new dog next door

I’ve sort of lost my way with this blog thing, it was supposed to be all about how good at surfing I am, how much coverage I get and to let every man and his dog that could read and use the internet know. Just been sorting some of this year’s coverage out which oddly enough I haven’t posted any of it up on here. Not sure why I just suppose it’s all a bit boring really, found this shot by Gary McCall which was run on a surfing internet site and also in print in an international surf mag. ‘Want to support these guys sooo badly but its fat and your shoulder hoping’ was one comment and ‘I think they were asking for publicity. The presence of 2 photographers gives that away’ was another on the article published on the surfing site, both have a fair point.
Remember that time when I lived in Ireland and the dog next door just wouldn’t stop fecking barking at me, well there’s a similar situation going on where I live now. There was a couple living next door and at first I could always hear them arguing but now the woman’s disappeared and has been replaced by a massive fecking dog that just doesn’t bark when It see’s you, it constantly barks no matter fecking what. I wonder where the woman’s gone; can you just trade humans in for dogs now at pet shops? Or maybe she left and he just wanted a companion who didn’t slam doors? Not sure but I just hate that constant barking noise.

Photo: http://www.potatobread.co.uk/

Stinking of piss

The surf was absolutely pumping yesterday so it was just a little bit annoying that I was out the back of Rooney Tyres and Exhaust in Bundoran with parts of the ski scattered around me having a nervous breakdown trying to piece it all back together with the help of the technician on the other end of the phone. It did that thing where it started on dry land but the second we put it in the water and I pissed in my wetsuit it wasn’t having any of it so we had to pull it out again and I spent the morning stressing and stinking of piss, which isn’t that unusual to be fair. The lad from Rooney’s tyres and Exhaust was a star for letting us use all his tools though, it’s a family run business but no relation to that football bloke Wayne, although I did shout ‘Roooooooooooooooooney’ ‘Roooooooooooooooney’ in his face once or twice in between asking for spanners and screwdrivers and he fecking loved it. Had to cheer myself up somehow as I was almost in tears over what I thought I was missing. To cut a massive scene of a day short I managed to get in the sea with about an hour or so of light to go, the plan was to paddle but with light fading and the way the day was going opted to tow a few just to make the most of it.
This is a reject shot of one of the bigger sets that came through in the short time we surfed, It sort of sums my day up really, blurry and out of focus and poor Gary wasn’t too happy either, we’re all putting the effort in but things aren’t always as straight forward as they seem and look, but there’s always next time.

Photo: http://www.potatobread.co.uk/

Prowlers paddle

You know it’s going to happen at some point and that’s all part of paddling but when it does it seems to take so long. I think I knew I was fecked about a minute before the set came, it’s that 50/50 scenario where the normal part of my brain is telling me to paddle out so I don’t get cleaned up but the slightly odd part is saying stand your ground because you want to be able to catch one of these buggers. Then there’s the realisation your definitely gunna get caught and no matter how hard you paddle and what direction you just seem to move nowhere then after you’ve dealt with the first wave there’s always a bigger heavier one behind. Course there is that’s life.
So the photo was taken by Gary McCall and I think this is either the 2^nd or 3^rd wave I took on the head while surfing prowlers the other day, I’d lucked in and managed to catch a couple before hand and was now playing chicken with myself, it ended in me getting a right old kicking, losing my board and luckily being rescued by Barry.
Recently I’ve been sleeping in my hoody and socks, no pants as ideally I’d like to sleep naked but the heating has broken and it’s too cold so I’ve compromised with myself and just sleep naked from the waist down, it’s good to compromise. This obviously has nothing to do with anything I’d just thought I’d get it off my chest.

Photo: http://www.potatobread.co.uk/

Braunton Man catches record breaking fish.

You seen the size of that fish on the back of the North Devon Journal? Everyone’s talking about it and its all I’ve heard from my mates this week, it’s a record breaker apparently and matey boy from Braunton caught it off Ilfracombe. Sort of puts things in perspective really, while I shoulder hopped on a wave in Ireland getting me a cover shot on the Irish Times, Wavelength Surf mag (which is out next wednesday/thursday) plus getting plastered all over the 2 biggest surfing websites in the world, you could say things were really kicking off with all the hype involved and I was more than happy to enjoy the ride and savour every second.
Although that wave was pretty big the reality is there’s just no comparison to that massive fish, brilliant isn’t it. Rob Tibbles gave me a great little write up in the surfing section though which I was stoked about and you can check it out here.

But check the size of that fecking fish on the back page, Christ!