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Surf's Up! Diary -26th June
I find the hardest part of my job is the responsibility of looking after so many people particularly when the conditions are poor. I always teach when the conditions are marginal so that I can make a judgement at first hand. Years of experience help that judgement, but the stress makes me feel like my head is about to explode. My responsibility isn’t just to the seven in my group but to everyone under the Surf’s Up! banner - the students, the staff. There’s a lot to think about - watching every wave, every gust of wind, every surge, the groups ability to hold position and the experience of the instructors alongside me. And then there’s the physical aspect of actually battling the elements myself. I get home totally drained on days like that. Yesterday was like that.
24th June later!
Meet Bo - the new Surf’s Up! black Lab puppy!! 24th June pm
24th June
23rd June
This is the girl squad in action today. I wonder how many of them will go on to become champions. Now that I spend so much time in the office I get to see all the video coaching and can get a pretty good handle on who’s doing what. What’s also really cool is that we know all the girls really well and they’ve become part of the furniture. They’re full of energy and great fun to have around. An awesome team spirit is developing.
Tom and Ernie from Finisterre have just popped in. Good mates. Today has been a place of constant activity. A total of eight video sessions have been carried out - seven with Boardriders. How cool is that?! The girls get more excitable every time they come in. It’s just dawned on me that this is such a huge place of inspiration - to be surrounded by the people that benefit the most. And such great kids, each and every one. Having worked all day on Boardriders stuff and then to see the benefits right here - so worthwhile and the staff are really into it. Life is sweet. 22nd June
21st June
I’m so sorry dude - I just couldn’t resist!
There’s a few relationships in my life that on the face of it would seem difficult. Living and working 24 hrs a day with your missus, would be one of those. But I guess she just feels so lucky to have ended up with someone like me - I know she pinches herself everyday - and I know that as long as she scrubs up now and again and puts the rubbish out on a Friday, we’ll always get through. It’s been raining for most of the day - and apparently there’s a bit of flooding around. Hang on ...... a rumble of thunder! And Little John is down at the water’s edge. Carnage! I should explain that Little John is petrified of thunder storms - really scared, to the point of jumping into other instructors arms. To display a weakness of this sort is manor from heaven for the other instructors. It’s not like they’re going to make an issue of it, is it? Normally the big storms coincide with the work experience kids. We get them to stand at the water’s edge with metal flagpoles so that we can continue with the lessons - it’s a no-brainer.
20th June pm
18th June
We won!! I’ve been bidding on some Fe2O3.nH2O (iron oxide) for Janey for the past 7 days. It’s always been her dream, and yesterday the bidding ended with us the victors. The Fe2O3.nH2O, also known as a Triumph Herald Convertible is currently residing at Tonbridge Wells - what’s the chances of that making it back? I’m hoping to send my Dad down there to pick it up as his family comes from Maidstone. It wouldn’t be my first venture into buying good value stuff off ebay that then costs a fortune to get delivered. I think my best would have been some school gym wall bars - £100 seemed like a lot of wall bars for the cash. Where were they - Southend on Sea!! That was two years ago and they’re still there now.
18th June
Sunday, another great day - one of the best. No surf, so following our swim we headed to the festival site and basically chilled for rest of the day - listening to bands, watching skate and mountain board demos, annoying the Ollypop staff. We sat on the grass for a while in the main arena and just enjoyed being together as a team.
To be away from the beach for the weekend at this time of year felt really weird. Thanks to the staff for manning the ship. The one thing selling the surf lodge will give both myself and Janey is time (Janey came with Billy and Fin) - and if we can get away for weekends like this more often then life is sweet. We had such a great weekend. 12th June
I love this photo of Billy. I’m not sure he could ever be happier than this - getting his board signed by an American pro skater. Awesome. Nothing is better than being a Dad! 8th June
4th June A good day - got loads done. Placed a huge order for new clothes, very excited about that. And the fact that we’ve got an ex Animal and Headworx designer working on some new designs for us makes me very happy. As much as I dislike the Animal brand ( when they approached us to run their surf school, none of their directors surfed!), they are superb at marketing. So why not take one of their best designers and get them to do our stuff. Stoked. Oh funny - Kelly grew up on a small island in New Zealsnd and to be fair his spelling is atrocious. He’s sat opposite me in the office trying to find cheap flights. I said to him,”Dude there’s no way you’ll be able to spell cheap flights” and he said “Yes I can. Look it’s come up with some cheap flights.” “Let’s have a look.” And sure enough on the screen it comes up “ Cheep Flights” Oh man have we just had some fun - who’s he going to get a flight with exactly - Budgie Airways. And had he ever thought of being a air steward, they’ve had a Cockatoo. There’s been no stopping me. As luck would have it, Polly’s here as well - it doesn’t get any better than this. 3rd June Day of ups and downs for the Boardrider team down at Fistral. Toby, star of the day ripped it up in the 4-5ft waves all the way to the final and led until the closing moments. The rising tide presented little opportunity to score further in the heat and he had to settle for second place. He surf’s so well and is great to watch. I think he’ll leave the competition for dead shortly and they’ll all be scrapping for second - if he can maintain his focus. He picked up a new sponsor Electric sunglasses. Nice. Harvey went out early surfing in a heat with two of the eventual finalists. He seems to be drawing really tough heats at the moment. He should have been in the final as well - but that’s just the luck of the draw. As for Archie...... Archie, Archie, Archie!! Archie caught the most unbelieveable wave, the best I’d ever seen him surf. A long ride with loads of spray off the turns - a real mature and measured performance ... except that is for his timing. The hooter to start his heat hadn’t gone off!! It didn’t count. Gutted. From that point onwards he was always going to struggle. I think though Archie’s troubles have only just begun. Apparently his Geography teaching is after him for not doing his half term homework - in my book that’s like a badge of honour! But in the position of authority that I enjoy I have to say it’s just not good enough. The problem is that Archie lives and breathes surfing - he’s here all the time. To have such a healthy passion at the age of 14 is fantastic - so I’m not going to discourage it. What’s the upside of surfing at Archies age - fitness, friendship, courage, respect, work ethic, awareness of others. And the upside of Geography - only one, he’ll be able to find some cool places to hang!! What I’m learning at these comps is that luck plays a major part, and whereas last year we could sneak through a few heats, this year we’re finding that it can work against us. The top riders will generally play the game and make it through by getting a few good early scores on the door. For those in the middle order, it’s pot luck on the waves that come through. Archie and Harvey are both knocking on the door of the top tier - and it won’t be long before they take their seats at the top table. Although the competition is improving, with our current training programme we’re progressing quicker. This time next year, if not before, I reckon we’ll have at least two Boardriders competing in the finals of every age group, boys and girls. To be fair the rest of the industry is so far behind. The National Surfing Centrte at Fistral hasn’t even started their training programme for the groms yet - and this is June. For the groms to compete on the world stage we have to provide two things, regular top class coaching and secondly, lots of competition both here and abroad. The other aspect of groms comps that needs to change is that there is little support from spectators for the events. I find them fascinating - here we are watching the future talent of this country, the very best we have - and yet no-one is there to watch. Maybe cultivating the team element would improve this situation. For example, we’re the only ones who go down to the water’s edge and support each other - it’s great and I’m sure the Boardriders like being supported. And if they do well we cheer and clap. If they struggle we encourage them for the next time. A good deal of camaraderie. This evening we had a Boardrider Committee meeting - this was the full one with parents, groms and instructors. A lot of ground was covered and the upshot was the following - a letter will be sent to all Boardrider parents advising parents about the issues regarding wearing helmets; the trip over the October half term for 33 Boardriders will be to Portugal; the Calendar will be on sale by the 30th June; and, talks with major sponsors will start shortly. The calendar looks amazing - Jonathan has done a really great job. I have no doubt that this be huge for the club. 2nd June
It’s Janey’s birthday tomorrow - so I took Billy and Fin to Bodmin. There’s a place there where you can paint pottery plates and mugs. It was great fun. We made up a few for Janey and I went to the printers to get some enlarged photos of the kids. A few bonus points coming my way. I’ve reached that sad age when my dream Harley becomes very appealing and what with my recent beard growth all is looking good. I know the way around Janey is to throw my wild plans into the conversation and then leave it for a while to sink in. She knows me well enough by now. So the bike idea is something that gets referred to now and again. I’ve always got a few things that I’d like that I’m convinced would make my life better. Janey only has one materialistic want. From a small child she’s dreamed of owning a Triumph Herald Convertible. Get her one of those and the bike is mine!!! Last night was a classic. “So how many kids are you taking to Portugal?” Janey asked. “Thirty three” I replied. We have this really nice time in the evening when the kids are sorted for the night, I climb in a big deep bath and Janey sits in the doorway chatting to me about the day. “ And how is that going to work?”she enquired. “I have absolutely no idea!” By the time the water’s gone cold we normally get to work through all the challenges - no obstacles, just challenges. We did a litter pick on the beach tonight with the Boardriders. Twenty turned up and we gave Greenaway the full treatment. Only three bags of rubbish, but it’s now clear of all plastic and rope. On the rocks one of the team found an old towel and a dirty pair of pants. They were an exciting find. Some while later, another division of our army was questioned on whether they’d found a towel and pair of pants left on the rocks whilst they were swimming! Oops. Jonathan Payne has been working hard on the Boardrider Calendar - it looks amazing!! We’re going to slot the tide times on it and then it will be ready for print. Next week is the big one. The new projects should come together - I think we’ll know one way or the other. And on top of that we need to look at some new lines of clothing as the sale of hoodies have again been mad today. Surf has been great - 3ft clean. Everyone on holiday is having a good time. The power to the office is now sorted! I’m writing this in the office whilst mayhem still ensues on the beach. Happy days. We ordered a new sofa thing for the beach house, but have ended up using my sisters instead as it fits in really well. What this means is that we’ll use it in our own home. Having slept on the sofa for the past 3 years this is good news! The gap between the cushions had grown to such an extent that it’s impossible to sleep well. Sleeping on the couch is no reflection on Janey - even though she snores a bit - I just find it very difficult to switch off at night. I’ve gotten in the habit of falling asleep in front of the telly. Rather than wake Janey, it’s easy to stay where I am. So here’s hoping for a good nights kip. I’m surrounded by kids talking exams. Having only passed 4 ‘O’ levels I’m not a fan of academic tests, or study. But I pretend that I think they’re important for the parents! 31st May A day of awesome surf and rain. This morning the surf really was Polzy at it’s best. 3 - 4ft glass! I took my group up onto the cliff top to look down at the waves from above and it was truly classic - it’s what we train for!! Slightly disappointed to find that my hat and sunglasses that I’d left on our surfboards had been nicked, but that maybe would have been asking too much. The office has been mad. It really is a hive of activity. In one corner we have Kelly going through the video analysis; along the wall we have hoards of our surfers trying on the hoodies; and somehow in amongst all this mayhem we have Julia and JD trying to answer the phone and deal with all the enquiries. As mad as it is, it’s pretty cool and there’s a good buzz about the place. I love going in there to see what’s going on. The phone line was transfered from our home to the office today which means we can now press on with a more permanent broadband connection. The temporary one isn’t reliable enough. We sat and looked at the Galleon flat for over a year without clocking what it would actually mean to our business. As a flat it was expensive - as our HQ it has turned out to be a snip. I said to Janey how unbelievable it is that we ran our business just from the landy for years. The thought of that now is unthinkable. We’ve plans to build a wooden beach chalet for the Boardriders and staff - that might happen before the end of the year, we’ll see how the year goes. Despite the fact it’s been raining for the best part of the day, it’s coming out nice now. Most people have left the beach. A few late comers getting an evening surf before tea. It’s a good time to go in. 30th May The Whitsun has been much busier than normal - Summer bookings also indicate that surfing continues to “set the the mind free”. The beach lodge is absolutely flying and it won’t be long before we’re fully booked. The office has been buzzing and the hoodies have been flying out of the door. So much so that I think it’s driving the office staff mad! For me and Janey the new office is a Godsend - not just because it’s so easy to walk across the car park if we need to check something or do something, but our home has now gone back to being our own. A couple of weeks ago I was beginning to feel really claustrophobic - when the beach gets busy we go from one question to another and we need an escape - with the office at home, it was never a sanctuary to come home to during the day. Julia and JD have always been respectful of our privacy, but it’s only natural that if you’re there on hand, you get called in to answer mopre questions! It’s not that I don’t like the questions, everyone needs a bit of time out. The new boys, Nick and Nick are doing a great job. Both have their own strengths and new blood is always good fro team morale. The team’s doing an excellent job and working hard - so all is well. The Coaching Committee of the Boardriders has been formed. I put a notice up on the back of the Landy for those interested to submit an application form by a certain time and date. It was interesting to see who made the effort. It’s all very well having great ideas but I want staff on the committee who will willing put in time off their own back and meeting the deadline was part of that challenge. You need special people for that - and that’s who we got. Al, James and Ben all wrote masterpieces and will be given a run at it. I didn’t tell them at the time, but naturally their willingness to help out will put them at the front of the queue when it comes to Portugal and overseas trips. I was disappointed not to get applications from others. I always work on the basis that the more you put in the more you get out, and certainly some of the most rewarding things I’ve done over the years have been done for free - it’s good to give back. Maybe you need to have kids yourself to understand what the Boardriders means for some of the local kids. What fires me up is that the club makes the kids happy - and if you have a happy childhood as I did, it sets you up nicely. I taught a group today from the local area. Half of them got out after an hour - not because they weren’t enjoying it, they simply lacked any motivation. I was gutted. Surfing can be life changing, it was for me. And just occasionally I feel the importance and relevance of that when teaching a specific group. These kids clearly had little self worth and were more interested in having a fag at the top of the beach. Life is an equal opportunity for unequal people - these kids obviously didn’t have much, their education and support network wasn’t having a positive influence on them. It’s rare for kids to have a not bothered attitude when they surf, for most it’s just fun. For them it was another thing not to like. What I’m always conscious of with groups like this is tracking the ring leader - the one negative one that takes the others with them. We even get it on a small scale - on trips abroad they’ll always be someone who doesn’t feel like surfing that day, which is cool - unless they then start persuading others not to participate when actually that individual would not only benefit from going in but actually probably does want to. The strong leading the weak in the wrong direction. I stamp on that very quickly if I see it. So anyway, as they walked up the beach today I felt disappointed that in the short time I’d had with them, I hadn’t been close enough to close the door on the negative one and open the door for the positive ones. They say that negative is stronger than positive - it’s so true. But what was sad about this crew was that unless that issue was addressed, they’ll find it hard to break free. Here’s a nice scene - it’s 9.30pm (God knows where the ladies are?) sun going down, 8 cars in the car park, I’m sat in the landy writing this and 15 baby ducks (bit bigger than ducklings) are waddling across the bridge in front of me. Good for the soul. 27th May Today was one of those truly awful days. Rain and wind pretty much all day. Nevertheless we had a busy day and the surf was actually quite good for those that braved it. It’s days like today when the new office comes into it’s own as I was able to stay in touch with the beach whilst cracking on with a whole host of jobs. I think the instructors enjoyed the luxury of the hot showers after their sessions as well.
25th May Here's three views of the new beach house open today. Very excited about it.
The video analysis training room
The living area
The hoodie store!! Wednesday
Monday
19th May Yo Dudes - there's a reason for not updating the site - we're still waiting for the deal to go through. Everything is in place, but until we've signed and that is kind of out of hands at the moment then we're in a waiting position. Although this is frustrating, the ramifications to the surf school are huge - so we just have to sit tight and hang in there. I'm also aware that this page is read by a wide variety of people and sometimes we need to keep things close to our chest. The new beach house is nearly there - should be setting up the office on the beach next week. Probably more importantly, the skateramp in the garden is now complete! There was a real buzz on the beach yesterday when John, James and Billy ventured onto it for the first time. It's going to be a busy place! BIg thanks to Alan Rose, for financing the renovation and project managing it's transformation. Last week we had our first Boardrider Committee meeting. There's nine of us -six Boardrider parents (Wendy Sainsbury, Sheelagh Driscoll, Alan Rose, Kim Tredidgo, Amanda Woodward and Jonathan Payne), JD from our office, Kelly and myself. I decided that if we were to continue to move Boardriders in an upwards direction then I needed help. We had a really constructive meeting with lots of valuable input from everyone. One of the great things about the club is that we can start with a blank sheet and aim high. We've got another meeting on Sunday and already had some very positive news re. fundraising.
The surf is massive today - in fact when I got down to the beach this morning the water was coming up to the road - really unusual for that time of the day! The Elite Boardrider Squad were going to have a comp, but instead they've headed off with Kelly, Al, Duncan and Greylord to check out the surf on the South coast. Last night we had our first staff meeting as a complete team. I'm not always nice! We covered a huge amount of ground and strengthened our weaknesses. With seven level 2 and soon to have three level 3 qualified instructors it's a strong team - just occassionally though a few need a wake up call! I always find that the best way of telling how a meeting is received is to see the reaction the following day - and this morning was fantastic. As it should be. Really pleased. Little Sam is back - she's a star. And two new instructors Nick and Nick have also come onboard today. High hopes for them. Not sure what I'm going to do today. I'd like to watch the football, but I've arranged to sit down with Sam and Al to run through the the Instructor Bible, see if we can bring it more up to date. Fingers crossed for this week then. Exciting times ahead. 8th May Writers block! No actually we're very close to bringing a deal to a close and that will make for some interesting changes. Special report on Amanda's surfing to come. 7th May Today was one of the best! A day with Billy and Fin - a blank sheet, what to do? I bundled them into the car for ‘an adventure’. We drove to a spot just North of Port Gavern and proceeded down the valley in search of the secret cave. We followed the directions given by Duncan, we had to head to the sea then turn left back up the cliff path and there it would be. And there, as promised, it was, the entrance to the secret tunnel that led to the secret beach. We scrambled down as far as the light would allow us and then made the decision to go back. The tunnel narrowed and there was no way of getting any further without a torch. We headed to the top of the cliff, where we could see the secret beach and the other end of the secret tunnel. We scrambled down the loose slate and then across the cliff face to see if we could find a way of getting down, but it proved too sketchy with the two boys in tow.
6th May
Latest news on the comp - Harry Tredidgo - aged 9 nearly progressed to the third round of the under 12's. With only minutes remaining he was in second place but a couple of late waves his oppos made a charge and pipped him. Great performance though. 1st May Oh yes - that was one of the best today!! Low tide, super clean 2-3 ft with the odd 4ft set sneaking through. Sweet as - and hardly anyone out on the left - plenty of waves to go around. I'd put that down as Polzeath at it's best. The wind got on it just as I got out - so I think I got the best of it. 30th April A good day today I think?! It's hard not to have a good day down here. I always tell the staff to get a copy of the paper and read about the difficulties that some people face if they're feeling uninspired. Our first guests at the new beach house loved it - in fact they loved it so much that they've made a serious enquiry about buying it. It's not for sale at any price though. This is where the third phase of Surf's Up! begins. Some of the Boardrider Mums came surfing this morning. I haven't yet heard the outcome but certainly as they left to go the water's edge spirits were high!!
29th April Two foot clean hot and sunny. Forecast much of the same for the whole of next week. Think this could be a week for Crasky to lay down a few lines. It's a tough life. Played golf with Billy and Fin this afternoon - Billy's quite good. He's a bit like me, just whack it. Anyway Billy teed one up on the fourth and tried to slug it with his driver. He hit right underneath the ball and it went right up in the air and landed on his head. Good job for his curlies. 28th April Another fantastic day on the beach. 2 - 3ft surf, hot and sunny. When will it end? Went for a surf with the team last night - we had a sneaky beer beforehand in celebration of finishing the beach house just in time of the first guests. Beer and surfing doesn’t really go - but we had fun and it was good to have the whole team out surfing together. Spirits were high.
The Billy rucksack was weighing heavily on Fin's shoulders.
25th April Hey dudes - it's me!! I'm back! Sorry but it's been very busy and the days have been long. Not to worry though - I've been noting everything down and tomorrow after the first guests settle into the new beach house, I'll sit down and give a full update. Just a quick taster - this morning I knocked the old outside lamp off with my flag by mistake. The first I knew of it was when it landed on my cranium and the glass shattered all around me. It was a small incident but it did give me an incite as to what it would be like to be John! News from the comp I talked about in my last report. Toby came second in the under 18's - he's 14!! Go Toby go. Boardriders Elite have started their three weekly training sessions - tonight was a goodie I'm told. Last night I went to the beach forum meeting - nothing much to report - to be honest I was engrossed in the live text football commentary on my phone and didn't say a word, which is very inlike me. I'm usually the one with lots to say. The staff have done us proud helping to get the new beach house ready - as have our chippy, sinky and sparky. Roofy coming in tomorrow just to tweak a few tiles. Jane's dad is back on his feet and back on the mower up at Homer. There's more news on Homer soon! And me mate Tom has just come back from Indo where he scored perfect conditions. Surf today has been pretty good - 3ft cross off. Scored a couple of bonzas on my swelly! Forecast to be great for next few days. Might even book in a Kelly session for myself early next week. 13th April Following a busy Easter I got the chance today to follow the progress of our top Boardriders competing at Woolacombe in the National schools competition today. With the surf 2 -3ft and glassy our under 16s team of Toby, Harvey, Archie and Harriet - all made it past the first round. Harriet, competing in the boys, deserves special mention for a third place in her heat. That would be as far as she would go - but she should be really pleased. It was great to see her attack the waves with her paddling. The remaining three had to go head to head in the quarters - siightly odd and certainly favoured the local teams. It meant that two would be knocked out - and so it was, despite good performances from Harvey and Archie, that Toby took the honours and will compete in the semis tomorrow.
The under 14s of George, Danny, Merlin and Megs unfortunately didn't progress - no surprise in only their second competition. All four are very good surfers and we have high hopes for them - just need a bit of experience to make their mark in the heats. After the comp we all headed to Puttsborough where the surf had picked up to a solid 4ft. I choose the left whilst the others ripped it up on the right, across the channel. The Boardriders will stay in Woolacombe tonight before heading to Croyde in the morning. A great weekend. Congratulations to Mack and his missus on the arrival of Oscar. Won't be needing the golf clubs and tennis rackets for a while now mate. Janey's up in Bristol seeing her Dad - and visiting Ikea! She's back On Tuesday. Pretty quiet back here without the kids! Bunkhouse all coming on well. Plasterers been in, electrician and chippy all on schedule. 12th April Big Al is back in town. Spoke to him on the phone, then caught up with him in the surf. 2-3ft clean tonight. Al's starting on Monday as Lodge Manager. Surf was happy days - except that the wetsuit that I grabbed from the garage, thinking it was one of my nice winter suits, turned out to be a school suit beyond repair. Really holey and totally useless. I had to make sure i didn't fall off. It was like wearing a string vest.
9th April Crasky sets another record!! Yesterday I wore a summer wetsuit to teach in - the first time I've been able to do that over Easter since I started surf coaching. The day before that, I wore a winter suit without boots, again pretty well unprecedented at this time of year. So let's not be too hasty in our judgement of global warming. If it means warmer water for the UK and good surf like we've had - 2ft and clean - then I'm all for cheap flights and less trees. Can I point out at this stage to all vegetarians and recyclers that I jest! So before you come over to me in your corduroys and home knit jumpers preaching about the environment I will be planting an extra tree in the garden to help the planet. Any tips on how I water a cocoa tree?
So what's been happening? It's been a great start to the year - and everyone who made the trip down this way lucked out. Fantastic. Certainly our busiest sustained Easter period - it's lasted over three weeks so far. Conditions were even good enough for us to mount a serious challenge to the keepy uppy record, held by myself and a work experience chump from Plymouth. The team comprised of a motley crew. Harvey, began well but lost confidence, his big feet becoming his downfall. Sloppy footwear may be cool, but shoes that are too big fall well below the required standard for record breaking. George must have played a lot of netball when he was younger and struggled to juggle speedy alternating foot raises; James is a lifelong Tottenham fan and therefore clearly has low expectations. And then myself ........ who to be fair can still tap into the old magic at will. The keepy uppy record is obtained by counting the number of passes to another player without it touching the ground, not just the number of times hit into the air. For example, if one player keeps it to himself for 8 uppies, it only counts as one. The current record stands at 142!
Janey's been hard at work back in the landy -even to the extent of overseeing the photo operation. In her keenness to put the new photos on the board she reached for the sticky stuff and pressed it onto the back of the sheets. This would have been fine, had Sam not misplaced his ear plugs. Oops, these were now relocated on the display boards. Easy mistake. Janey felt a bit sick when she realised what she'd been handling - she's not really an ear person. She tolerated my tongue on her lobes for a few months in the early days, but after the honeymoon period, she put an end to that. Not sure I like having my ears licked either. I guess that makes us both winners! The other thing is that salty lobes are an occupational hazard for us ...sucking, nibbling or licking them just makes you thirsty. One of the great things about this time of year is catching up with all our old clients. Really is one of the highlights of the job. Oh yes, and another thing! There are going to be a few changes around here - now that I'm on the Parish Council. My campaign slogan of 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' pulled in the votes (joke!). Actually it didn't even go to a vote - with 10 seats available and only 6 people standing, my forecasted landslide victory was hollow. I think it'll be a challenge. Skateramps in every village and free cadbury mini eggs to all councillors under 41 may be controversial first motions (we're back to the Piri Piri), but this is the age for controversial thinkers. Tell you what I am keen to do though and that's get rid of all the bins in Polzeath.!! WHAT? The National Trust got rid of theirs years ago and it works a treat - wherever you have bins, you have rubbish. If you have the misfortune of clearing up all the crap in the morning, like Brian, myself and several other conscientious locals do most mornings, then you'd understand. More bins is not the answer. One of my great loves is driving around chatting to myself - that and sitting in the Tesco car park having my Sushi medium pack. Call it my escape. Anyway, driving around gives you the time to think and prepare. I always do it before important meetings. I can't believe I'm the only one who does it. Oh and whilst we on the subject of driving, who uses their mobiles whllst driving. I've never been able to work that one out. Can of coke in one hand, choccy bar in the other, wheel between your knees - how on earth do you do it? Tonight I had a good old chat with myself whilst driving back from doing the trailer. I go the long way around, through Rock, because I find myself so interesting and can't wait to hear what I'm going to say next! (Sometimes I think you have to know me to get the humour). Thanks Amanda for the Easter bunny - ate the thick ears first as always. Thanks Henry for the Roses - started at the top and worked my way to the bottom as always. And thanks Stupot for Billy and Fins Button Easter eggs. Put them in the fridge and ate them both in one sitting later on whilst the boys were asleep, as always. What they don't know won't hurt them! Yesterday instead of eggs we had pasties!
6th April Kelly came around on Wednesday night and we spent a good deal of time talking through plans for the next few year. He's done a couple of video sessions with Sam which has been brilliant. Sam has slipped into his role as beach manager with ease and has quickly earmed the respect of the other instructors. As part of the ongoing performance analysis John and Ben have had their first assessments. My role is to pick up on the overall, while Sam as their line manager gets indepth with their coaching skills. I have to say that it's working a treat. Frees me up and gives Sam something to get his teeth in to. I'm actually really proud of the way he's taken it on. Kelly the same - totally firing the boys up. So the changes we've made are working really well. Sam, Kelly and Julia are totally self motivated and it's a joy to work with them and around their passion and energy. I finally took the plunge and put my name into the parish council hat. "Vote Crasky" is the call on the beach. I have no idea how many people are up for election. To be known as a 'councillor' may be hard to live with, but it's better to change from within sometimes than shout from the outside.
Some things never change - Billy and John enjoying a spot of tomfoolery. Bllly returned from his London visit to score two goals for Wadebridge under 7's in the three all draw against Mount, Bodmin. The team played great and should be very proud of themselves. The oppo had a couple of bigguns in the side. Persistent requests to get urine samples taken to the nearest lab, fell on deaf ears. The goalie was a good 6ft which came as a surprise to the groundsman who fixed the crossbar at the 4ft level. The bunkhouse is proving a godsend for photos and hoodies. We've sold more hoodies than surf lessons over the past few days! And it's all just so much easier. Without doubt the single best thing we've ever done. From tomorrow we'll be taking students back there for the video analysis with Kelly and Sam. 3rd April 8.30pm and there's a knock on the door. "Hi, I've come to do the Boardrider stuff". It's Jane, or JD as we now know her. Now that's pretty cool. So I go and do the trailer and come back and she's still beavering away doing a mail merge thingy. Together we start to pack the envelopes headed for current members. "I don't expect to be paid for this", she says. It goes without saying that we will sort something out. To me Boardriders is a passion and I'm more than happy to put the time in. To get someone to come on board and straight away get it - is awesome. So I'm sat here writing this - it's now 22:06 - JD is next to me on the other computer trying to work out why the mail merge is just repeating the same names on the sticky labels. She has no idea I'm writing this. There's a bit of huffing and puffing - oh and there was a loud sigh, followed by a groan, oh and wait a big sigh. A pattern is emerging! Mail mergers are a battle at the best of times. Can't yet confirm whether the battle has been won this evening. Today was one hell of a day for one reason or another. At the bunkhouse the plumbers are trying to separate the water supply from the cafe downstairs - but having lifted up the floorboards, looks like we've found a map for the London Underground. So many pipes going in all sorts of different directions. I think the boys are on top of it - we had three of them scracthing their chins this morning. I don't know, you wait ages for one and then three turn up! Had a meeting today with a lady who gets involved with training and business planning. It's a service that we can get for free through grants. We had a really interesting chat and I found her full of inspiration. I normally baulk at advice from business advisors - for the simple reason that if it was that easy, they'd be doing it themselves. Man I can be hard sometimes! But Karen was different, she wasn't reading from the ABC guide to business advising - she was talking my language. Planning in the past has been a big issue with us. We've ticked over year on year, improving what we do - but with no real long term goal. That's changed - and we now work towards a three year plan, which incorporates year on year goals to help us move towards our goal. Hang on, JD's talking to herself - I think she's a bit mad! Am I safe in here on my own with her?! She thinks she's cracked it! Minute by minute report - this is like the BBC sports report. "JD reaches for the sticky labels, the sweat is pouring off her forehead - only minutes remaining, she puts a big wad of labels into the computer and presses the button. The computer stirs into action. This is the last chance saloon. JD gets low, her eyes level with the printer heads and waits for impending document to flow from out of the printer mouth. The paper emerges. There's laughter and joy - JD takes the first sheet, pulls her jumper over the top of her head and runs around the office .........." Okay I've made some of this up, but all is well in the land of sticky labels and mail merges! It's now 22:31. Poor JD - must help with label sticking. 2nd April Another good day on the beach. Small surf, but great for learning. Fantastic weather. Wail popped by - here he is with Elliot. Elliot's in the light blue sleep suit! Really cute baby - 5 months old now! Quite a biggun.
Two new Boardrider appointments were made today. We've asked Harvey to be Captain and Harriet to be ladies Captain. This is so that when we start winning loads of stuff, there's someone to make the speeches. They are both stars in their own right - so good on them. Here they are on the Portugal trip. Look good together, don't you think?
1st April (evening) Great job - things coming on nicely at the bunkhouse. I must be a nightmare to live with though. "What sort of day have you had?" Janey asked when our paths eventually crossed in the late evening. (Janey had taken Billy to footie in the morning. They lost 1-4. He's gone up to London for a few days to see his cousin). "Yeah, pretty good. Quite busy on the beach." Anything happen in the flat. "Well I've pulled the wall down and taken out the kitchen". "You've take the wall down!!! Which one exactly?" Thing is - it was in the way. So it had to go. If you look at the photo below, where I'm stood is where the wall was. It was only a partition wall. You can se the doorway - that had to go too!
Here we go look - this is later on. No wall (although electrics still attached to bits of wood dangling from the ceiling. Thought it best if I left it well alone!), no door and I've taken a bit more of the kitchen away. You compare the two pics and tell me that that doesn't look much better. Still to remove the last bit of kitchen on the right there. We'll then put in a few stand alone kitchen units and breakfast bar. Electrician in, plasterer then next to do walls and ceiling, strip the beams back to natural wood, paint goes on, carpet gets laid, furniture in, people move in - easy peasy. 27 days to go! Think it's going to look wicked.
1st April Can't believe I missed the opportunity to wind up a few of the team this morning. Wasn't thinking. Good day - back into the full swing of things. Nice surf - great for teaching. No dramas - except that Ben ran out of petrol half way up the hill. He had to roll back down into the village. An hour later and John does exactly the same in his car!! I am going mad!! Could be a long night - got to do a load of stuff in the bunkhouse. So if you're passing and you've got a nice bottle of wine - come on in!! I may be there some time!! 31st March Any day at this time of year like today is a bonus for the instructors. This is the end of the season where you earn your stripes! Surfing in March is fine - slip on the right gear and you can keep as toastie as a toastie thing. But as an instructor, when the northerlies are blowing and the rain is coming down, it can certainly toughen you up. I've taught in blizzards on Polzy beach before now. Because you're not moving around, the wetsuit has little opportunity to warm up. It can be really lonely out there. But today was a beauty and the forecast looks pretty good too. Andy and Jill popped in tonight. Andy worked for us a few years ago and is a founder of Mahoustic, the Surf's Up! band. We both know the hours that went in to make Mahoustic a reality, and we know what it felt like to be on the stage together - so there's a bond there. He's just bought a place down in Hayle, not too far from Truro College where he works. Jill works in social services and is doing a masters. Always good to see them. If I had to describe Andy, I'd say he's got a wide forehead, a long chin and big ears. Some people say he looks like me!
Some of the Boardriders were on the beach. These boys all come from small cornish villages where the families are very close.
Oh dear, I find that extraordinarily funny - I've nearly fallen off my chair! I think on this occasion I've excelled myself. Sorry dudes, see you on the beach. 30th March Dunky put a duck in Ben's car; John started a job that he didn't finish; Tom kept walking past his car to admire his reflection in the windows; Kelly turned up with a leg injury. Just another day at the office then! 29th March It's not often I get really excited - but today was one of them. I think if you track the history of myself and Janey you'd soon get to realise that a lot of what we do is on instinct. Throwing caution to wind - "not sure why we're about to do this, but feel that we should" kind of thing going down. The surf lodge is a good example. A run down old farmhouse, been on the market for ages. We went to see it - got a gut feeling about it and within 30 mins had an offer accepted. Turned out to be a great move. Anyway, today was the first day that I actually spent some time in the new bunkhouse - a place we bought because we thought "er, why don't we buy that". I should point out that we're not loaded. In fact as the mortgage edges towards seven figures, the downsizing that we once imagined has taken a turn for the worse! The life we envisage some 12 months ago of an easy life, is far busier and more demanding. That's progress! Anyway, this bunkhouse - we've been ripping it apart, taking out all the bathroom and kitchen stuff, gutting it basically. And today was the first time that I could see the potential - as in layout. Mikey, our interior designer friend (who used to be on Changing Rooms - that's not name dropping - just taking the mick because he doesn't want to be reminded of those times!) drove all the way from Ely this morning to spend the day running through some ideas with us. That's a good mate who'll drive that far, there and back for a few hours. So we now feel much more confident moving forwards under his guidance. Really exciting. Other news. Some of you will know that Ru moved on during the summer of last year. He'd been with us for six years, which made him our longest serving employee. Ru grew in so many ways during his time with us. When I think back to some of the great instructors and characters we've had - like Simon and Wailin - to name just two, Ru's up there with the best of them. A superb coach and right hand man. We had some great times and lots of laughs. Ru is Godfather to our eldest Billy. We wish him all the best for the future as he ventures abroad for new challenges with his longtime girlfriend Gemma. Gemma worked for us in the office last year and also did a great job. To fill the hole that Ru left we lucked out at the end of last year when a CV from a New Zealand coach appeared on the doorstep. Turns out he understudied Martin Dunn, recognised as the greatest surf coach in the World. Kelly coached the junior team at national level. We took him on in September and immediately set him to work on our top Boardriders. Seeing coaching methods in action from the other side of the world was a real eye opener. He focused on one skill for weeks - the bottom turn for example. Now remember these are good surfers, one of them coming 4th in the European under 14s. Bottom turn, bottom turn, bottom turn - he was looking for speed and reach - and he didn't beat about the bush. I particularly remember one video analysis session that he did with them, that I sat in on - and all he talked about was the bottom turn. So repetitive. I was getting bored after 30 mins. "Come on, come on" I thought. After an hour though with him still bleating on about the same thing, it suddenly all seemed to make sense. I spent the whole night doing bottom turns in my dreams. It was a revelation and I was awesome!!
Here's Kelly (left) with Boardriders at a competition at Lusty Glaze. But he was right though - the bottom turn sets up the whole wave. What he also did was change the perspective of surfing at Polzeath. As a slow wave, we all amble across the face, ging up and down but looking for the longest ride. "No, no, no!" he would cry. What he wanted us to do was look for a shorter ride but with tighter turns right in the pocket. "It's not the length of ride, but what you do on it!". We knew that, but few of us actually did it. Kelly embarked on coaching our own instructors and even the lifeguards were eager to listen in. "Where's your arm? You're not reaching!" He was harder on the staff than the kids!! It was with this standard of coaching in mind that we've introduced Surf's Up! Extreme - to cater for those who can already catch unbroken waves but need / want some real intense instruction. And you know that's such a good thing. When you do a good bottom turn, and I mean a proper one, man they feel so good. So if you think you're already there and can bottom turn, let Kelly be the judge of that! What we've also had the opportunity to do with Kelly is work through concepts and drills right from the beginners stage. For example, the see-saw is one of our favourite drills that encourages the controlling board speed - fast / slow / fast. You'll now notice the introduction of reaching on the bottom turn right from these early stages - so the moves that you need to master on the unbroken waves, can be nailed by practising in the white water. These are concepts that we've always looked at - but now with Kelly's input we can combine our own coaching methods and ideas with the best from the other side of the world. So, yes. I like to think that we're always at the cutting edge of surfing development - now we have a new edge. Exciting times indeed. Having taught for 15 years I've been given a renewed vigour, as have the other staff members. As part of their brave new deal, they get to be coached by Kelly. So welcome on board big Antipodean buddy. And let's enjoy the ride. Other staff news - looks like everyone's coming back from last year. Which is great news. If you've got a favourite (they're all excellent) then let us know and we'll try and match you up. 28th March
Okay, what do you reckon? This is the new logo for Surf's Up! Extreme - well actually it's not. We want to tweak it just a bit and the grey background isn't part of it. Not far off though.... and we took delivery of the new Defender, which is the transport for Surf's Up! Extreme. More news on that soon - but the plan is coming together nicely. Now what's the deal with the footie - only three goals against a bunch of part timers!! I'm sorry but it isn't just about the players. Good players still need good management and direction and they clearly aren't getting it. Come on Chelsea, let the big man go - we need the special one sooner rather than later. We've got some world class players - at least make it exciting to watch. So, so boring!!
Sometimes I think i'm going mad. With these two greeting me when I get home is there any wonder? They never stop!! This was taken shortly after their hosepipe fight. 27th March (evening) Turns out Janey's Dad did have another heart attack last night - but he's okay. Should be out of hospital in a few days. High blood pressure to sort out. Other news - Mikey is coming down on Thursday to give us the benefit of his interior design genius. That's really good news. Jane started work today - or should I say JD - we can't have two Jane's. We have a full induction process for new staff now and Julia ran through all that stuff. From what I hear it went well. We had the Polzeath Residents Association AGM this evening - A few good things happening. I'm on the committee for another year. That's cool - nice bunch of people. I've put forward the suggestion that we need a Polzeath website so that residents can have access to the latest news from the village. We could have reports for example from the police re. the summer silly season. It could double as a site for visitors. Worth looking into. And I've been asked to stand at the Parish Council elections. Now that's a tricky one - do I have enough time to make the commitment? I'm happy to have go if anyone wants me to, but can I give it my full attention? My fear is that being as central as we are on the beach, we'd become the focal point for all local issues - and that can't happen. I think I probably will stand - just the word "councillor" goes against the grain! Sorry dudes - it's been a good day but a long day - lacking hilarity at this moment. Oh, I know. I saw the latest update on the new website - coming on nicely. Should be up and working by the end of next week. You'll be able to upload your video clips onto it. How cool is that - and also this diary page will become a video diary. Not so sure about that. Might be fun - we'll see. Diet gone a bit off message. It's the Cadbury mini egg season (you know where I'm coming from!) - my weakness. I can get through a big bag (£2.99) in one sitting if I put my mind to it. That's about 120 eggs. Always feel sick afterwards though. Have a number two after that and you know about it - closest you'll ever get to feeling like a big rabbit. I got down to 12st 3lbs last week - after the Piri Piri, but that's all gone back on again. Up to 12st 8lbs now. Need to get back onto the slam man. It's always the way though, as soon as the season starts it gets so busy that there just isn't time. It's why my surfing went downhill some 12 years ago! I try every year to change the pattern, but there's always something to do. No one said it would be easy. I'll get through Easter and then see if we can change a few things. Should have the staff to do it. Last year though I went down to the cash and carry in Newquay and bought 3 big boxes of mini eggs - you know the ones - where the eggs are all loose in the box, maybe 1000 in each. They're supposed to be sold to sweet shops - you scoop them and then get them weighed. They lasted me a few weeks. Best chomped with a cold glass of milk. I'm going to crack open a big bag right now. And on that bomb shell - goodnight. 27th March Early morning calls are always answered with a bit of trepidation. And so was the case this morning - Jane's Dad having been taken into hospital with a dickie heart. Last year Evan had the full on heart attack - and this isn't the first blip since then. A change of medication seemed to do the job - we'll wait and see the score this time. He's as strong as an ox and works incredibly hard - but slowing up isn't his style. Same with Janey's mum, Sylv who is in remission. Never stop working - a culture ingrained from growing up during war time. Good, good people with a great life perspective and so grounded. Evan gets a bit grumpy with me because I'm pretty hopeless at doing man jobs around the house. But we understand each other. I've no arguements - I am useless at man jobs around the home. Although I did chop that tree down the other week. Sylv on the other hand recognises that I have many faults - and it's a mother-in-laws right to point them out.
26th March (evening) Just come back from skating. What's wrong with me? I've spent the last 4 months not really skating, preserving my ageing limbs, but tonight I found a little run with a ramp at the end for a nice turn, and had a blast. I really love the sport and regret not getting into it earlier. Maybe later this year, when the surf school is closed for winter I'll get into it. Mount Hawke is open during the day, so maybe we'll get a Dad's crew together |
Sam wants to be a rocket scientist 
Paddy wants to be a brain surgeon 
and Will is already well on his way to becoming a farmer. 
