Cuttie in your face

Thursday, 14 March 2013

Something special out of the north west of Europe

This photo was taken by my good friend Michael during his working holiday in the UK a number of years ago.

Michael reflected to me about it recently:

'This is my own photo from my travels in UK not sure if i'd sent you this before.

This was my favourite spot, the channel is man made from the 1800's using explosives but what a good job they did.

Can you imagine these blokes 200 years ago would have had no idea what a surf spot they where making!

You've got two A frames 50 meters apart, ultimately giving you 4 surf spots.

Also check out the water entry at the closer of the two spots, you can walk along a man made path and just jump in when it suits, than there's the man made viewing platform.

As I'm sure you agree surfing amongst nature is great but sometimes a little influence can go along way, this would have be a little creek with a rocky shore line and no surf.'

Photo: Michael

Michael's pretty spot on for mind. Normally we humans mess up surf spots. And while I agree the impact of the dynamite all those years ago would have negatively affected the natural marine environment, it has to be said the byproduct is two great surf spots.

Epic looking place indeed...

Wednesday, 13 March 2013

Simple, gentle, pleasures...

Surfing doesn't necessarily need to be about a 'rush' to be enjoyable - there can be other factors involved that make it a great lifestyle choice. Social, natural, physical/health or cosmetic factors often also come into play to complete the picture of this fantastic sport.

Here, the serenity and peace that this surfer seems to be experiencing is what make me wish to trade places with him/her on this particular occasion...

Source: Unknown

Tuesday, 12 March 2013

Travelling surfers: watch this space

Two days ago I arrived home from the US - only to find that the board that had travelled with me was dinged in three places. This was due to, I assume (safely I think), poor baggage handling.

Underneath view of the nose.

Photo: Willy

I'm not going to name the airline at this stage, as I'd like to resolve the issue with them.

Far underneath view of the right rail.

Photo: Willy

That being the case, the main purpose of this post is to make you aware (if you are not already) of the dangers of travelling by air with a surfboard. My board was protected in an Ocean & Earth Global Travel Series bag (see my review from Saturday 5 January 2013) and additionally wrapped in a towel and wetsuit. It turns out even this extra padding couldn't protect it.

Close underneath view of the right rail.

Photo: Willy

I know the dings are small - hence I don't want to sound alarmist about it all. The thing to bear in mind is that the cost to repair these three dings will be between $100 and $150. I'm sure that that kind of money we'd prefer to keep to put towards a surf trip or something...

Far underneath view of the left rail.

Photo: Willy

Plus, we all pay good money to fly and I think it's only fair we expect (and receive) decent baggage handling. I'll keep you posted over the coming weeks to let you know how it all goes for me.

Close underneath view of the left rail.

Photo: Willy

Monday, 11 March 2013

Sorry for the missing posts!

Just a quick post to apologise for my lack of updates to 'Cuttie in your face' over the last week or so.

I did have a number posts ready for you and programmed to drop on a daily basis. In hindsight, it seems the only thing I forgot to do was to confirm the drop schedule.

You can imagine my surprise coming back to work this morning, after arriving back from the US yesterday afternoon, to find I had seven or eight posts still sitting in my 'Drafts' folder.

Sorry to keep you waiting and thank you for your patience...