a few good surfs...

On a much deserved weekend off, Paddy and I headed up to Sligo for a surf-fest of the highest order. We had studied the swell charts and it looked damn fine. (when the heck did I learn to read swell charts??)
It was a beautiful weekend. We stayed in Strand Hill for the first night and the next morning surf. It was a lovely beach and a pretty little town with a pub that gave out free chips and sausages. Heaven I tell you.

The surf was ok but we kept getting pulled up the beach onto the little bit of rocks on an otherwise sandy beach. We decided to head up the caost to Bundoran, the area where smashface was born. Sadly Tullen Strand wasn't working, and the break in Bundoran looked like it'd swallow us whole, so on some advice we went to Rossnowlagh. Rock!! (every mention of this beach was accompanied by hand gestures.... we soon learned why) It was a beautiful beach, long, SAFE, and sandy with charming, perfectly formed waves, no current, and a sunset, furious on the horizon.




















We had four surfs that weekend, one day was a write off due to rain and flatness. We borrowed some boards from Mark at Powersource and had an excellent day out with them. They were lithe, and sexy and sweet. They were a completely different ride, and we needed to get us one!! Mark makes them in a shop outside of his amazing house in the country outside Bundoran. Stepping into his workspace was like walking into a candy shop.... so many beautiful boards in every shape and color, it was tricky getting out with just one.
But we did. And she's a beut.

I can safely say I became a bit more of a surfer this weekend. The need for it is definatly there. An ache that keeps you in the Irish sea, or the Atlantic when it's beyond Baltic, An itch that drags you out of cosy bed, into a cold, wet, wetsuit. The drive and stubbornness that gets you back up when you've been held under and flipped bakwards, upsidedown by a burly wave, or slapped in the face by raw, icy salt water.
I love it.

(it needs to be said - I got my ass kicked at Bowling. It was instant Karma, like trundling spherical kismet. I bragged myself all the way to that alley, boasting bowling skills that I simply did not have. Fair play Paddy. You win. xx)