Latte didn't swing it!

That's the last time I take Janey up a Latte!! Not enough appreciation! And she's made me work today! Shucks!

I think I'm in trouble

Firstly, hold the press. The surf school was busier on Thursday and Friday than last year - didn't quite make up for Tuesday and Wednesday, but at least it moved in the right direction. And the shop has had an awesome week. Mikey's come back into the shop full-time and has been rocking and rolling it, has got the team of Ellie, Polly, Jenny and Alice all fired up and they're working so well. 

So this business of being in trouble - I'm not quite sure the depth of trouble I'm in. I shall find out probably in the next hour or so. Yesterday, at 2pm I said to Janey that I'd take the boys off to do something - the something turned into a smorgesbord of activity and fun. Go-Karting in the rain, followed by a meal out in Newquay and then off to the circus. No problems with that except for the fact that I'd taken the office and shop keys with me! Which I didn't realise until I phoned from outside the circus at 10.30pm ( I'd wrongly worked out it would finish by 9.15pm) to inform her that we'd be back soon. The conversation went a bit like this....

"Have you got all the keys?" (shop and office)

"Erm, yes I have. They're in my pocket!"

Click! This wasn't Janey putting the phone down, this was sound of my phone battery running out. But she didn't know that. So it was a triple whammy - we were very late, I'd got all the keys (including the spares) and then she thought I'd put the phone down on her! Ooops. When we got home I dropped the boys outside the house and went down to the beach to lock everything up. By the time I got back the house was dark and everyone was tucked in. As of this moment, I've only seen Janey in her sleeping beauty state. Don't fear though - I'll bring her around with a nice cup of take-away Latte!! 

The circus was brilliant. Absolutely fantastic - highly recommended. And the go-karting great too. "Look and learn boys" I joked as I eased into kart number eight and lowered my visor in preparation of the race. How they laughed when I was the first one to stack it - into the tyre wall on the first corner, right in front of the viewing area. I could see them bent over double!! I had my revenge - by the time they got on it was pouring with rain and the track was like a ice rink.

Happy days.

Thanks Met Office

Looking forward to the impending heat wave? The Met Office have just declared that August will be unsettled, so we can assume that means we can now fire up the BBQ's!! 

Yesterday was a wet day! Took the boys to the RNAS Culdrose air day - rubbish! You'd think they'd be a plan B. But no we stood there for the best part of six hours in the pouring rain waiting to see some action. The best action was a police dog show that reminded me of a school drama lesson. "Okay, I want you to go off in groups of four and prepare a two minute routine that you'll then perform in front of the class." This invariably involved a lot of running around chasing baddies and firing pretend guns. But hand on - over the tannoy we've just been informed that a plane is 14 miles away, is travelling at 342 knots and that there's every chance that it'll be able to crack on with it's display. 9 miles and counting down - anyone guessed what it is? You feel the excitement build. And then there it was ... a Tornado. Just like a plane from Top Gun. It swooped in low and touched the runway .............. and then parked up. Oh .. that's disappointing then. And so it was that planes and helicopters sort of arrived and went - some you caught fleeting glimpses through the low cloud, others you just had to work out what they were by the sense of hearing. By 4pm the boys had had enough - they left with their grandma. Ten minutes later and the show began!! But it was all too late.

My blog has been bare for a few days. No reason - just been out and about doing stuff. Took the boys fishing on a boat trip out of Newquay. Sea sickness kicked in pretty early as did the rain. It was miserable. I thought it was a two hour trip and consoled myself with this thought until I was informed that it was actually a four hour trip - deep joy. I suffered from Biggus Vomitus Over-Sidious for the best part of the entire trip. The boys loved it!

On the beach the last two weeks in July have been a challenge. Which has come as somewhat of a surprise, particularly as up to then the season was looking so positive. Well down on numbers compared to even last year. But hey ho, it's tough for everyone out there, no reason why we should be any different. The surf shop has been the saving grace proving to be 50% up on original targets and that's going to make a big difference come the end of the year. I'm pretty sure the investments we've made in the beach house - ie shop and office, have come at the right time. And I'm also sure that Surf's Up! will change and evolve next year into a slightly different beast. Of course we could go out and chase more business, but that's never been the Surf's Up! way. I left a life of hard sell behind many years ago and that's not going to start again now we're a bit quieter than last year. Just got to tweak the business a bit. To be honest the margins at the surf school at so tight that the fact we're quieter is the catalyst for change that we need.

Swine Flu?

Oh I'm not sure what's come over me!! I'm feeling all worky all of a sudden! Nose to the grindstone, cranking out some hours on the computer, getting lots of jobs done!? What's happening?

Thankyou, Thankyou

Oh Yes, three in the bag!! We are fishers of men. Not only that but we carried out our first rescue as well! The story goes - left Rock with Billy and Fin in the rib - calm seas, small surf. By the time we got out to Pentire the wind had picked up and it was well choppy and the swell that was missing at Polzeath was clearly evident - running up from the south. We got to the Rumps, line out - first cast, three mackerel!! Boys sort out the fish. Engine off though and we were all feeling a bit queasy!! There was quite a swell running by the island. So we headed back with our catch to Rock - wind and tide against we picked our way through the big chop.

The rescue was a simple affair - windsurfer couldn't get back to Daymer against the tide - so we towed him. All very exciting. No drama - it wasn't like he is in serious trouble. 

I've realised the blog has turned into a 'life of Pete and his family' rather than the adventures of Surf's Up! - so I'm going to get a member of the senior team to come and do some updates. I make no apologies for spending the time with the kids and less time on the beach. As I said to Janey last night, we're just having too much fun. It's worked out really well though - having put in the work in the previous 14 years, because the boys are the perfect age to go on adventures with. 

Our three juniors in the Surf's Up! Boardriders division once again performed on the weekend. Liam and Max getting to the final - Rhys the semis. Those three chop and change all the time but are always there or there abouts.  

It has continued!!

I think that's our eight fishing trip without catching a fish, so I guess you'd call that, a trip!! This time following Fin's footie tournament we headed to Mousehole to fish from the harbour wall. We used Lures, Bobbers - but no, nothing! A few tugs on seaweed, but little else. Mind you in our defence we've rarely seen anyone else catch anything either. Although our neighbour Mike caught an 8lb Bass off Greenaway last week and a man was arrested for netting on the Camel Estuary. On Saturday we were in the boat for six hours - it's getting a fair amount of use. Anyway a big up to the beach team particularly Sam and Wailin for being more than good enough for us to leave the beach with confidence.

How's the shop going? The shop is going good. Last Friday was our record day. Funny old thing though - when we sold hoodies out of boxes by the trailer, people would rummage and grab the one they wanted. There was no sales process, it was quick and easy. In the shop, everyone has to try on about twenty different types and styles, look in the mirror. Same price, different expectation. Drives me nuts! Bring back the boxes!!

The new West wetsuits are amazing. The all over blue ones especially - two problems, one - you've got to be a good surfer to pull it off. Two - they don't have my size!!! I appear to have gone from a Medium Tall to a Large! They must come up small!

Swine Flu - it's a concern for sure. Hey guess what? It's raining! Stopped now! Must be scattered sunny intervals!

Bonding!

It's at this time of year that I usually lose that winter bond with the kids as they break up from school. Normally trapped on the beach whilst they do all sorts of fun things with their cousins. It's been a bit different so far this year - long may it continue!

New Member Discount Cards

New in Today are the Member Discount Cards - available to everyone that goes through the doors of Surf's Up! - Sweet. You can either pick one up at the surf school or give us a call and we'll send you one. How does it work? First you have to register your card - we take all your details, name, address, e-mail etc and then put you on the 'system'. Every time you either buy something on-line, in the shop, have a surf lesson or stay at the surf lodge, you get awarded points. More points mean prizes. But also we'll contact you if there's a new product that might be of interest, or there's good surf on the way - it could be that we have late availability on the surf lodge!! Give us a shout today to get your card!

Rain, rain go away - come back in November

At least we have the warmest rain in the country!! Very windy today - had to cancel our first session of the year - I say cancel, everyone's happy to change to a different time. It's a tricky one because you probably can get away with going in - but the risks are high when walking down the beach with boards flying around, and if someone got hit, well we wouldn't have a leg to stand on. Best to take the cautious approach. We're here for the long term. Sam held a theory session in the new training rooms (photo above), so that worked well.

I popped in on the instructors training session last night. Once a week the instructors are put their paces in the surf by Kelly and then they all come back in for some video analysis. There's a good vibe about it - all keen to learn. It's a funny old thing video analysis because you do put yourself in a position where you can be ridiculed - it's a position of exposure. But last night everyone was really supportive. It's a good team building exercise. It's also quite a perk of working for Surf's Up! that you get a coach of the calibre of Kelly helping you to improve. I might come on board next week for a bit of Kelly magic. 

Last year I ran the summer camps with the Boardriders - this year Kelly's going to take it on, which for the kids is huge. Last few details to sort out - we're going to take a crew up to surf the Severn Bore later in August, that should be fun. 

Is Newquay a hole?

Is Newquay a hole? I don't think so. There's been lots written about it recently following the death of a young lad. It's pretty obvious that the GCSE leavers have disappeared from Polzy, there's a few about but nothing like it used to be, so we have to assume that they've upped sticks and headed south. Can't blame them, we haven't exactly had an inclusive policy towards the young adults have we. We stopped contributing to the police fund years ago realising that actually there's management and there's just plain bullying. I think the policing on Polzeath was overdone, but I also understand that there was an issue.

Back to Newquay .. it serves a purpose. It's great for partying, great for young people and great for surf. That's about it. Okay the drive in is a poor advert for the UK's surfing capital but investment was pouring in to make things better, before the recession took hold. It will improve, but most of the development will no doubt need an upturn before the building continues. We go there loads in the winter with the kids - I think it's a great place for kids to grow up. If you look beyond the pound shops and Newquay Lifeguard hoodies, there are some magical places to visit. You just need to know where to go.

As for the young lad who fell off the cliff. It's a rite of passage to drink too much, drive to fast and experiment with drugs. We just all hope as parents that ours are the lucky ones to come through unscathed.

Disappointment: On my visit to Newquay today I had a KFC. Not something that I choose to do regularly, but it was raining, I was passing ... one thing led to another. The sweet aroma of the deep fried chicken lured me in. Had a sit-in Colonels Original, three pieces. One leg plus two other bits (of chicken I assumed). But no box!! NO BOX!! The chicken came just rattling around in a bag - that's no good. I want a box to catch the juices in. I don't want to put a bag up to my chin. Most unsatisfactory!! Am I getting old?

It's been raining all day! From 9am on and on and on. And the surf's gone small! I think in time today will be forgettable. Unless we get flooded - and on the basis we're on a hill, that would be memorable. I'm sticking with forgettable (yes spell check, with a double t ....tttttttt happy now?)