The rabble return

Janey took the boys off for a week to St. Ives - I managed to get down there a couple of times. Whilst they were away, I decided to paint and clean the house. Fourteen bin bags and a lot of emulsion the house is / was looking spic and span. Both my Mum and Dad took turns to come around and help. Oh, I say is/ was because the boys are now back and it took about 5 mins to restore normal order and turn the place into a chaotic mess!

Few things I found out whilst they were away. Esmie, one of two cats doesn't like me. She left as soon as they went and has yet to return. Libby, our black lab also much prefers it with the boys around - she's been very sulky indeed! And Frankie, the other cat is very lazy and is happy as long as there's food!

An old school mate is down. He does Ironman comps for fun (!) and likes to get up early to train! So I've been leaving the house at 6.45 each morning to meet him for a blast on the road bikes. Getting used to it now - great way to start the day. We cycled up Burlawn Hill yesterday, which is 28 degrees, very steep indeed! I think there should be a badge waiting at the top! Jim's just come back from the Alps, so I've been practicing my slip streaming!

So this is it, the bank holiday weekend. Wish us luck! See you on the other side.

Congrats to Big Dave

Congrats to David and Samantha Cameron on the birth of their little baby girl. Two points of interest - 1, they're staying just down the road with friends. 2, their baby girl was born down at Treliske in Truro, where our two boys were born. I hope they get better care than we did when Billy was born! It really was pretty poor. Billy was born with a broken collar bone, which they think happened during delivery. As a reaction he got jaundice and that meant that both he and Janey remained in hospital for ten days. The 'care' was non existent which was a shame really.

It was a far cry from the experience we had on two subsequent visits, the first when Fin was born. They were really good then, maybe we were a bit smarter to. And then Billy got a virus that the Doc thought was Meningitis. They don't hang about when that's diagnosed - straight to hospital to be met at the door by the Paediatric team. That was impressive stuff.

Sun's out - busy on the beach. Busier than last year as it goes!

Big Swell forecast for bank holiday

It's a way off yet, and things can change but as it stands the surf forecast leading into the Bank Holiday weekend is looking pretty meaty. Start waxing up those sticks.

ASP World Tour

The ASP World Tour has made it's annual pilgrimage to Tahiti to surf the heaviest wave on the planet. The forecast is for the surf to be pumping! Teahupoo - it's a wave that many of the pros fear. Starts on Monday and the action will be shown live on the ASP site. Definitely worth checking out. Here's some footage from a few years back....

Offshore!

Come on - we have 2ft surf and the wind's offshore! At the moment. Makes a change! August has been disappointing on the surf front - we've had surf but it's been small and choppy. Nice to see a proper ground swell.

Get your own Swellboard.

I've mentioned before that we're going to be downsizing next year. After 16 years we'd like to change the way we operate. Judging by how busy the beach has been in August, this is not before time! Because we're downsizing this means we have some gear to sell - boards, wetsuits etc. And this includes Swell Boards, you know the type you use for lessons! Swell boards are like gold dust. Hugely expensive to buy off the shelf as they're all hand made in this country - but they're the best. Manufacturers try and copy them, but there's nothing quite like a Swelly. So give us a shout if you fancy owning your own!

Many people have been asking what I get up to these days? I'm sure someone did! I'm sure someone out there cares! As the beach, shop and office are all covered with fantastic people, I get to be with my boys. And where they want to hang more than anywhere is at skateparks! I don't know how many hours I've stood and watched. I'd like to get stuck in myself, but skateboarding and bad hamstrings are a poor combo! More recently I've used the time to take some photos and video..... so here's a little Craskey montage. Nothing serious, just a bit of fun! It's amazing how many amazing skateparks there are around here - is that the same everywhere or do we have more because of the beach scene? If you've got a good one near you, please let us know.

The weirdest year!

There's no pattern to the beach this year! Except that the sunniest days coincide with the weekends and then it's carnage! With only three weeks to go of the main season it's going to be interesting to see which businesses are doing well and which are struggling. Word on the street is that Women's fashion is the sector struggling the most in the surfing industry. My overall take on Polzeath is that the beach has been quieter than normal - which is no bad thing! We were doing really well up to the end of July. We might be dropping a bit in August, but no real concern.

Okay, now onto more important things!! Over the weekend the Billy and Fin along with cousins Charlie and Jamie headed up to Plymouth. Man Utd were doing a training camp for a load of kids. Up for grabs was the Champions Prize, an invitation to join twelve other boys from around the country to play a match on the Old Trafford pitch and meet the players. If you couldn't get fired up for that... what an opportunity. Billy played okay on Saturday finding his feet. On Sunday, myself and Bro-in-law cycled to the training ground and met up with Janey who was already overseeing proceedings.

So we settled down to watch the mini tournaments. Billy was playing as well as I'd seen him play. But I wasn't sure his coach was quite on the ball. I moved down to watch Fin and his cousins. Then the main man joined in with Billy's tournament and played against him. Watching from afar I could see that Billy was playing really well. Janey was in ear shot as a conversation took place between the coach and main coach after the match. "So that's Billy then?" As we went into the assembly room at the end of the training, Billy's team mates were telling him that he was going to win. And then they called out his name! Just amazing. Proudest moment.

Only problem is that the prize is for Billy and one adult!! Could be an almighty scrap for that one!! ps there's a book out called Bounce. If you have kids that like sport, it makes for a very interesting read.

When the sun it out, everyone comes out to play

Yippee doo da dey! The sun is out, the surf forecast is perfect for beginners and improvers - and it's set to stay that way for the foreseeable! Sweet as. Hey, looks like I've had the call to do a lesson this morning. I don't do that many these days - good to keep my hand in and work on the front line with the boys. We've got a great team this year - a good work ethic and they just get on with it.

We tickled back into the Creation Festival for another skate - but there was a BMX comp going on. Ended up going to Mount Hawke instead with a full crew of boys and cousins.

Cornwall tips into the Sea

I am amazed that Cornwall didn't tip into the sea yesterday. It would have been a good day for burglars because everyone, and I mean everyone, was right here on Polzeath Beach! It was absolutely rammed! The sun was out, the surf was a gentle couple of feet - just a very good surf beach day!

Here's Fin taking the drop on the quarterpipe on his scooter. What's the hardest thing about scooting? Telling your parents your gay! It's a skater joke! Scooting is massive now - I'm not a big fan much preferring the traditional four wheels and plank, but I can see the attraction. Its' fast track to getting around the ramps. Fin loves it, he's seven - he'll learn!

As for me and the kids - well it is kind of nice to be able to get away once in a while - and on a busy day it's great to be able to drive off knowing that the business is in really good hands. Wailin and Mikey managing the beach operation, Kit in the office and Tom in the shop.

So we headed up to Creation Fest on the Royal Show Ground where they had a big skate ramp set up. This a Christian festival where they have various marquees for sermons, bible reading etc - which is not our scene at all, we were there just for the skating... but each to their own. Everyone was pretty cool.

Here's Billyman doing some trick or other. Bill's so passionate about skating - he loves it. He finds it really frustrating with all the scooters around. With skating you learn to wait your turn - you do that because it's dangerous otherwise. Scooterers don't seem to follow the same rules and just go when they're ready. Bad!

Every man and his dog

Sun and surf - today is going to be very, very busy on the beach.