Go on, get editing!

   I just got an email from a friend in France this week about a video competition she is organising, check out the trailer above. There are loads of prizes to be won, plus a fair old wedge of cash so click on the following link, get yourself onto the facebook page now, and get editing! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Inseec-Rider-Movie-Challenge-IRMC/661463673898902

  On a slightly more self-indulgent note, here are some more nice pics of this week's action 'down the coast' and at Punta for your perusal. It's howling again here for the next few days (with showers, though :( ) so it looks like I could get a lot more much-needed practice in! To be absolutely honest, I'm actually pretty happy with the way I'm sailing now, it's all starting to come back together quite nicely, both fitness and technique. I'm starting to jump again and my riding is improving with each session, getting lots of  fluid turns and nice airs. It's great to be back...

Mucho viento!!!!

That amazing forecast we had came through pretty much spot on! I had a couple of days at Punta, then went down to Puerto Lajas for the next few days, stacked on 4.5 every day until yesterday when I foolishly rigged 5.3 and was overpowered all day again! They've all been really fun sessions with decent waves and I've started jumping a little more now, still with no hip-related repercussions so I guess it's onwards and upwards from now...
Today is windy again, but with the swell gone on the east coast I'm heading off to Punta for some starboard jumping for a little change. Hard life. Check out these couple of snaps from Puerto Lajas...

More action.

I've had plenty water-time over the past couple of weeks, a nice mix of windsurfing and SUP. Windsurfing-wise I had a nice session at Punta, did my first forward loop, backy and taka since the operation and my hip held up just dandy so I'm going to start pushing myself a bit more now, both on and off the water! I should be back up to full tilt by the Puravida Easter Clinic (dates to be announced soon!). We also scored a session at Lobos, just myself, Lucy and two good friends, which was very nice, although I missed the epic session the next day with flu (soft b*****d) and the next day at Flag. Oh well. The forecast is incredible for the next week, we are about to get hammered by wind and waves from Thursday onwards so I'll try to get some pics or video to post up if at all possible.

SUP-wise, the swell eventually dropped after New Year's enormity and I scored some nice days at Majanicho on my Fanatic Prowave- I bought myself some small fins to try and I'm getting some nice, semi-controlled slide in my top turns now, going to try to learn 360s next... check out the pics below of a session at Majanicho and the most awesome SUP pic I have ever had above, of myself, Lucy and Marina sharing a true 'family wave' at Rocky Point last week! Marina says to remind everyone that she's only thwee...

Carnage.

The side-effects of hurricane Hercules hit us yesterday with a mammoth swell hitting the northshore and making Rocky Point the only surfable spot here (again!). Check out these pics of the harbour and Rocky from Jerry Bligh!

I ventured out to the outer reef at Rocky Point and it was absolutely packed with surfers and SUPers, total madness. It was super difficult to paddle into the big, barrelling waves without running someone over. Check out this short clip of the chaos, people dropping in on me, hold-downs, slalom through the surfers, and without a doubt my dirtiest ever drop-in on someone- my apologies to the surfer in question (I tried to pull off as soon as I could but still almost killed him with my flying board, he wasn't happy), but to be fair this guy has dropped in on me windsurfing at Majanicho in almost every windsurf session we've had there over the past 20 years so I don't feel too bad. Karma...

 

 

Rocky Point mayhem from Stephen Gibson on Vimeo.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! The weather here has been fantastic once again over the Christmas period- only a couple of days of wind but huge swell every day making for some fun SUP sessions. In actual fact, the swell has been a bit too large washing out the entire northshore and making Rocky Point the only surfable wave, which, in turn, makes it supercrowded at low tide when the outer reefs are working. Nevertheless, we sneaked in some great sessions both there and at the aptly named Tw*t Rock, where Andy had his first ever session on a SUP and was catching waves within minutes! On their last day both the brothers were comfortably paddling into some decent double-overhead sets on the outer reef- brilliant! We had a superb Christmas time in their company and that of Jim Puravida (who's still here for a couple more days) and family, thanks to all of you for the good times, SUP sessions, BBQs, photos, golf etc (and for the 'trophy' for winning the Corralejo golf cup. Again!). Check out the wee vid below we made from some GoPro footage from the last couple of days...

 

Christmas SUP sessions with the legendary Hobbs brothers. from Stephen Gibson on Vimeo.

Thought so.

The wind certainly did materialise yesterday, as I thought, and the big swell made a trip down the east coast to Puerto Lajas the call for the day. It was pumping, a bit too big for the bay really with some sets closing out the entire width of the bay out to sea. I realised yesterday just how a) out of shape I am and b) how rusty I am. Thought so. No surprise really after a lengthy lay-off and a big operation, but I was a tad disappointed with my sailing and know now I need to do some serious training in the new year to get my fitness back if I want to get back to anywhere near full speed. I had a couple of big swims from the outer point after losing my gear, and Lucy had the biggest swim of her life after losing her kit for almost an hour, finally being rescued by a local miles out to sea! After all that drama I went back out and sailed the smaller town wave with the locals (still pretty big and gnarly) and had a slightly better session. It was my first time out on my 2014 Fanatic Quad 89 and it went great, although the choppiness of the wave and my pathetic performance made it impossible to really tell what the board's performance is like compared to last year's model...

Today it looks almost certainly like Majanicho, I got up early to catch it uncrowded but at the moment the wind is light but building so I'm nursing a coffee and waiting for an hour or so...

First day back at Punta...

As I mentioned in the last post, the wind has arrived and I ventured out at Punta today for the first time since the op. I took it very easy- no jumping, just riding and freestyle, and was totally overpowered and overboarded as soon as I hit the water, but my hip held up great and I may just up the ante a little tomorrow and try some little jumps...check out the pics from Hobbsy's new waterproof housing (thanks for swimming about in the cold, Si), and a couple from the land taken by Lucy, who braved the cold and wind to stand on the shore taking pics as I basically sailed in and out without doing anything :/ . Hopefully, more to come tomorrow...

Merry Christmas from the rock.

Well, that's Christmas over and done with. No wind so far but there were huge waves and the lack of wind made for some epic SUP conditions- check out the pic below of Rocky Point on Christmas Day!!!! Wow! Great fun. Today is a rest day as the wind has picked up a bit, making it too breezy for paddling but still not windy enough to sail. Tomorrow is looking good for Punta and Sunday is going to be nuking, followed by Majanicho on Monday and Tuesday, before dropping on Wednesday for more SUPing. Hard life. Should have some photos to post very soon...
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Back on the water. At last.

It's been four months plus since my hip resurfacing and I've been a very good boy so far- no sailing at all, although I must admit I've been very tempted a couple of times but was let down by the forecast, phew! I always promised myself I would rehab properly and wait 4-5 months before attempting to sail again. The hip has felt great for ages now but I've been hanging on trying to stick to my original plan, paddleboarding as much as possible and generally just taking it easy. Yesterday the wind turned east (I reckon Majanicho must have been firing :( ) and meant the bay was windy and flat so I decided to bust out my 2014 kit and go for a 45 minute spin to see how my leg would handle it. Although I felt very rusty and incredibly out of shape, the session went well, I can still gybe, and today I have no pain in my hip so I reckon I'm ready to get back into it. I'm planning on easing myself back in, maybe no jumping for another month or two, but I should be able to get out when it's windy somewhere. At last. Again, I would like to thank all the fantastic staff at the Nuffield and my surgeon who helped me all the way through from beginning to new beginning...

Back to work.

How can a guy with so much free time be so busy? I don't know, once again I've left it a couple of weeks before finding time to post up the pictures of my first post-op clinic! (Cue rap on knuckles). Jim Patterson, a Kiwi ex-pat, now living in London but soon to return to his native home (and who can blame him?) came over for a week hoping to score a couple of half days with tuition and struck gold. We had a full 7 days of wind, two nice days at Flag, port tack with head high waves on the reefs, and four big days at Punta for starboard jumping and riding! He had a great week, obviously, and improved the rotation on his forwards during the last two sessions at Punta once he got fully dialled into the fairly extreme conditions. I did my tuition from the beach with the aid of my camera and video camera and it worked really well as I could show him the things he was doing well and things he needed to change during his sessions. All in all, a great week and a very happy customer! Enjoy your new kit (and the cold) back home Jim...