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...