitch) at home and packed a 3 board quiver: 6′8, 6′4 and 6′0. The idea was that it would force us to step up our game a little (the longer your board the easier it is to paddle and catch waves). There was swell predicted for the entire week, so we felt reasonably confident that we were making the right decision.
On arrival on Friday morning, we we rewarded for our efforts with a nice clean, fun wave over at Newquay Bay. For some reason I surfed very poorly, I just couldn’t find my flow, and had a rather crap session despite the good conditions. Beej on the other hand was all over it, like a hoover sucking up every possible wave coming within earshot of him. End of day 1, 1:0 to Beej.
That evening a celebratory trip to the Indian summer was the order of the day after 4 hours in the water and the 6 hour drive. We supped on a few pints and then relaxed with a post-meal DVD.
We awoke the next morning to Malcom’s bell ringing and a quality breakfast. Day 2 was characterised by more of the same, although this time I found my flow and grabbed a load of waves, forehand and backhand on the 6′4. Beej bought a new board but managed to put the leash through the tail after about an hour (what a shredder), so that had to go back to the shop. I think it must have been the busted board, but Beej didn’t really get his groove on after returning from the shop, so the score at the end of day 2 was 1:1. That evening we settled for a couple of Strongbows, some fish and chips and another DVD.
The 3rd day, still with new board at the shop, Beej and I hit up a mid-to-full tide Great Western. The waves were a bit thick and dumped a little bit on the beach. The latter half of the day the wind got up and things got pretty choppy. We ended up surfing for 4 hours and called it a head to head heat. Later in the evening we stopped off at the Fort Inn for a massive platter of Surf and Turf and a couple of Guinness’. Bon!
The morning we left, Beej was still without a board after the shop not being able to get it fixed in time for our departure. So after a little stressing and some careful negotiation with the owner, Beej managed to wangle a deal that meant he could swap the broken board for a new one: a rather nice 6′4 Lost short board (that I had my eye on).
Following the “upgrade” we had to test out the new board, so we headed over to Fistral for a “quick” surf before we returned to Essex. The waves were a little bigger that morning, maybe 4ft and a lot thicker. We both got a couple of good rides before the conditions turned to slop.
We left Newquay having had a good time, but as always for me (am not sure about Beej) I wanted more: cleaner, longer and bigger waves. So although my appetite was satisfied for a few days, I am still as hungry as ever to get out there and continue to explore new places, feelings and styles. But there is no rush, as Gerry says “there is always another wave around the corner”.
