JackieOnassis

Well there has been absolutely no swell in almost two weeks and as soon as there was even the smallest of waves I decided to head for a surf. My thinking was that “a surf session on a small wave was better than no surf session at all”. So in spite of the doctors orders I took the medicine, stuck in my ear plugs, I ignored my ear infection and simply hoped for the best.

Now there was no point going alone so Aisling Gilchrist decided to come along and rent a board. She used to do a lot of surfing before she took up kayaking so was looking forward to a dip in the sea. Barry Loughnane has been asking a lot lately for a go in one of my surf kayaks so he came along too. Kev Egan came along for the spin, poor lad was on the shore with an eye infection so we gave him the camera to keep him entertained.

Now it was small, maybe 2 foot, busy and the sun was out. I was not overly pleased but once I got on the water my attitude changed. The surfers were friendly and there was lots of banter and in spite of the soft waves, I decided to look on the positive side!

One thing is for sure the 666 was still able to pick up the waves with ease. Ive also had it out in a lot bigger messier conditions and found it real easy to get out the back. It seems to be a flyer in a variety of conditions. I’m looking forward to spending a lot more time in this boat!

Barry liked the Speedy and was doing great for someone trying a composite boat for the first time. It’s a pity the waves were so small as I was hoping to show him how fast these boats really are on a proper wave. He will just have to go surfing again!

After a surf we went for some food in Joes Café and then Kev went home and the 3 amigos got an ice cream and headed back to Galway. On the way home we stopped to take a picture in the Burren as Ash had never been. A great day out in the end

Well  I was really hoping to get some surfing done in the last week with Portugal Worlds just around the corner but the swell has died so instead Ive just spent some quality time in Clifden in glorious weather. The shorty cag was out in force and the cues were small. To be honest after the competition I was glad to see the shrinking cue…. I was paddling mainly with some of the NUIG diehard playboaters. Barry, Cian, Conor and Andrew were the main culprits. I managed to squeeze in about four sessions over a few days.

Also during this time the wave came up and was great fun as the tides were quite high. So lots of oldschool was on the cards and smiling fsces all round.

While there I took the camera out and decided to do a response video to my recent video of curragower a wave in Limerick. That video featured many UL paddlers telling us why they love gower so I thought who better to tell us why they love Clifden than some NUIG paddlers….

So I’ll let you decide who is showcasing the better playspot, I have my opinion which I will keep to myself

Why ULKC likes Curragower

Why NUIGKC likes Clifden

Part 1

Part 2

Also big up to Cian Mc Comb for putting us up in the Mobile Home and to Barry for giving me the Ibuprofene and the two of them for listening to me whine about my very sore ear.

Of course it didnt stop me going to Oranmore for a sneakey session on Sunday evening.

Im off now to take a trip to the very small swell for a despeation surf……..