The on-line shop has been much busier than this time last year. Not sure why? More choice of hoody colours. .. bigger product range? Whatever the reason, we appreciate it. Thanks.

Bottoms

Just had some new photos done for the on-line shop! No complaints.

Plenty of complaints however about the action of the thugs in London yesterday. Catch em, lock em up and throw away the key. Who pays for the damage? They should, shouldn't they? Off with the balaclavas that's what I say! All for peaceful marches, but let's see the faces.

A Surf's Up! Hoody was the first thing I saw when I turned on Sky News this morning! One of the students on the marches was wearing one - full screen, sweet. I never tire of seeing someone wearing one of our hoodies. I had a video sent to me last week by a friend summiting Tryfan in one of the Brown numbers (one of my favourites) - thanks Andrew.

"Give me back my Woolly Socks"

There's a few people from Scotland not being very nice about the video that I posted yesterday! (see yesterday's blog). What they're missing is the shot overlooking the beach 52 seconds in - check out the line up and the banks. If we get a decent swell, Polzeath will be firing like J-Bay!

I lived in Scotland many years ago - firstly in Fort William where I was training to be a deep sea diver, now that was cold. On occassions we used these special wetsuits that were very thin, 1mm but they had these veins running through them. Hot water was pumped through the veins from the surface, so when you were down 100ft or so, it was like being in a hot bath. Fantastic. Couldn't see anything mind - you could just about make out your hand if you put it on the glass of the Kirby (helmet). Dark, cold, murky - happy days. It was my Dad's idea to go on the course - apparently I'd given away too many of his ladders! (ref blog 19th November, One small step for Man).

I remember there were quite a few students on that three month course that were 'unstable'. It was quite a tense environment. One of them, Simon was a 28 year old, 6ft 6, ex SBS Shrek lookalike - a thug of the highest order. During our explosives section of the course, he put a stick of dynamite up a dead sheeps bottom, blew it up and then went off in search of the head so that he could keep it as a momento. Yeah, give this guy a wide, wide berth was my instinct! (slight aside - he didn't prove quite so hard when we were both in the decompresson chamber coming up from a 150ft dive when his ears started hurting. Ah, love.)

On one particular day his woolly socks had gone walk about and he was hunting down the perpetrator like the enemy. (Although he was ex SBS - I'm not whether he'd actually ever seen any action). He was looking for someone to accuse of the theft. Did I say accuse? I meant kill! It was like a scene from Midnight Express. He was warming up with the others. Some of them were Scallop Divers from the Orkneys - they would give him no joy. They were proper tough, but gentle with it. They'd didn't feel the need to be the Alpha Male. As the only soft southerner there it was only a matter of time before he turned his attentions onto me. I could hear his heavy footsteps getting louder. The room fell silent. He found me to be honest at a very inconvenient moment. All I had on were my pants and, yes, my woolly socks! I was in a position of great weakness (hm, toastie tootsies though). Now backed against the wall, he launched into a tirade of abuse, we stood nose to nose as his spit splattered onto my face. "You've stolen my socks!" he spat! "Give me back my socks!" What to do? I knew that the threat of telling my Mum of his poor behaviour was unlikely to swing it.

I have no idea why I did, what I did, next. But inside I felt a deep injustice. I had my socks, they were mine, not his. Why should I give him mine? I fixed him in the eye and yelled as loud as I've ever yelled, "I HAVEN'T GOT YOUR WOOLLY SOCKS!" The room fell silent...... story to be continued, Janey needs the computer!

Breaking News

Seeing as the weather's been so bad around the country the last week or so - I thought I'd run around the beach today with the video camera, show you exactly what we've been going through! We're a hardy lot down here!

Is Polzeath the New Rock?

This is the word on the street - that the balance of property power is shifting from Rock to Polzeath. And shifting quickly! A quick walk around the village, count the number of cranes, lorries, bags of cement, and it's quite easy to believe. People are investing, big time. It's gone totally nuts! Lots of homes being flattened and being replaced with very smart new builds. Big developments too - The Seascape Hotel has gone - three houses going in there. Pinewood flats has also been knocked down - there's another eleven new homes! Three right in the centre of the village, a couple of biggies on the front, loads in New Polzeath.

I actually think it's okay. The new properties look fantastic - lots of timber frames and huge windows - it's making the place much more cosmopolitan. A bit more, of the moment.

Polzy this morning! Not a cloud, but it's a bit Kamikaze (there's a nip in the air!). Took me an hour to clear the ice off the minibus windscreen it was that thick - and then I started on the outside!

Everything's all white!

Despite Janey's best efforts, trade was slow!

(Here she is modelling the Surf's Up! Beanie and scarf combo available in store today!)

Yes, we have snow! I was only looking at that satellite photo this morning, showing the UK under a blanket of snow, thinking "How did we miss that?" when lo and behold, down she comes! Good snow too.

Check out the shop in festive decor. Lights on the Reindeer and everyfink!

Enough of the snow - we're up to our elbows in paperwork. Just putting the final touches on our bid for the 2022 Camel Racing World Cup! I rest my case, ma Lord!

Bids are won when no-one is watching!

As disappointing as it is not to have the FIFA World Cup - we've got a good run with hosting the Olympics and then the Rugby World Cup to look forward to. Maybe to host three of the bigger events on the planet over a six year period would have been too much to hope for....

..... that was my considered view.

However, on further reflection, that Blatter and his corrupt body of numpties need to be fully investigated! And I think we know the best people to do that. British Journos - it's time to go to work!...

"Bids are won when no-one is watching!"

A few ideas for those Christmas stockings. Can't believe how well the Calendars have gone - kept us busy on the packing front.

Still No Snow!

The boys are not impressed! No snow!

Fresh!

Still no snow down here - but it is mighty cold. The old pinkies are feeling it this morning.

Some good news - Kelly will be back next year. When he left to go back to NZ for the winter we wondered whether it made sense for him to continue in role as Elite Coach. Despite his credentials the demand for high level training is very limited, except that is amongst the junior local crew. That's quite ironic - the ones who live by the sea and who surf the most, are the ones who want more training to get even better. And yet those who are land locked but who aspire to improve their surfing, make the decision to crack on by themselves. Anyway, we questioned whether the outlay was justified in the current climate. It's great to be able to offer the local crew training and competition support, but it doesn't pay any bills. On the face of it, it might seem a luxury. Well it would be a luxury if we didn't have a plan up our sleeves.

We've decided to bring him back but to take him away from the normal day to day business of the surf school. He'll be available to our clients if anyone wants a lesson at the higher level, but he's not going to be joining the instructor mix on the beach. We're going to keep this one close to our chest. It's exciting - we're excited. There's much work to do and I'm sure you'll be hearing loads more about this in the coming months.

My sister and her family are off to Hong Kong in the New Year. What a fantastic opportunity - I'm sure they'll have a great time. The cousins are all the best of mates and have the most amazing summer holidays together. Billy and Fin were sad to learn that their playmates won't be around so much next summer, but they quickly got over this disappointment when we pointed out that Bali would be a good meeting place!