Horses on Parade

Quite special watching the Queens horses gallop across the sand and through the surf this morning. Some took to swimming. Early Monday morning when they also went in, there was a surfer who had to pull off a 2ft wave as one of the horses fully dropped in! More photos on Surf School gallery

sunset heaven

The routine of the last few evenings has ended with a walk to the top of the field as the sun goes down to scramble on the hay bales. Bit of fun with this sunset photo.

The last few weeks have been a bit weird! For no reason in particular. However today we had a meeting with one of the numero uno business men in the country which helped to settled us down!! It was a meeting of home truths and dashed dreams!! Only kidding, what he brought to the table was a sense of realism. We asked for a business critique. There are aspects of our business that we understand very well, and others that as we've grown have not come naturally. What we've come away with is a very clear understanding of areas that we have to focus on in order for them to become strengths - three to be specific. It's not often you get the opportunity to sit down with someone who really knows the score. Naturally, we will follow his advice to the letter - why would you do anything but?

So in summary of today's meeting - a very nice gentle 'get a grip' kind of meeting. The business does well, but if we're to move into areas that we'd like to in the future, then we need to improve our systems. What's brilliant for me and Janey is that we can't argue with the advice. It's come from the top man, for free - you just got to run with it. And for me and Janey that's brilliant because it helps us to sing from the same hymn sheet. It's been a very good day. On occasion we battle with the long term plan, but no more!!

Took the boys down to Plymouth for Navy Days - fantastic. We managed to get round five ships, great day. So much to see. Much more appreciation of what our forces do for us.

In one of the ships there was a young lad sat down. He was signing books. He'd lost both legs and one arm in an explosion. We bought his book and he signed it for Billy and Fin. "Take care" he said. Not much you can say to that.

National Champs

Toby, our top junior surfer won the British Nationals on the weekend - which is amazing. Gabi Rowe came third in the U18's, a stunning performance. And Harry came 2nd in the U14's. A great day for the Surf's Up! Boardriders - and a big up to Kelly who's been hard at work training them all.

Gabi's story is great. She had her first ever lesson with us a few years back - and with dedication and commitment has become one of the hottest talents on the girl surfing scene.

Wapshot hits the big 60!

No, it's not Nick's birthday!! How often do we get mistaken for each other - has it's advantages, oh the fun we could have with that! Nick is our photographer extraordinaire - and has done a fantastic job this year. We have a deal - provide a brilliant service to our clients and you can keep all the wonga! Sweet - and it's worked really well. So far he's displayed (along with his beautiful assistants Suki and Emily) 60,000 thumbnails on the boards. 60,000! Nearly 3,500 sheets of A4! That's insane - we need to review this relationship - recession, what recession! I've no idea how many photos he's sold, all I know is that the clients have been very happy. And that makes us very happy. He works hard for it and only rarely takes a day off. Covers a few miles running up and down the beach too.

don't mess with the lanterns

We thought it would be great to set off a few of those chinese lanterns at the staff party on Tuesday night. But it was bit blowy!! We got one inflated okay by hiding behind the new office but on release it caught the wind and dived into the nearest tree which promptly set alight. Much hilarity and throwing of water over each other ensued.

Many, many funny stories have come out of the night. The one that made me and Janey laugh the most was Luke, who had had one too many. At the end of the evening he decided to walk home. On his way he decided that actually he wasn't going to make it unassisted, so he rang his mum, at 3am. Clearly she wasn't best pleased. But here's the thing when she arrived to pick him up, there he was standing motionless, staring into a bush on the side of the road still wearing his pink cowboy outfit. He couldn't get in the car on his own, she had to manhandle him in! Can you imagine driving passed and seeing all this going on! Hilarious.

Here's Lukey on the left - earlier in the evening! Hmm - the writings on the wall!

Bali Booked

Booked up our Bali flights yesterday! Totally stoked. Billy and Fin were very excited yesterday when we told them. Of course they've been hearing about Bali every since I took a group of local surfers over there a couple of years back with Wailin and Kelly. As well as being an amazing surfing destination, it's such a great place to go as a family. We're staying in Legian, just up the road from Kuta and a stones throw from where the Surf's Up! Bali trip is based. I like to have a focus for getting fit, and this is just what the doctor ordered. Yoga, Pilates, gym and surfing obviously surfing - a full campaign starts right here.

Kids go back to school today. I think they're ready. What a fantastic summer it's been with them - loved every minute. September is always a very special time when you work on the beach. It's a really nice come down from the pressures of the peak season. A lot of the hard work has been done, but now we can ease up a bit. Normally we'll get a period of good surf and weather about now, which coincides with the water temp being at it's highest - it can be the best time of the year for surf. So fingers crossed. The staff who managed to get wet yesterday, following the staff party (not many had the energy to put a wetsuit on!) had an epic session in overhead punchy waves.

So now the focus changes to finishing up this year and then looking towards next year. We've got meetings this week with Sam, Wailin, Kelly and Mikey. All good stuff.

Grab the horns with both hands

One of the funniest staff parties we've ever held. The 'Western' theme inspired by Sam and Wailin brought out the creative best from the team. And then came out the rodeo bull!!

All the photos will go on the surf school gallery v. soon.

Nearing the end

I've managed three days down at Lyme Regis this past week. The five hour round journey worth every second. Billy and Fin were jumping off the harbour wall when I arrived there yesterday - about a 12 foot drop .... and they were both doing forward flips. Which was pretty sensational. Billy puts it down to his trampolining in the winter. Heaven knows where Fin plucked up the courage. Amazing. At the start of the suumer at Port Gaverne he'd only jump off a two foot ledge and now he's fully hurling himself off some hell drops!! We finished the day with a monster game of French Boules, covering huge distances within the harbour wall.

Bank holiday weekend! Very busy. There's every chance that we'll run out of stock on Monday, which will be perfect, just in time for arrival of the winter stock on Tuesday. The shop has gone incredibly well and actually a strong August on the beach has proved useful. A lot of the instructors signed out yesterday as we cut right back for an anticipated quieter spell in September.

When the cats away

I hate it when Janey and the boys go away. Their off on their annual pilgrimage to Lyme Regis. A chance for them to spend some time away from our beach, or the business end as we know it! I went down on Sunday and they've got this fantastic place right close to the Cob overlooking the sea. They've done alright then. We had a great day of crabbing, fosseling and aquariuming (?). This chap had the 'tamest Mullet in the world' which was probably overstated but if you frothed up the water they did come and suck your fingers. Didn't really want to leave, but needs must.

Back at base it's very quiet without them all and rather than thinking, great what shall I do now that time is my own, I end up doing very little and counting down the days!! Sad I know! I'll make another trip down as soon as I can - the beach is very busy though and it would be good to finish the summer with a bang. We're making up for a poor July with a great August. The sun is out and the surf is pumping.

Stealth gets first outing

I was quite excited taking the new Swell Stealth for it's first run yesterday. But it was big disappointment! It's going to need a bigger wave to get it going. In only a couple of feet it just bogged down and never really got going. Might need to get the tri fin set up organised. I'm not entirely sure it's stiff enough, but time will tell. Sometimes new swellies need a bit of bedding in.

Janey's taken the boys off to Lyme Regis for the week. They love it there - lots of crabbing, fossil hunting, jumping off rocks etc - fun, fun, fun. I'll try and get over there a couple of times if I can.