Headed out to Cobourg to see if the strong SW winds had managed to kick up any swell. Arrived at the Pier around 11:30am and the waves were starting to build. Met up with Kelly then checked out a rocky point about a 1/2 mile further east. Back to the Pier and into the water at noon. Surfed until 3:00pm then headed back to Toronto, certainly didn’t want to be late for the “Turkey Dinner” at Janice’s!

A fun little wave this morning, although the water temperature has dropped considerably since last weekend. Got to try out the new Xcel suit for the first time, so all was warm and toasty. Must remember to bring a hood, mitts and booties next time! Check out the rest of the pics.

Well, Monday turned out to be a great day for surf and a not so great day for the car. It is fast turning into a money pit. Seems like a re-conditioned alternator, installed is around $380. Last week it was new plug leads, service and tune-up etc. as the engine light was on, which ended up at $400. We will be shopping around for a new “Gently Used” car this weekend. On the bright side, I surfed the whole day, the water was warm and the sun was shining. Lots of happy surfers.
Check out the pictures here.

Not a bad little wave yesterday at A-Bay. Lots of Kiters and a couple of other surfers out. Was in the water from around 3:30 pm until 5:00 pm. then had to leave to pick up Lynn from work. Managed another session from 6:00 pm until 7:00 pm, hence the photos. By that time it was really mushy and beginning to get dark. Have almost perfected my one arm paddling technique, and after a lot of experimentation have discovered the correct ratio of Ibuprofen and Rum to get a good night’s rest. Will post some pics later, of the surfing, that is. Things are looking good for Monday and Tuesday, thank goodness fall has arrived and I have a decent wetsuit just waiting to be used.

I picked up a new Xcel X-Flex 5/4mm suit yesterday from Boardsports. I am now able to put on the suit and pull up the zipper without help. The old Neil Pryde suit lasted well, but really is more suited for someone who weighs around 25lbs less than I do. Also the new suit will be a lot warmer, which means more time in the water during the winter months. Thanks for a great deal guys!

Just finished watching Bustin' Down the Door, a surfing movie that follows a group of young Australian and South African surfers, including Shaun Tomson, Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholomew, Ian Cairns, Mark Richards, Michael Tomson and Peter Townend, as they relocate to the outskirts of Hawaii where they find themselves challenged to new heights when controversy stirs with the locals, whom find the newcomers' bravado to be insulting to that of Hawaiian culture, eventually culminate in death threats and assault regarding the very subject of the film.
Interesting to say the least, as I surfed with Shaun and Michael in the late 60s in Durban and remember the “Tomson’s go home” attitude at the Gunston 500. Really worth watching!

For those of you lucky enough to have an iPhone / iPod Touch or a phone with a web browser, here are the direct streaming links for my webcam.
The first one is from the camcorder and the second from the iSight.
The Sony Camcorder
The iSight Camera

I’ve just finished reading Pipe Dreams - A Surfers Journey, which is a Kelly Slater biography published in 2003. I borrowed the book from Ryan White (NJ) when he was visiting Ontario a few weeks ago. Pipe Dreams takes you to the not so public side of Kelly Slater and is, in my opinion, a good read. In Pipe Dreams, he shares the stories that have influenced his life and have inspired him to overcome both personal and professional hurdles and achieve his dreams. Well worth buying.

A great time with warm temperatures earlier in the day and winds up to 100km an hour generated a decent swell and sizeable waves on Lake Ontario.
Surfers travelled from as far afield as the New Jersey coast to partake in the fun.
Click on the image to see pictures from a couple of different locations.

Got out for a couple of waves today. The waves were bigger in the morning, but the swell dropped off in the afternoon when I finally got into the water . It got quite glassy at one stage with some nice rights setting up. Took a couple of pictures, there were 2 guys still out when I left.
I hope somebody else took some better shots!

Got out yesterday afternoon at “Rocks” and tried out the new Board and Booties. Feet were pretty toasty for a change and the Board was great. 7 mm mitts and hood kept my other parts warm. It was a balmy -4 degrees! My old Neil Pryde 4/3 that I’ve had for around 12 years felt like I was wearing a straight-jacket. Will have to do something about that next!
There were about 8 guys already in the water when I arrived.

Picked up a pair of 7mm Xcel Infiniti Tek round toe booties from Boardsports yesterday. They look and feel great. Finally, no more cold feet! Thanks guys.

Picked up a gently used Fish from Bob at Fishstick last Sunday. It’s 6’ 2” x 23” x 3” so should be nice and floaty. Took it to Lake Erie for a 3 day vacation last week, but the wind and waves were a no show. Hopefully I will get to try it out this week on Lake Ontario.

Kudos to all who braved the 3 degree temperature, and there were a lot of you. My hands froze just taking pictures.
Looked like fun, maybe a clean up session tomorrow? It’s supposed to go up to 16 degrees.
Click here for Pics and Video.

A fun session in Lake Ontario yesterday. At one time I counted 20 surfers in the water. Great surfing with some old friends and making some new ones. Check out the great photos taken by Joe Hamilton, who was freezing his ass off while we were having fun. Thanks Joe, we really appreciate it.




Photo courtesy of Joe Hamilton.

Surfed for an hour 4pm-5pm. Waves were 3 ft with the occasional bigger set. Tried out the 7' Becker and got half a dozen decent rides, and have come to the following conclusions:

1. Need bigger waves.
2. Must lose 30 lbs.
3. Need a board with more volume. (Are you reading this Bob?)

Had a blast anyway...

I was out at Port Union Road all morning. Not bad, probably waist high. At least I got some waves after being skunked at Lawrencetown.
Drove down to Bluffers in the afternoon and saw around 8 guys out. Looked pretty shallow near the shore break.
Check out the pics here.

Well, the trip was fun, no waves to be had as Mother Nature didn’t cooperate and the swell was small when we arrived and then just got smaller.
Saw Whales, Bald Eagles, visited Family, drank a lot of beer, ate an astonishing amount of seafood and visited every Yarn Shop on the East Coast including the ones inland!
For you Knitting Fiends, I will be posting pics of Yarn in the next couple of days, so stay tuned. Of course, the pics of waves will be posted first.

Off to the East Coast for 10 days. We will be based in Fredricton. Plan on whale watching at St. Andrews, surfing near Lawrencetown and visiting "Yarn Shops", as Ravelry has become a bit of an obsession, to say the least! There will also be the compulsory visits to all the craft and quilting shops along the way. Looking forward to the lobster and will be posting pictures on our return.

Looks like it’s going off.
Read the Full Story here.

Our new Surf Shop is now open.
Check it out!!!

The Red Bull Big Wave Africa 2008 is over and the official results are in. South Africa's Twiggy Baker has won in 15 to 20 foot waves. The final results are, Twiggy Baker (RSA) in first, Carlos Burle (BRZ) second, Greg Long (USA) third, James Taylor (RSA) fourth, Anthony Tashnick (USA) fifth and Mark Healy (HI) in sixth.
See all the photos here.

The South African Big Wave Africa Event starts on 24th July 2008 at Dungeons, near Hout Bay.



Local
Ian Armstrong, Grant Baker, Chris Bertish, Mickey Duffus, Sean Holmes, Simon Lowe, Andrew Marr, Charles Reitz, Jason Ribbink, David Smith, James Taylor and John White.
International
Carlos Burle, Ross Clarke-Jones, Mark Healy, Greg Long, Peter Mel, Ramon Navarro, Paul Paterson, Tyler Smith, Jamie Sterling, Anthony Tashnick, Ian Walsh and Grant Washburn.