Tarifa

Every time i light my Bbq phillipe the french scavanger arrives to devour half of it. I'm a generous guy and for the first couple of days i said ok, he'll cook tmrw, but a week later it's crazy (Shit here he comes again!). Steak for me tonight. But i'm only cooking one :-)
For the first time since i arrived, the forecast here is rubbish, no wind for a week. So i'm moving on. To portugal. At least for a week until the frenchman has gone, or the wind returns! time for a change :-)

Phillipe, a Frenchman, didn't think much of the wine (it was Spanish), but even he agreed it tasted better after a skinful of beers!

No wind yesterday, or today and not much forecast for the next few days. The Portugese guys have headed back to Guincho in the hope of better wind... I might follow them in a day or so if the wind doesn't pick up here... Still, I haven't had a bad run - in the four weeks that I've been here, I've only not sailed on five days (including today). Ok so some of them have been manic, 40+ knots clinging on for survivial, but I've learnt lots and have improved loads - am making some gybes now. Not when massively overpowered, but still I can get round (sometimes!). Didn't expect them to be so hard though!

Have uploaded more pics here, even one or two of me sailing - from Bolonia in 40 knots. That was windy! A nice beach though. The kiter you see in the last pic went out on his own after we came in. Fool. Turns out the lifeboat was needed to rescue him.

All morning, the ocean is as flat as a pancake, forecast says it will stay that way so everyone makes other plans - mostly on the beach. Suddenly the tide changes, and in a matter of seconds the breeze has flipped back round to levante and it's game on! All the men on the beach sit up, stop playing with their kids and start cuddling and hugging their womenfolk. Is male persuasion really that transparent??
Oh and i hear it's the start of the world cup - not a football shirt in sight here (even amongst the english)! That's one thing i haven't missed - the build up, weeks of madness everyone convinced england will win... I'm looking forward to watching the games but an glad it'll be in a more sedate environment...

Finally, some shots from Tarifa.

I have some videos of the conditions the other day, but there's no-one on the water and they need editing so you'll have to wait a few more days / weeks / months for that....

First it was the Dutch couple, then Frans, Joe, Bjorn, Reyner and me...

Didn't sail yesterday as it was still 48 knots and I was knackered from the day before.

from the wind. Obviously. Can't believe you thought otherwise, although it could be Joe's idea of a practical joke.... He's been waking everyone up in the middle of the night by shaking their van. Wasn't so funny when I did it back to him, though was it Joe?!

Levante has finally kicked in good and proper. 52 knots today, perfectly side shore. That's more than 50 miles an hour for you non-marine types! For the rest of, that's a Force 9, "Strong gale slight structural damage occurs; chimney pots and slates removed". Strange thing is that it's only on the sea. On the land it's much less.

Still, a bit windy for most people, but we decided to brave it... Rigged up my smallest kit, said a few farewells to loved ones and hit the water. Bloody hell that was windy. It started off just about manageable, but then the wind really picked up and it was just stupid. Couldn't waterstart unless there was a lull, not funny. Lost my kit 10m downwind and had to swim after it, not pleasant when you know if you don't you'll never see it again and have to swim to shore.... One guy went for a back loop and bailed out some 20feet high. I swear his kit was blown 200m down wind before it hit the water. We have it on video, will try to post a clip, unbelieveable. Still, he got back in ok (as did the rest of us)

We had waves today. Nearly enough to tempt of onto the surfboard this morning, but thought i'd save my energy for when the wind picked up.
In waves, it goes like this: if you're sailing out through waves, you have the right of way. If you're sailing starboard tack (right leg at the front), you have right of way.
Today, i was sailing out on starboard tack through some waves. At this point they were only 3 feet ish high (cos i'd timed my run between the sets). Along comes a kiter towards me who cuts me up on a wave. I had to avoid him to prevent crashing into him. In doing so, the board spun out, i lost momentum and fell in.
Ok, so my waterstarting is quite good now, but at this very point, the next 6 foot set comes in and i'm stuck in the impact zone. Bugger.
The first wave passes through ok, but the second is bigger. I have hold of the mast so i don't see my kit heading to the beach without me... Crack.
Shit. Something's gone. I head for the beach knowing it's the mast. Yep. The bottom half is now in two pieces. And funnilly enough, the kiter is nowhere to be seen....
Ah well. It's my 430 mast that's gone and i can rig everything on my other two masts so i'm not too bothered at the loss. The wind is forecast to change back to levante tmrw so it'll be really small lit hanging on for dear life again! :-)
From now on, the kites are going to have to avoid me.
Oh and btw, got my hands on the other side of the boom yesterday during a carve gybe... I'm going to get round one soon.... Maybe not planing out yet though :-)

We've had a couple of more relaxed days with Poinete blowing at around force 3/4 so yesterday I decided to chance it on the Carve and a 7m. Which was fine until the wind stopped. Completely. Not a breathe. Even after I managed to uphaul there wasn't enough wind in the sail to wobble back. So I swam. 500m or so. Good job I have a decent wetsuit - the water's pretty chilly!

Will try and get some more pix up soon...

After two days on my smallest board, i'm starting to contemplate whether i need to keep all three boards when i get home... certainly, i think the 140 litre titan will go (ross -it's a great first board...) leaving the carve as a light wind option and the freewave for proper winds... Or maybe something smaller!
No wind today for the first time since i arrived, which brings a welcome rest (although there's hope for later this afternoon) and a chance to catch up on tidying up...
I'm also pleased to report that the cobbled together mosquito net seemed to do the trial last might as i didn't wake up to any more bites - or indeed have to kill any of the little blighters overnight!