Ooh La La...!

The beauty of owning a campervan is that you can load it up with all the toys and drive south in search of wind, waves and warm weather. Dimi always leaves it to me to plan the road trip but it's not until a few days before we leave that the decision is made on where we shall go.

My initial thoughts were to head for Spain on the Mediterranean coast, the year before we had travelled to Lucate and the surrounding areas and scored some brutal winds but the weather had been bloody awful. Our main priority was to get some good weather and set up base for a while and just relax.

The forecast a few days before showed a series of low pressure systems winding up in the Atlantic so the call was made to head for a spot called Hourtin which is about 30km North of Lacanau armed with surfboard, SUP and kites. In the past years we have travelled most of the coast line from right up North but the Gironde region was a small bit that we had always missed out. When I was a lot younger I had surfed on numerous occasions the Hossegor area with a bunch of guys and girls from Guernsey but never ventured to the beaches of Hourtin and Carcans. 

The drive took us down to Royan from here we caught the ferry across the estuary to Verdon and from there it was a short drive down to Hourtin in the depths of the beautiful pine forests which cover the majority of this region. We checked into the campsite La Cote D'Argent which is about 150m from the beach and set up base for a few days of surfing, cycling and relaxing into the French way of life.

Whilst down this way I also managed to contact an old surfing friend of mine that was living in France in the next town along-a place called Carcans. Leigh drove to Hourtin and we met up and had coffee and a long chat about his time spent living in France with his good lady Anne and their beautiful daughter Lilly Jean. We stayed a number of days with Leigh and his family and we scored some good waves down at his local spot- Carcans plage.

The low pressure systems seemed to keep on winding up, back at home they were taking a battering with epic winds and lots of rain but this just kept the swell rolling in as they headed North......

The Royan ferry ride

Chillin on the campsite

aaah...I hate mozzies!

.....Oly, a friend from Guernsey was keen to catch some waves so he caught the plane down to Bordeaux where we picked him up and checked him into the hotel which was situated on the campsite. His timing was spot on with a low pressure sitting just off the coast forecasting a swell of 4ft increasing to 8-10ft with an 8 second period.
We scored some great waves during his trip with a couple of glassy, barrelling and heavy sessions. On the Saturday we could only watch as the swell had built to 8 to 10ft and the whole place was closing out. It gets seriously heavy down here when it's big with huge rips. There were a couple of brave souls in the water that day but I only saw one wave ridden and a lot of paddling. The best size to surf the area is around 4-5 feet as much bigger than that and it starts to close out.

Oly and I ready to do battle..

Chillin on an empty campsite

Glassy!

Not bad saying I don't surf a lot

I love this photo..

The big day and this was an inside wave-unfortunately it's not me!

Heavy!!

There are miles and miles of cycle tracks that go through the pine forests, just make sure you take plenty of water and sun cream as it gets hot and sticky at this time of year.
Not only is the surf pretty damn good but there is a cracking lake here which is about 15mins from La Plage which is called Houtin Lake. We stayed here for a few days when the wind was onshore and the surf was blown out,  you can kite or windsurf literally a stones throw from the car park and the water is warm and shallow. There is plenty of room and a dedicated kite spot with showers and toilets and a few good bars and restaurants to catch a bite to eat and chill out in after a hard day on the water. There is also a cracking Aires for campervans which is only 8 Euros with 24hr electric for just 2 Euros-absolutely amazing value.

You can't come to France and not have the moules...the ones on the campsite were the best..

...and if you want some tasty good value food then head to La Plage Cafe for the best snacks in town and probably the best gouffres this side of Paris!

New retractable fin design?

Has my Naish fin bitten off more than it can chew???

Guernsey granite 1 Naish fin 0

Beware of the elusive reef at Vazon. This deadly submerged clump of rocks lies just below the surface on mid to high tide and has taken many the unsuspecting surfer/windsurfer. Unfortunately it was my turn to be had after I played it too close only to be given a rude wake up call.

Phone call to Bob Warry and 24hrs later she's looking like new and ready to fight another day!

2011 Naish 87lt Wave board

Selling my 2011 Naish 87lt tri-fin wave board. In excellent condition with just a minor repair near the nose-£500

Email hutch@cwgsy.net or call 07839299999

Also selling 2011 Force 5.3/4.7 £150 ea









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Location:Portinfer Rd,,Guernsey

Severly battered!!!

We've had one hell of a crazy week here on the rock. It all started on Monday when the first of the depressions moved in. I arrived at t'others on to see me old mate Phil swimming in with broken kit, 45 mins later and with a little help from Nick he was relieved to be back on terra firma with tales of the mast high muncher that caught him out on suck reef...


Phil glad to be back

Myself, Matt, Jas, Si, Steve and few others scored some nice conditions on the 5.3 with the swell building this was only to be the tip of the iceberg.....
Tuesday dawns and it's fricken nukin. The wind had been blowing SW all morning and there were calls from the beach to say that the mother of all swells had hit our shores. I zoomed down after work and Martyn was rigging the 5.4 so that meant a 4.7 for me. Matt and Jason arrived shortly after but we were all feeling apprehensive about heading in especially after Phil's pasting the day before.
We headed out with the 4.7's and it was big, real big. On a couple of occasions the wave just closed out across the bay and the only option was to chicken gybe and head back in. After 30 mins on the water the wind really started to kick in and the boys changed down to the 4.2's for the next hour. It was a cracking session and luckily we all made it back in one piece....

It's so windy that it's blown the roof off the house...!

The view today 5 Jan 2012

The boys heading in to change down

Big Tuesday..

Martyn eats it

Jason fully wound and heading to hell

Well, could it get any better than this?

The anwser is "YES IT CAN". Wednesday afternoon and back down to t'others with Matt, Nick, Steve and Brigsy. The swell has dropped but it's a good size. Head high to logo on the reef and 4 foot on the beach. Fully wound on the 4.7 and some hollow inside sections to hit on the beach, it was the day for aerials and big floaty jumps. This was classic t'others, perfect cross-shore with consistent swell. Myself and Matt sailed till dusk and were now feeling totally battered.

Today is Thursday and it's been gusting force 11 overnight. This morning it's still hitting the 10 not sure if I can take anymore......

15 Dec 2011

Cheers to Nick for taking the pics and getting wet feet!

Stormy Tuesday....

It was a brave soul that entered the water on this cold and wintery morning down at our local beach and today there were 3 brave souls- Phil,Marshall and me.
The tide was too high at 9 but soon dropped and we all rigged our 4.2's in anticipation of what was to come. Two runs and we were hit with the 50+knot squall and spent the next 10 mins cowering under our sails on the beach waiting for the squall to pass. It eventually did and the wind settled down to a steady 30 knots with the odd mental gust pushing through. The surf was huge and all the reefs were sucking and boiling, it was a froth pit from hell. We sailed for about 30 mins until it became to shallow and thanked our lucky stars that we were all still in one piece. This was extreme windsurfing-overpowered, hanging on for grim death and battling with the elements. A couple of mates and a short burst of adrenalin just what the doctor ordered.... until the next time.....

Looks inviting?!?

Tide on the drop - on the beach

Sitting Pretty!

Yeeeehaaaa!!!
This is what we as windsurfers dream about...It only happens about once or twice a year but a series of deep low pressure systems are winding up and about to give us some insane conditions!!!
Today-Monday was a taster of what is about to come. Starky was just getting out at Vaz and saying how bad it was with big holes in the wind so I was a bit sceptical before heading in with me old mate Harty.
Well, what can I say apart from it was a bit of a "Brucey bonus". The wind had backed to the SSW and we were flying around on the 5.3's, slipping and sliding off the lip and cranking some sweet moves off the 4-5 foot swell. I took Starky's quad for a blast and had an awesome time on this sweet little board. There are so many different shapes, sizes and fin configurations out there that it has made windsurfing a lot more exciting but whatever type of equipment you're using then you're sure to have a good time when the conditions turn on...
Lets hope that we get some more classic wave sailing action - see you down the beach!!