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I knew the best part of today would be early. Being on the water just after sunrise would have been ideal, but that was never going to happen driving down from London.
I arrived just after 10am and it was howling. There were three or four guys on the water so I took a few photos, before rigging up a 3.7m. The lifeboats were out, hopefully just training, I wouldnt want to have been in need of rescue in those conditions.

It was high tide so getting through the shorebreak was the first challenge, but I managed that without major event. However, once on the board, the strength of the wind really hit me. I was massively overpowered in the gusts. Still I managed a few runs, nearly made a gybe or two and had a couple of okish wave rides. Didn't take long before I was shattered. So I came in (somewhat downwind but avoiding the groynes), pulled on the outhaul, dragged myself and kit back up wind, had a brief break then went for it again.

By now the wind had dropped considerably so it was almost pleasant planing out. However, the wind was still dropping so rather than risk having to swim in, I decided to head for the beach. I just about made it in a safe distance from a groyne when the wind died and I got a thorough rinsing in the shorebreak. Luckily, kit and I escaped undamaged - from the groyne and the shorebreak - and I scrambled back onto solid ground.

From then on, the wind continued to dropped. From gale force 7 down to virtually nothing in ten minutes or so. A few guys tried getting out on bigger boards and 5m sails, but spent most of the time swimming. By the time I left, paddleboards and surf boards were coming out.

It's a long way when it's all over so quickly.

Not Cornwall. We’d been umming and ahhing all week about a possible weekend trip to Cornwall but unfortunately the forecast took a turn for the worst on Friday and we decided not to bother. Turned out to be the right decision as conditions on the South Coast were darn good and as it’s the start of half-term the traffic would have been a nightmare.

As it was, I headed down to Avon Beach Saturday morning to make the most of the southerly wind. A swell was running and the tide was on the push so out came the WaveCult. I paired it with a 5.2 and headed upwind. While the WaveCult is a joyful board to ride, jump and gybe, it is an effort to get upwind with a small fin. Still, a handful of tacks and I was ready for a couple of hours of south coast wave riding.

It’s not perfect down the line conditions like Cornwall, but it can be pretty special on days when it comes together. That said, this was a middling to good kind of day. Fantastic jumping and pretty good riding. The cross / cross-on wind made top turning tricky thanks to the contorted position you have to get in, but I’m getting there and made a handful. I also made the mistake of looking behind me during one jump and nearly went into a forward. Well, actually I did go into a forward, but it turned into more of a painful nose dive. Maybe it’s time to start going for forwards properly instead!