Surf Trip South Wales April 2009

April saw BCC descend upon South Wales for the first club surf trip of the year. The venue, log cabins by a babbling brook not quite up to Nordic standards but picturesque for Port Talbot. A notch up from a good bunkhouse, with a bar, pool table (for Beth to demo her skills) and meals provided, made for a chore free weekend. The only thing that really let us down was the lack of good surf (and traffic hold-ups for some on the return journey) – ah well, can’t have it all. Saturday saw a fierce wind with crashing, dumping waves at Llangennith beach. Those brave or foolhardy enough to enter the sea, came hurtling towards the beach at breakneck speed. So thanks to Bunny, Alan, Myles, Ruairi, LJ, Yuji and Dave H, it was awesome to watch. LJ and Yuji made valiant and amusing efforts to get launched – being swamped before getting decks on! Others saved their energy for a late afternoon surf at Broughton, having been accosted by an angry farmer for unloading boats away from the car park – Toons soon put him to rights! There were a few rides to be had – not enough for Andy who had joined us for breakfast and had a limited timeframe to get back to Bristol. Stumps has started the process of acclimatising to his surf boat and helped Olwen when she somehow inadvertently fell out of it! Claire had the tricky David Bailey role to capture long distance shots. The host provided double strung guitar music in the evening after a satisfying meal and Yuji provided entertainment even when asleep in the bar (don’t know if he’s seen the photos yet!). More pool of the dry sort, and extended bar hours led to overindulgence for some! The morning after the night before gave John the opportunity to share his fantastic hangover cure, for which some of us are truly grateful. Disappointingly there was no surf to be found on Sunday, the club convoy led by Ed, trawling the coastline in desperate attempts to find a break. Dave T and Paddy sensibly had brought bikes for an alternative ride. Beth wisely gave up on her boardie surf lesson. Geoff and Dave H – note must get nicknames to differentiate between the Daves – finally succeeded in getting the ‘seaside’ kite to fly, with Jeremy proffering advice about tails! Stumps managed to avoid the birthday bumps and we enjoyed a cake in his honour on the pebbles. Not quite a cream tea, but importantly Ed appeared satisfied. Claire hit the retail park whilst another contingent went for a lovely stroll from Southerndown beach. Bunny and Toons were observed caressing the Reflex surf boat that sadly didn’t get a workout. Katie found time to write to her nan and was the only one not to flinch putting her hand in the mystery box. She was great with interpreting Tom-Tom’s obscure instructions too! John had a snooze to get revitalised – or maybe that should be re-electrolysed. Geoff and Dave H were rewarded for their efforts getting into a boat by a mini break developing – too late for the rest of us who were planning the homeward journey. Role on the next surf trip.