Hi,
just had a week with longtime Tunnel Vision / Bilbo customer steve Balls. steve is a Norfolk kingpin who usually manages to sneak away from the cold (and the family) and come over to my guesthouse for a few waves and hopefully a bit of wind too (I know, I know, some of youn think kitesurfing is suspect but it does get you of the sofa on those choppy days). However with the two options you can be either really happy or doubly skunked..... this time Steve lucked out and it's been Balls To The Wall all the way ! In this instance the wall was the long and perfect one of La Santa Point. After a fun first day we awoke to a rising long period swell with no wind. Before lunch saw 3-4ft waves cracking down the point, tube sections, bashable lips and bags of power. One of the local boys was calling it a skatepark and I reckon he wasn't far off the mark ! As the tide filled in through the afternoon we saw the size jump to a heavy 6ft with a few bigger bombs and a definite surge in the swell. Skatepark had turned into the day of the year with a full on feeding frenzy going down. Great rides, broken boards and leashes and a few dented egos.... all the ingredients of a good day's surfing. I rode me new Bilbo 6'2" an should've gone with the 6'8" but the little board went so well I'm not afraid to say I could of passed for 30...... Ok well 35 then ! So thsanks to Bilbo and Matty Barrow for making an old fella feel new again ! Balls also had a good session he reckons he rode his biggest wave since Hawaii, so HAPPY DAYS!
By the way no photos of the day of the year yet.... everyone was in the water.
As always the run of good surf had to come to an end but being kitemonkeys we knew we'd squeeze in a couple of days sailing ( I say 'sailing' purely for Bilbo shop manager Richard Pope's benefit). Steve let himself down with his silly twin-tip kiteboard but a little brutal teasing ensured a try out sail (that one's for you Reedy) on my 5'11" hand shaped epoxy Tunnel Vision. It's essentially a normal surfboard with a couple straps and too little volume for me to paddle..... a KITESURFBOARD as opposed to a kiteboard !!!!! That bastard Steve Balls jumped on it and rode it better than me straight away... get your own board Balls !! He's tried the moulded kit from the kite brands and reckons real surfboards are the way to go.
So while I'm still smarting from having a bloke from Norfolk our surf, or a least out kitesurf me at me own beach I'm going to drop him at the airport and go down the beach to salvage me reputation !
Cheers all.
