Friday 29 May 2009

Busy Friday

We were all up early today as we had to go to Probus and meet someone and the boys wanted to go to Ann's Surf Shop at Kingsley Village, Fraddon. Money was burning a hole in their pocket! They wanted their own full length wetsuits! Needless to say they arrived back here with very smart ones.

Jamie and Phill were determined that Pam would have a trip out while they were staying and so we collected her mid-morning and took her on a Mystery Tour! She'd had a major operation just after Christmas and this was to be her first big venture out other than hospital visits. The sun was blazing down but it was quite windy when we parked up at our first stop which was Mylor. While we had a wander over to the Chandlers she sat and watched the activity on the water. It was very busy and there were loads of boats to see ...



plus all the tenders which are left above the waterline ready for their owners to use ...

We returned to the car and then she was driven to Falmouth where we stopped for lunch at the Falmouth Watersports Association building. It was too chilly to sit out on the verandah this time but we had a lovely snack of paninis and coffee. After lunch Jamie drove us all up to Pendennis Point where we sat and watched the boats again ...

but this time we enjoyed ice-creams bought by Pam as a thank you for taking her out. It was then time to go home as the boys wanted to get in the surf and try out their new wetsuits! After a quick cuppa we followed them down to Gwithian and found them in the water ...



It was still really windy and they were getting very tired fighting both the waves and the wind so they didn't stay in the water for too long. Long enough though to christen their new suits and they were very pleased with their choice. Jamie had tried a different board today. As he'd managed to stand during the lessons he fancied trying something other than the training surfboard. He said it was harder but he thoroughly enjoyed himself and he was able to stand again ...

Two very happy chaps ...


and I don't think we've ever given Christmas presents that have proved so popular!

Thursday 28 May 2009

Second Surfing Lesson

The weather was slightly better today and the cancelled lesson from yesterday was due to take place this afternoon. The boys were kitted out again and we all walked down to the sands ...

While the instructors stayed with the boards ...

the class had a quick warm up session ...

and then after moving the novices to a spot on their own, the class had some more instruction on learning how to stand ...

It was then time to take to the water ...

Unfortunately it was very foggy today ...


but it didn't stop them having a great time ...

and Phill managed to stand today - yay!!


They finished exhausted again ...

and began the long walk back to the School ...

We'd been invited to the campsite for a spaghetti bolognese supper tonight cooked by Jamie ...


They'd made themselves at home there ...

and we had a great evening. Phill showed us the towel he'd bought from the Surf School ...

it had instructions on it so he knows where to put his feet!

Wednesday 27 May 2009

Fish and Chip Sups

The weather was pretty grotty today and the surfing lesson was cancelled. We did the boring job of shopping at Tesco and the boys went off to hunt for wetsuits and surfboards. I think they've caught the bug! As the dogs hadn't had a decent run for a couple of days we all decided that Perranporth beach was the ideal place to take them and we'd follow the walk with a fish and chip supper at Brown's Fish and Chip shop which is owned by Paul's dad. So we set off at 6pm knowing that the tide was coming in and had a lovely walk along the sand. As soon as he hit the beach Ozzie was off into the water ...


Hamish is always very reluctant to get his feet wet and prefers to look at water ...

We walked as far as we could ...

and then turned back and watched as the Perranporth gigs were getting ready to launch ...


The sea was quite rough but they set off to sea ...

We got back to the bridge just in time to get across it before it was swamped and then went over to get our supper. The dogs stayed in the car in their cages and were so good - little angels both of them! After a lovely cod and chips meal we had a quick look at the beach before leaving for home. The tide had really come in by now and the bridge was completely inaccessible ...

The gigs were still buzzing about ...

and it was back to the car for us and time to drive home.

Tuesday 26 May 2009

First Surfing Lesson at Gwithian

Last Christmas when we asked the boys what they would like for presents we got the reply - surfing lessons please. So we went to Gwithian Academy of Surfing and bought them vouchers which they decided to use during their May holiday.

It was fantastic weather today with blue skies and good surf so at 2pm we turned up to record the event for posterity. After being kitted out with full length wetsuits they were given a surfboard each and in pairs they made their way down to the beach ...

There were three instructors and so the complete novices had two of them while a small group who had done some surfing before had the third instructor. They were given a talk on safety and then began the instructions on using the board ...

They learnt how to time the waves and paddle ...

and then to push up onto their hands ...

It was now time to try out these techniques in the water ...



Then it was back to the sand ...

and another lesson but this time they were shown how to stand up ...



Once again it was back to the water and hopefully to put it all into practice! Jamie was over the moon that he managed to stand ...




Phill is still working on it and hoping that tomorrow when they go for their second lesson, it will all work for him. It all looked great fun, they thoroughly enjoyed themselves but they ended the afternoon absolutely creamed crackered!