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Friday 1 Jan 2010

A storm had been blowing all night with 40 plus knot wind. Some 30.000 ton ships that have been sitting at anchor in the bay, lifted anchor yesterday and took to sea for safety.. Trees were toppled by the wind. The seaside promenades were full of debris that had been washed onto them.

I was driving up and down the coast to find a protected spot. I was just about to give up when I next to Can Pastilla marina saw some surfers. The trick was to stay very close to the pier when paddling out. There was some current there helping as well. Getting back in was no problem. The waves were powerful.

The wind had died out overnight. The conditions were now perfect. I was paddling out to get the biggest waves and had no problems. I think I am getting used to bigger waves. The fear is slowly vanishing.
 

Friday  8 Jan 2010. Air temp 5 deg. Heavy rain. However big swell and offshore wind. Due to the bad veather I had everything for myself.
 

Saturday 9 Jan 2010. One more day with very good conditions. No other surfers around. It is still 5 Deg. C. only. However water temp is 14. So I am fine. My new O'Niel Psyco 2  6/5/3  keeps me warm. Hood and gloves as well. The gloves gives me more paddling power as well. 

The trick is to heat up the car during the drive to the beach and then change into the Neoprene inside the car. Then I bring some hot tea that I drink. In a thermo bag I have a 5 liter water bottle with hot water. After surfing I pour this inside through the neck opening.

If you want the peaks for yourself, then prepare for cold water surfing.

Sunday 10 Jan 2010: Only a small swell, but enough, and it was a sunny day . I have been surfing more than 20 days during the last month. My paddling power is getting.

Paddling power means catching more waves.
 

I am on my way to Corralejo on Fuerteventura ( Canary Islanda ). For many years I wanted to go there. Now I waiting in the airport. This afternoon I will be there. I booked5 days surfing with www.homegrown.es/  They work with the hotel www.corralejobeach.com/gallery.html . Weather www.windguru.com 
 

We had to wait for the tide and spend some time in the surfboard factory. It turned out, that the shaper who build my board back home, used to work for homegrown here on Fuerteventura.

Eventually we got down to surfing. The spot was great. It was not the  6 feet side of the island, but a protected part of the coast South of Corralejo. I had a 9 feet 2 inch board and was catching more wave than anybody else.

Visiting the shapers workshop

Wave on the North coast. That is where the "A" team went

Corralejo water front. Lots of small bars and restaurants.

My lodging at Hotel Corralejo beach.  http://www.corralejobeach.com/gallery.html

We had a visit to Cotillo on the West Coast.. The town is very quiet in January. The beach was partly washed away from prolonged large swell. This place looked difficult for beginners this time a year. With the arrival of spring with less swell, the beach will delivered back by the smaller waves

Then we went to our usual place south from Corralejo.  Today it was more windy and a powerful break over the reef.  I still managed to get through the whitewater and had lots of fun.
 

Wednsday 20 January:  We went to Playa Blanca near the airport. Only small waves, but I learned 2 important things. First is a trick called a backside rail grap. As you take off, grap the right rail with your right hand and this way help to tilt the board. You can make a faster turn and surf the wall , or hold the board better on a steep wave.

The other thing was how to make a full turtle roll. If you are right handed, make the roll CV, right rail down. To get back up, hold right hand at the middle of the board rail, continue the roll and when the board has finished the roll you can pull yourself back on top of it. The roll to be done in one movement.

Chris was our instructor today. He is a longboarder from Malibu California. Below you can see the rail grap trick. Look at surfer from 42 sec.  I will newer be able to surf waves like this, but trying to touch, or grab the board during take off, forces you to stay low. Note, you can only use this turn to one side.

Playa Blanca, Just South of Rosario, the capital. I am using a 9 feet 2 inch plastic board. It is wide and stable, good for my 93 Kg. I am catching a lot of wave with this board.

If looks good, but seconds later the board was popping out from a heap of foam. As this surfer told me later " To day I have been drinking a lot of sea water"

If you know how to do, then it is easy. This is our instructor surfing. This is how you should stand on a surf board.
  

The  last day. We went to flag beach again. I was using a different board. 8 feet 1 inch x 22 inch and a quarter x 3 inch thick. it has a pointed front and a lot of nose lift but only a little rocker. It worked very well on this fast shore break

Looking for the swell.

The board I used.

I liked it here on Fuerteventura. Sun every day. Comfortable temperature. and surf every day. Not bad for a January vacations.

Homegrown surf school did a good job and the hotel Corralejo Beach is very comfortable. I had the hotel option with half board. The rooms have a refrigerator and if you  chose self catering, a small section  can be unlocked, and I guess you find some cooking facilities here.

The photo below is from the area just North of Corralejo, called @ El Muelle @ . The quality of photo is not good, it is mainly to show the size of the waves there on an average winter day. WindGuru was reading 2 meters at Rockey Point that day

Saturday 30 January 2010: A short sesseion near Can Pastilla. Not very good conditions, but nice sunshine.
 

Sunday 31 January 2010: Today I went to Paguera. Long time since I have been there, and it is actually a good place. Some pretty big waves, but also a lot of surfers.
I spend about an hour in the water and I was satisfied with my ability to catch the waves. Paguera was the first place I surfed a wave, lying on the belly on my inflatable surf board. It has been 3 years ago now.
 

Tuesday 23 February 2010:  First I was down with a cold for 1 week. Then one week with lower back pain. Today I was out for the first time. It was great. As soon I was on the board and started to paddle out, I felt great. I was studying the situation a little. You get a very good work out of every muscle and joint from paddling on a surf board. Jumping to the stand was no problem as well. No pain at all. I was well pleased with the situation.
 

Thursday 25 February 2010: I went to Paguera. There you find the biggest waves on the SW coast, but it is quite often a closeout you will surf. I realize now, that I stopped going there because the large steep waves scared me. Now it seems that I can surf any wave , or shall we say getting down the wave without crashing. Actually I think I was the one catching most wave this afternoon.

Sunday 28 Feb 2010 Fuerteventura again.

Corrallejo is a nice place. The surf school I use has a good mix of people. All ages, couples and singles. I feel at home here. There are many schools here. I use http://www.homegrown.es   They book hotel for me as well.

I had a good break through with my surfing here. I managed to look op and see where I am going. This is a must, and it have taken me to long to achieve this. I used to look down at the board. A very bad habit. Just as if looking at your shoes when you walk.

The bad habit is broken. My surfing took a quantum leap forward in a  few days.

Flag Beach

Flag Beach

Rockey Point  2, just South of Corrallejo ( my name) at low water

Packing up.

Looking for surfable waves - But they were hard to find. This is the coast near Cotillo, in strong onshore wind. Later we surfed at very good waves at Rockey Point.

Flag beach on a bigish day.

Flag beach on a bigish day.

Flag beach on a bigish day.

Large swell on Rockey point outer reef.

Flag beach Fuerteventura

Big surprise, Carnival just started.

There are a few places where you can rent SUP boards in Correlejo. For those who like to try this. For those who already know, then you can paddle across the small bay and if conditions are right ( mostly during winter season  ) then there are suitable swell on Rockey Point.

The photo is a small group on a excoursion along the waterfront.

09 Mar 2010 Mallorca Alcudia . The air was 7 Deg C, it was windy. Raining a bit and getting dark. The waves were plunging close out. Not surfable, but a lot of white water. That was the situation this afternoon in Alcudia bay. There was a strong current, so I only stayed in the water 1 hour. Below 2 photos from the area.

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