Tuesday, December 4, 2012

The photo that didn't make the press release

Just because this made me laugh and wanted to share it: So when Henry and I went on a little mission to find a cool backdrop in Bristol it was hard not to head straight to Stokes Croft. Bristol is home to some of the most famous Urban Art on the planet. We explored a few different walls but as soon as I saw the Hawaiian flowers I knew it was the one. However, the Hawaiian graffitti was all over the back entrance to a rather unfortunate business enterprise! Take a look at the pic!
(also including some others of the graffitti)

Zero Gravity!! - Move to Quatro Goya

This says it all, very smiley happy girl right now: http://forums.boards.mpora.com/showthread.php/67177-Saleh-On-Quatro-Goya

Friday, November 30, 2012

The most important website for safe Windsurfing / Surfing travels

So I'm starting to gear up for the big trip in a couple of weeks. Going somewhere so remote makes me realise how we probably all take medical care for advantage. Right now I'm trying to pack and educate myself in the treatment of basic injurys and I would be at a complete loss if it weren't for my friend's website. Dave is a Dr and an avid surfer (well actually a sponger but Ssssshhhh), he's always in search of the fastest hollowest waves on the planet. So he's compiled this website with typical surfing injuries and how to treat them. I think it's incredibly useful and defintely should be shared with the windsurfing community. Check it out: www.getswellsoon.com

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Autumn in full swing

So I didn't manage to get on the water much this summer, but over the past few weeks I've really gotten into the South Wales scene. Kind of gutted I didn't get involved with the guys and girls over there a little sooner. I took the go pro out last week and got a pretty funny shot at the point at which I saw Scott from Rat Rigs on the water so you can see me waving like crazy. Watch this space, Autumn is here and hopefully there will be some more fun sessions coming up!

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Slalom, Luxury Changing, and Pasties

So, while I have only ever partaken in wave events before, I decided it would be fun to get involved in something a little different. The British Slalom series seems to have really taken off over the past 3 years whilst I've been out of the country so sounded like a new fun thing to try out. Who better to drag along for the ride than Henry - always up for a laugh, and we cruised down to Weymouth for the 2nd event of the year. We managed to underestimate how long it would take to get there and as a result missed round 1!! We managed to sort our selves out in time for round 2 and entered the Amateurs. Big thank you to Pryde Group UK for the "much larger than usual" loan of kit....lots of litres and momfilm later we were heading out to the start line which was a 15 minute sail up wind! To cut the story short the racing was absolutely tons of fun! I was expecting it to be kind of boring but it wasn't at all! It was also super cool being at the Olympic venue where they have a full suite of changing luxury facilities! Taking wetsuit off in hot shower was something I could easily get used to :) Due to a whole host of reasons we drove back to Bristol in the evening and couldn't make it back down for the 2nd day. But we had a good taster of what to expect next time, and we will be much better prepared for the whole weekend. Pic 1 = the olypic facilities Pic 2 = the biggest pasty in the world. Bigger than Henry's head.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Maui Video

Ok, so I obviously didn't get much windsurfing footage in Maui and just watching Gopro footage of me (alone) would be super boring! So I tried to take all the little clips from all the fun things we did whilst I was visiting.....plus a little bit of windsurfing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zP0NmpclvU&feature=youtu.be

Monday, March 19, 2012

Grinning and Bearing it for one last session

So my leg was super painful on the last day but I realised it would probably be less painful windsurfing than it was walking. I thought I had to atleast give it a try! So we went out at Baby Beach and Jay was taking photos. At the start it was just Muzza, Mike and I sailing, there was a fun little section and some ramps so it was awesome. After about an hour some other guys came out and it got way windier; I was overpowered on my 3.6, and the leg became really painful....so I called it a day. All in all I can't complain - atleast it happened at the end of the trip and not the beginning :) Aloha Maui and see you very soon Check out Global Shots first round of pics - awesome work Jay: http://www.globalshots.co.uk/gallery/?album=1&gallery=25

Friday, March 16, 2012

Nuking Windy

Yesterday morning was great fun; Mike and I surfed Ho'okipa and I had a blast. After that everything went downhill... I went to sail Lowers with Muzza and Jay and after 30 mins managed to land on my kit shin first. I was over powered on a 3.6 but didn't want to stop sailing because it's my last day!! Lesson learnt. Now my leg has swollen up and not sure if I will be surf and windsurf as originally planned this morning. Check out the still shot of my crash.... pretty lucky I didn't actually break anything!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Waterfalls and Waves

Yesterday was a super fun day, we went straight to the bamboo forest and hiked and swam up to the waterfalls. The rain meant it was quite muddy in places and since Jay and I were barefoot we inadvertently ended up with a foot mud wrap type treatment. We swam up the river and spent some time messing around jumping in the pools. After that we went via the ice cream store back to camp one and launched there to sail down to Uppers. I was pretty hesitant about sailing there because I never usually have a particularly great session but I was totally proved wrong. There were some logo high sets coming through and before the tide got high it was fun jumping too. It was so much fun sailing with Muzza and Jay, and of course I inherited a couple of Global Shots stickers....one of which Jay managed to slyly apply without me even noticing until he pointed out after the session. I sailed until I couldn’t hold on anymore then cruised back up wind and collapsed in a heap :)

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Smaller swell and trades are back

The regular trade winds are back, but unfortunately the swell has dropped. On Monday we went to sail camp one since that’s where Muzza and Jay are staying, but the wind was lighter than it looked and the reef is so shallow I was scared to try anything! Yesterday I just decided to go to Kanaha again because I wanted to start sailling right at 11am. It actually turned out to be a fun day; I was on a 4.2 and the sets were about head high. I guess it’s super low tide because some of the go pro footage you can see the coral head right by my body out on the reef! I put the go pro on the other side of the boom and actually think the shots might be better like this. This morning Muzza Jay and I are going to hike some of the waterfalls because it has rained so much that they should be pretty amazing at the moment.

Monday, March 12, 2012

A little less wind....

I went out early at Kanaha yesterday on a 4.2 and there were still some really fun logo high sets coming through. It wasn’t too busy out first thing so there were plenty of waves to be had. After an hour or so I came in and found out that Casey was heading to another spot further down wind so I de-rigged and went to join them. It was more cross on shore so perfect for getting back into jumping. I hadn’t really done any jumping over the passed 3 years because living in San Diego meant I was mainly sailing San Carlos which is more of a pure wavesailing spot. Yesterday’s jumping session resulted in me feeling pretty beaten up last night (and this morning!) but was super good fun. This morning it has been raining but it just started clearing up so should be another awesome day.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Kuau, Kanaha, and 40 knots

I rigged up to sail Kuau yesterday without really paying much attention to the size of the waves....Diego was amped about going out so I just rigged up because he was saying how good it was. He got on the water before me and at that point I realised just how big the sets were as he pulled into a bottom turn and the lip of the wave was curling over his mast. At this point I already had my 4.2 rigged and thought I may as well give it a go. What’s the worst that’s going to happen? Swim down to Travares? When I got out there I realised I may have been a little out of my depth. But it was so much fun and I managed to avoid getting trashed. After a few runs the wind cranked up until I couldn’t hold on anymore. When it got to the stage that I couldn’t top turn anymore I decided to call it quits. Scary, adrenaline fuelled but amazing quick session. I’m glad I didn’t think too much about going out before hand otherwise I never would have gone! Then I decided I needed a more relaxing sail so cruised down to Kanaha and had so much fun. The waves were logo high and breaking really nicely. Unfortunately the wind died after an hour and a half but all in all an awesome day. Today the wind was firing and gusting 40 knots from the start, so I went down to Kanaha and rigged a 3.6. I was so overpowered that I could barely sail in a straight line......not the best but still fun being on the water. Hopefully the wind will back off a little for tomorrow. Happy days!

Friday, March 9, 2012

Surfing, Kona winds and Sea Urchins

So the passed couple of days have been stormy with kona winds. Had a couple of fun surfs: One at Honolua Bay a foot over head - it’s safe to say that I was well on the limit of my surfing capability but I survived and caught some amazing waves. A foot over head doesn't sound huge but this wave is so powerful and everyone sat in the line up is amazing! I was a little intimidated at first but after watching from the shoulder for a while I got involved and had a blast. We also had another session, much smaller surf, so we took out some long boards and Mike’s SUP - Tomo his dog came along for the ride too. I managed to step on an urchin for the first time ever which was fun....and the spines are STILL firmly wedged in my foot! Yesterday afternoon the wind switched back around just in time for a windsurf at Kanaha which was unexpected but awesome because hardly anyone was out. This morning the trade winds are back and we are set to sail Kuau

Monday, March 5, 2012

Maui Spring

It’s awesome being back on Maui! So far just been acclimatising and the weather has been really unstable. Managed to windsurf both days; very small swell on Saturday with plenty of wind followed by mast high yesterday at Kanaha and super light wind. Also been for a couple of fun surfs and Sam and I had a great time messing around with the Go Pro :) The weather is set to return to normal in the next couple of days with a more consistent wind so hoping to use the Go Pro windsurfing for the first time.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

AMAZING new wetsuit

For all girls out there looking for a new wetsuit I think I just found my favourite ever.
It's the Animal Animator and it's a 5-4-3 so it's super warm and really stretchy at the same time. Perfect for both surfing and windsurfing all year round. Had an awesom session at Saunton; small but fun, and most importantly, warm in my new wetsuit!