Not so much a celebration

I've been up to the big smoke! And would you believe it I happened across one of my best mates - Mike. He lives in Cambridge and never goes to London. And I very rarely make it up to London. Unbelievable that we should bump into each other walking through Selfridges! I say, walking through, as there was no way I was going to stop and make any purchases at those prices. Looking for a suit to wear, this was well out of my league! Really great to catch up with Mikey - fate.

The suit was to be worn at the remembrance service for my old school mate Andy. He took his own life just over a week ago. With his nine year old triplets in attendance this was a very sad affair. And one that no-one could quite comprehend. Here was one of life's great achievers, great men of faith and great father - a really good man. And yet he we were gathered together to celebrate his passing. His son had been asked what he'd like to say about his dad. He said "that's easy. I can sum him up in three words. Dad was everything." When the brother in law read this out, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. The whole service was incredibly moving - bewildering. Although the family did an amazing job in celebrating his life, it was not a day for celebration. Some things simply cannot be explained.

The only positive was that I was able to meet up with some of my old school buddies - and that was great. What a shame it took such an occasion to bring us all back together.

Mistaken identity

I knew they were okay, that group of guys staying the weekend weren't the 101 Dalmations seen walking up the road! No, they were the Hula girls!

Not much to report back here - surf 1ft, light onshore - great for beginners and improvers!

Stolen Swellies

What's going on? Fourteen swell boards were stolen on the weekend from Busty Moos Magic Surf Hire - sounds like a well planned scam. The boards were hired as normal but the credit card was not legite, and they never came back. Very hard to sell on as they're like gold dust second hand - especially as these were all reskins, ie look like new..... e-mails are flying around the surf industry, and I'm pretty sure they'll be tracked down. Just a matter of time - and when the culprits are caught we'll stick 'em in the slammer and throw away the key. Not really in line with the surfers spirit.

No word from Tesco as yet!

Shock horror - wet stuff has fallen from the sky overnight! Good for the hay! Local farmer boy was telling me that all this dry weather is bad for the hay, no moisture in it! Think we'll need a bit more than the light dusting we've had! Good for our black lab - she's enjoying a day of cloud cover - I thinks she's felt like a solar panel over the past few weeks. She's been panting like a one-legged man in an arse kicking competition.

Tesco - beware!

Quiz time - see if you can answer this maths teaser! At my local Tesco store, one 400g pack of McVities Digestives costs £1. Q. If I buy two packs how much would that cost? A. £2 - correct. Sitting next to the single pack is a special offer - 2 x 400g packs, package into one pack bearing the name, BIG VALUE PACK. Q. Do you think the BIG VALUE PACK costs more or less than the 2 individual packs. A. less - wrong!!!! No you see the BIG VALUE PACK costs £2.50, that's 25% more than if I buy them separately. Evil marketing ploy to hit the vulnerable looking for better value during these tough times? I've written to head office - I'll keep you informed. In the meantime, in the words of Shaw Taylor "Keep em peeled!" And if you come across any other BIG VALUE items that are not, please let me know.... helps keep the points up on my Clubcard!

Which reminds me, earlier today when I was at Tesco I saw Fabio Capello wheeling his shopping trolley across the supermarket car park. Being kindly he noticed an old lady struggling with her bags of shopping. He stopped and asked, “Can you manage dear?” To which the old lady replied: “No way. You got yourself into this mess. Don’t ask me to sort it out!”

As you'd expect a full and thorough discussion re. the England non performance has taken place on the beach today. One thing that occurred to me when playing footie this evening with Findog was that we don't see the players smile enough on the pitch. You know, like they're actually enjoying what they're doing! I'd like to see some smiling and laughing from now on please.

Aussie Mick has advised me that I've gone too long! So I've swapped the mother ship for a 6ft 8 - which was a good deal less cash! Probably wet the babys head tomorrow.

And finally, very disappointed that we have to say goodbye to Sharapova's grunt. Serena's grunt is formidable, just somehow not as pleasing as Maria's. Having said that I'd take Serena's grunt over a South African horn any day - those vuvuzela's have got to go!!

Rain today? Nope - I counted 15 spots on the windscreen, but that doesn't count!

Surf's still hanging in there - head high, light onshore. Forecast for some rain this afternoon - not a cloud in sight as we speak!

Oh Dear

Oh dear indeed! Bit depressing being an English fan sometimes! Here's my three pennies - 1) would like to see an English manager - I'm sure Capello is great but I can't understand a word he says! 2) why play players out of position? Don't get that at all. 3) none of our star players performed - I think they play too much during the domestic season. You can't play at the top of your game all the time.

And we have to see a change in the technology - we were well beaten in the end, but going in 2-2 at half time....... well we're never know!

Now we can put all this aside because I have some exciting news! I've bought a new surfboard!! Aussie Mick and I were both paddling back out to the line-up last night. Mick must have seen my last wave and decided to offer up some well received advice. "Hey Pete, I know a board that would suit you. It's called a McCoy - nice and fat in the tail, sits up out of the water, it suits a different style of riding." I took that last bit as a compliment!! To be fair I've really struggle for years trying to find something that suits and I've surfed the Swellies far too much as a fall back. It's been a source of real frustration, real frustration. I got straight onto the internet to do my research the moment I got home and then this morning headed down to Hayle to check out the only dealer in Europe. I've come back with a 6ft 10 Nugget, wide and thick in the tail - I can see how this might work. Will wet it's head very shortly, particularly as the surf is pumping.

Stag Groups

"I didn't know we had a stag group staying?" Janey said.

"Oh they're really nice," I said. "I took some photos of them surfing and chatted to them afterwards. They're just here to have a nice relaxed chilled time. They're definitely not the party type! What makes you ask?"

"Well I've just seen them come out of the Beach House and heading up the road all dressed as the 101 Dalmations!"

Great surf again tonight! A good three foot by the end. Went in with Aussie Mick who throws a good deal of spray. Billyman was already in and even though I say it myself, he was ripping it up! Best I've seen him surf by far. Very, very sweet. It was this time last year that we were surfing together when a big set came in a mopped him up, his confidence drained from his body. Good to see him really attacking the waves tonight.

Spot the Danger?

To the untrained eye there's very little to be worried about in this photo! However, seconds after this photo was taken Dale, the surf coach in the yellow vest, seeing the danger, and without any thought for his own safety, took action. He moved in to advised the bather (in white on the left) that the safest place for her to be in the surf was between the Red and Yellow flags thereby negating any risk of a nasty collision with a surf board. He could have left it and said nothing! I say, "a selfless commitment to beach safety!!!?" Actually what really happened is that I believe this young lady was allowed to stay in the surfing zone... as long as she stayed close by! You never can be too careful!

And here we have a Surf's Up! instructor preparing to break the fall of a student! You get what you pay for!

Talent in the house

We have some talent in the house! Office supremo Kit and surf coach Andy took to the stage last night for the opening of the Zeath Art Gallery. And good it was too! They'd only practiced together a couple of times, but it didn't show. Nice one boys!

Weather today - hot, very hot - 2ft glass! Perfect for beginners and impovers! Should build for a nice sunset session - new swell forecast. Our research shows that the last day of bad weather was six weeks ago!!! We had one half day of drizzle in the morning, but apart from that it's been sun and surf all the way. Even I am planning the evening BBQ menu days in advance!

Had my meeting with our local MP, which was something of nothing really! Nice chap, three young kids.... just a normal kind of guy! We chewed the fat, but a one man campaign will n

ot change the current VAT system! Nice to see that earlier in the day the FSB had taken my side on the ill guided position of offering support to new businesses in the emergency budget!

Okay so my quest to get VAT reduced on a tiered system for the service industry hasn't lifted far off the ground! But how about this campaign that comes to you within moments of the concept forming right here in the office between myself and Kitarooney! The school summer holidays should be changed to now!! Why? The days are at their longest and the weather and surf has been consistently better over the past many years. Send the kids back to school in August when the nights start drawing in - that's what we say!

Janey's being nasty! Had to sell one of my bikes before I could buy my new guitar! Nasty!

No End in Sight

Good job we went big on tees this year as this is the most amazing run of weather!! The driest start to the year in four decades, that's what their calling it up north, but I'm pretty sure we've had less rain than them. The last day of rain we had is a distant memory and what's more remarkable is that throughout we've kept the surf. Everything starting to look a little burnt - Pentire is going brown! And the long term forecast? - it's going to get hotter and the surf's going to get bigger! Check out the surf forecast for this weekend!

Liam Murray at the Pro Juniors

Off to see the MP today - don't expect anything to come of it, but no harm in chatting.

Toby Donachie at the Pro Juniors