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Diary   2016 - 1

 

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17 January  Sagres  Surf day 960

I am back from Mallorca 10 January. Today was only small swell, but it suited me fine. I was doing quite well actually. Popping up in one sweep. First I had the whole beach for myself. Then came a few more surfers. Air Temp 16 Deg C and weak wind, so It felt ok. It is surf year no 10 and I am heading towards 1000 surf days.
Mareta Sagres
 
18 January  Sagres  Surf day 961
Slowly getting towards the magic 1000 days. Today surfing Beliche. It was more white water surfing, but I was actually standing on the board now and again. At sun set the game was over.
 
20 January  Sagres  Surf day 962
I went to Zavial. The swell was just about right for me. I did a bit of warm up using the smaller breaks in front of the beach, when the wave breaks second time. Afterwards i moved to the line up. Because it was hi water the waves were just right for long boarding.
Zavial
 
On  the days without surf, I use my bike.
 
25 January  Sagres  Surf day 963
Mareta. Lots of small waves. I still pop up in one sweep
Photo 26 Jan Tonel
 
27 January  Sagres  Surf day 964
Mareta. A fantastic day. Sun and mild.
28 Jan Mareta
 
29 January  Sagres  Surf day 965
Another great day at Mareta
 
01 February  Sagres  Surf day 966
Mareta again. I thought the swell was too small, but managed some good rides anyway.
 
03 February  Sagres  Surf day 967
Mareta again. Only small waves.
 
04 February  Sagres  Surf day 968
Big swell of 6 feet at Mareta. I was a bit worried so only stayed short time.
 
05 February  Sagres  Surf day 969
Still big swell at Mareta. I had my life west on at was surfing som 6 feet "monsters" It was more ass and elbow, but I did it.
 
06 February  Sagres  Surf day 970
Very nice day at Tonel. Windy and overcast, but mild. Good waves for longboard.
 
11 Feb leaving Sagres heading to Mallorca with car and caravan in tow. The winter can be pretty good on Mallorca, and pretty much uncrowded. But consistency is bad.
 
 
26 27 28 february Mallorca Surf day 973
Pastilla can be can very good. The swell can reach 6 feet, without being too power full. That makes it a good place to practice. The problem is that good swell is not very frequent. Today I may have surfed my biggest wave ever. I could hear the other surfers shouting "watch out" and diving under, but the old man started paddling . May bee not the best style, but I managed to catch the monster wave..
 
Once the sun was out it was quite pleasant
Sunday, and the swell is getting smaller, however very big sets are still arriving
 
23 24 27 February Mallorca Surf day 976
Son Serra de Marina. First day i did not make it trough  the white water. The other days were very good.
 
Son Serra de Marina
 
23  Marts Mallorca .. Surf day 977
A day with 4 to 6 feet swell. East to surf. My favorite type of swell. it is not often like this unfortunately.
Sa Marina
 
05 April Mallorca...Surf day 978
Can Pastilla. Rainy day with pleasant swell. I like this spot.
 
 
25 April Sagres Portugal...Surf day 979
I arrived in Sagres yesterday, after a drive from Denia. Today was first day surfing. I was luckey to find some good waves at Cordoama beach. A nice sunny day..
 
30 April Sagres Portugal...Surf day 980
Tonel. Nice small swell, so I was there twice. Water is 15 degree C. First I used my 5 mill Typhon, which is rather heavy. Later I found that my 3 / 2 ECEL is almost as warm. And a lot lighter.
 
 
 
01 May Sagres Portugal...Surf day 981
Small waves only. Nice and sunny. Slowly heading towards day 1000
 
02 May Sagres Portugal...Surf day 982
An other day at Tonel. 25 Deg C. lots of sun.
 
03 May Sagres Portugal...Surf day 983
Fantastic day at Tonel. First it was pretty flay. Then some nice swell started. I had my own section, and started experiment a bit. I found that using short energetic paddle strokes, works better than long ones.  All of a sudden I was flying
 
 
05 May Sagres Portugal...Surf day 984
A good day. Nice big swell. A bit too big, and I lost my breath a few times. Then I  got my surf west. And took a few more waves.
 
 
09 May Sagres Portugal...Surf day 985
Back in the water after some rain and wind days. Mareta was the place. The waves were difficult. Steepening up very fast and breaking close to the shore. Once the sun is out, the weather is quite pleasant. Without the sun it is pretty cold.
 
10 11 12 May Sagres Portugal...Surf day 988
Mareta. As the swell turned more West, conditions became better. Actually ended up being execellent.
 
13 May Sagres Tonel...Surf day 989
 
15 May Sagres Amado...Surf day 990
Amado
 
20 22 23 24 May Sagres Tonel...Surf day 994
A nice afternoon.
 
The 25 th of May, it was 10 feet at Tonel. 2 surfers out only. Here returning with a broken board. Without the board , he had to swim very hard to get to the shore. The back wash pulling him out. Gave me something to think about. Example. with a bulky life west on I would not have been able to swim back.
 
26 and 28 May Sagres Mareta...Surf day 995 and 996
Only 1 feet of swell.
 
Tonel d. 27 May. I was not surfing.
 
 
29 and 30 May Sagres Tonel...Surf day 997 998
 
 
 
1 and 4  June Sagres Cordoama...Surf day 999 and 1000
 
Perfect waves at Cordoama. Day 1000
 
 18 Jun Sagres Tonel...Surf day 1009
It has been very windy. It is however possible to find good conditions early morning. The earlier the better. As Tonel can be surfed at any tide. Though only at low tide with moderate wave height.
Today it was low tide and I paddled very far out. Never have I been that far out before. But I have seen surfers on that position .
It was very good. Though it is necessary to look out for rocks  just submerged.
If the waves are bigger than 1.5 meters I find it better to stay more on the inside and let the wave break and catch the white water. But get off before the water is getting to shallow. I managed to bump my head into the sand bottom twice. And that is not a good idea.
 
26 Jun Sagres Tonel...Surf day 1013
Tonel is my beach this year, it seems. I had 4 more surf days there. Not a lot to tell, apart that you need to keep an aye on the rocks.
Amado 10 July
Mareta  11 July 2016
 
16 Jul 2016 Sagres Tonel...Surf day 1019
Tonel 6 more days. I am improving. The two last summers have been spend travelling. Not a lot surfing done. I can see now that the summertime is great in this area. Only a biggish board is needed. Mine is 9 feet 6 inch 22,5 inch wide. I have a 10 feet x 23 inch x 3 inch on order. That will be fun to try. Also it is well worth to get an early start. During the day the beach are becoming crowded.
I have a good warm up program I follow. Even if I make a lot of pop up in one sweep, I have not had back trouble this year.  ( nock on wood )  Also I have dropped 5 kg weight during the winter. Simply from avoiding carb food ( bread..rice..spaghetti..soda pop..cakes..morning musley and so on.
 
Surfing Tonel July 17 2016
 
 
26 Jul 2016 Sagres ...Surf day 1022
Tonel and Amado. I had a small fall from a wave and bruced the rib cage. had some days off. Today Amado.
long time since I was there. But it is a good place. Especially if you are an early starter.
Camping at the beach parking
The motorhome section. At the Amado beach parking.
 
27 Jul 2016 Sagres ...Surf day 1023
I went to Amado. 5 feet swell. It was only 18 deg C and raining a little. As usual it was a bit of trouble to get through the shore break. But once outside it was quiet and I realized that i was the one sitting longest from the shore line , waiting for the biggest set.
Then I remembered my old surf teacher saying " Go for the smaller waves , with the good shape."  And he is right . The big bulky swell tend to break in a mess of white water, where as the smaller ones with a good clean and steep front, tend to create a  clean green water wall to surf. At least for a while.
The video below is showing what I mean. A clean take off. Time to make a turn, and a little surfing of the wall. Then the whole wave front is breaking. I can keep going whith the help of the white water, But better to bail out and avoid a long paddling back out.
 
 
Amado July 27 - Video  2.6 Mega
 
08 Aug 2016 Sagres ...Surf day 1029
Another 6 surf days. And the last 2 days on a new surf board. !0 feet long  23.5 inch wide and 3 1/8 inch thick. So far promising.
 
Tonel Aug 08 - Video 11 Mega  Still on old board
 
18 Aug 2016 Sagres ...Surf day 1033
Four more days with the new board. It has more rocker and is easier to turn, and feels more stable . It is  longer  wider and thicker than the older " Panic Point"
I decided to make a trip to North coast of Spain.
Getting there.
 
 
 
 
24 ..28 Aug 2016 Foz Galicien ...Surf day 1038
I was staying at Camping Gaviotas 4 Km from Foz. Beach right in front of camping. I had some pretty nice
surfing there.  Video
 
29 Aug 2016 Vega beach Asturien ...Surf day 1039
Very nice beach. Good swell as well. Not a lot of surfers. Parking at the beach. I am still doing well at my new board.
 
4 Photos above are from Vega
 
01 and 02 Oyambre...Surf Day 1041
was taking 2x2 hr. classes with www.surfnsoul.com surfs cool. I was very pleased with the result. There
are so many small details to learn and use at the right time. In the beginning, 2008 as far as I remember, I did not pay to much attention, because I did not believe it was that important. But now I can feel the difference when you doo it right. I am all ears now.
Guerra beach. Nice swell lines. But swell was actually too big for me.
 
03 Oyambre...Surf Day 1042
I was surfing at Playa  Parajo Amarillo. Everybody were at the beaches on the other side of the headland, as the swell was bigger there. So I had  it all for myself. Nice.
Pajaro Amarillo. Beach is pretty much disappearing during hi water.