Easter - make a break for it!

Polzeath once again does it's thing! Stunning out there today - it's been a very good run. Easter is nearly upon us - bring it on. We're good to go - should give us an idea how the season's going to pan out. If the weather continues like this, everyone's going to have a very good time. It's funny, as soon as the sun comes out the phone and e-mails go crazy! We put an e-mail out to our clients about two weeks we still had available at the Beach House, and they were booked in ten minutes.

New for this year? The Surf's Up! Kids Academy which is launching at Whitsun. We're excited about that. Bit of blurb..... "Three day course based at our training centre - for ages 6 - 17 years old (split into age and ability groups - novice to intermediate). Changing room, showers, logbooks, certificates, video coaching... loads of fun and loads of surfing. You'll also get the chance to meet and surf with some of the UK's top junior surfers. Instructor/student ratio of 1 to 6! Limited places." I think this is going to be a chicken dinner - 16 years of experience, t

aking complete beginners all the way to the British Team - it's there in one little bundle! Really looking forward to getting our teeth into this one.

And let's not forget that when you come down to the beach - you can hire boards and wetsuits from us - even if you're not doing the lessons!

Monday Morning Surf Report

Pretty sweet out there this morning! Head high on the sets, lined up, breeze from South-East - no-one in, yet! Not classic, but could be a lot of fun.

Back on the Beach

I've absolutely no idea how busy it's going to be over the Easter period, what with a Royal wedding thrown in at the end. I'm pretty sure some people will be taking a whole load of time off work to make the most of the bank holidays. There's a few people on the beach today who've decided to make an early break for it. Word on the street is anywhere North of Newquay will have a good season, but people are not booking any further south because of the fuel prices. Makes sense I guess.

We're back on the beach full time from today. Normal service resumes. Hold onto your hats, time to get it on.

Insane

Billy's eyes were wide as saucers. "That was insane!" he stated. To be fair, on the father / son bonding scale it was an eleven. The tube we were on had stopped, engines off. "Ladies and gentlemen, there is an unidentified package in train ahead. This service will been terminated until further notice." Damn - we had to get on the 1.06pm from Paddington to get Billy back for footie trials at Plymouth. That gave us 30 minutes.

"Okay, let's go". We emerged onto the streets at Westminster. Taxi! We hailed but no one stopped. Must have been my road bike that I had in tow. Okay, think, think, think. "Right Billy, hop on." Somehow both of us (with backpacks) got onto the bike and we began what was to be the most extraordinary half an hour I can ever remember.

"Stop" said the policeman outside Whitehall. You can't cycle on the pavement. We got onto the road. Manic would be one way to describe it. I'd come up the day before to stay with my Mum in Cobham and thought it'd be cool to cycle from Paddington, so I knew that getting through central London was really not that great. And here I was, two up on a bike with Billy cycling through Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park Corner and Marble Arch rushing to catch the train.

We missed it by two minutes! Damn again. "I can't believe we just did that!" We collapsed in exhaustion. Hey ho, got the next train and eventually arrived at the training ground one minute early! What a day. It'll go down as one of those adventures that we'll always remember. Off the scale. If only they'd known at Plymouth the effort that went into getting him there for training. Some commitment to the cause. Funny thing was, Billy had his best training session yet. Must have been the adrenalin!

It's all gone Larry Grayson

Do not adjust your screen - it really is that grey out there. But just look at the fun to be had!!

We had a very good meeting yesterday. It's so important that we keep evolving, especially with all the experience we've accumulated over 16 years. But we feel it's time to have a complete shake up of all the courses we offer - from top to bottom. So we discussed that yesterday, and I think we all came away excited about it. Each year we do a bit of tweaking, but I think we can run with more than a tweak.

Monday Morning Wave

No complaints about the day - sun's out, 2ft glass. Couple of people in having some fun. It's been Polzy at it's best these past few days.

Not that we get to see it! Seems we spend most of our time in the car. Plymouth three times a week for Billy's footie (he played against Bristol Rovers on the weekend 2-2). Fin's footie is also all over the place - Bodmin, St. Austell and Truro. Thank goodness we got rid of the Landy! This week Billy's on a residential school trip up in the London, but I've got to get up there to bring him back early for footie on Thursday. So much for a life on the beach!

Surf's Here

After the last couple of days, where it was as small as I've seen in a long while - literally a ripple, the surf has come in. Bit earlier than expected too. So if you fancy a dip - chest high, not a breathe of wind - some super chilled fun to be had.

Small but perfectly formed

Not much action on the surf front - but we're happy to see the sun shining. Must have reached the heady heights of 70 degrees yesterday! Shorts and t-shirts all-round. Looks like another steamer today.

What's isurf?

As is the way with these things, if you think you're onto a winner you have to keep it close, close, close. isurf - what is it? Is it a bird, is it a plane? No it's a ..hm how much can I give away? It's a website - I can tell you that much - that utilises the concepts of three of the most dynamic social and travel online mediums. That's about as far as I can go - still much, much to do. I think it's got great potential and those who I've asked have said "Pete, most of your ideas I give the nod, but I think this one might actually work!" Thanks.

Myself and Janey quite like the thoughts of Matthew Syed. His book Bounce is about kids and sport - relevant to us at home and at work. Here's his big tip - if a child does well at something, any reward or praise should acknowledge the hard work and effort that brought about the success, rather than any pure natural ability. I think that's pretty cool and encourages a good work ethic.

Janey had me blowing down the fuel line to get the bad dog fired up this afternoon. She makes some noise too - had to shut her in the shed just to get her 'run-in'. The boys have 'invested' in a new Nitro car (reward for hard work!), taken me a week to get that thing going! Two more tanks of fuel on tick over and then apparently we can let her loose!!! This is a job to be undertaken on the Moor.

Chip Paper

So Japan is last weeks chip paper. I can't keep up with it all. And now we're bombing Libya? Everything moves at such a pace. The world's gone mad! Bombing Libya? Feel just a little uneasy that that could all go very pear shaped!

Back on the beach - you'll be pleased to hear that all is calm. Calm, but noisy! With the sound of drilling, hammering, banging etc from all the building, it's anything but quiet. Polzeath is getting a complete overhaul. Seriously, you'll hardly recognise the place in a couple of years. All the older properties are being knocked down and replaced with modern glass fronted structures. Some of them look amazing. Not sure who's going to have the money to buy them?

Speaking of the recession, we've seen in the past two weeks the first real examples of hard times to come. At the end of both the running events that my boys took part in, the organiser stood up at the end and announced that this would be the last time the event was to be run. Cut backs. They'd been made redundant. No more sports coordinators for Primary schools. No more inter school comps at Primary level. Oh dear.