Surf Nation

Guest Post on the Mavericks Invitational

It’s been really bad weather in England for the past few weeks - alternately freezing cold or pouring with rain - and some of us may be forgiven for eschewing our own surfing pursuits in favour of keeping up with surfing news from around the world, writes Emily Waterman. And just recently we had, among other things, one of surfing's killer events: the international Mavericks Invitational competition, held annually in California.

Mavericks Invitational surf contest isn’t for the faint-hearted; it takes a lot of skill and nerve to ride the swells which travel for five days before hitting the shore and it’s no wonder that the competition attracts some of the best big wave surfers in the world. This year’s contest was the first held since the waves of 2010, which injured spectators; huge swells at Mavericks have also resulted in the deaths of two surfers since 1994. Safety for the 2013 Mavericks Invitational surf contest was given a considerable boost as spectators were banned from the beach and a festival area was set up in a nearby parking lot for people to safely watch the competition via a live feed.

Peter Mel Rides to Victory in 2013

The Mavericks Invitational surf contest is no small wave jamboree. It’s a requirement of the competition that the swells reach between 20 and 30 feet. Surfers must navigate vertical drops and takeoffs which are so steep that the surfers’ boards often leave the wave face, forcing them to land near the bottom and turn almost instantaneously.

This year’s winner was long-time Mavericks' legend Peter Mel, who’s been riding the waves at the Mavericks Invitational for 25 years. This year marked his first win and, as a traditional gesture of goodwill, Mel split the $50,000 prize with the five other placeholders. Mel’s been a favourite to win for years so his victory in 2013 has been well received. Check out the footage below to see him making it look easy.

 

Fitness for surfing in times of woe: the lamppost's lament

Is anybody else in their mid-40s and seriously struggling with surfing?

My 47th birthday approaches and my body feels like a leaden weight. I'm fit and strong, with a healthy heart and decent pulse, but flexibility, suppleness and 'spring' belong to another age.

A lost age.

Maybe it's the metal cage at C4 in my neck, maybe it's all the broken bones, torn ligaments and severed tendons over the years, maybe it's playing football a lot lately and ending up with chronic Achilles tendonitis in both legs, or maybe it's just what happens when you reach middle age. But the reality of surfing for me, today, was that I could barely get to my feet. I just had no umph to get me there.

Now, it is undoubtedly true that I have had a lot of injuries and that I've pushed myself when I shouldn't have done. My body is knackered. But albeit that playing football and surfing have lately turned into an exercise in ritual humiliation, in which I kid myself that the occasional flash of what once passed for ability shows I can still do it but actually just have a nightmare, in other environments I'm fine. I can do 10 rounds on the bags/pads and feel fit as a fiddle. Circuit training is tough but fine. I can walk for miles and barely feel I've done a thing. I can swim a long way (as in, a mile or so) without getting tired.

So what is going on?

If anyone knows anything about fitness for (mid)40-year-olds, which is correct:

1. Despite recovering well from neck surgery I walk about with two herniated discs at C5 and 6. This, with the surgery of a couple of years back, means that I am about as flexible as a lamppost in a coffin, its light still flickering but just a bit, as if it still made a difference or meant something but is in fact redundant.

2. It's cold. Very. This has a detrimental effect on 'active' sports (at my age).

3. I'm 46. Simple. My best days are long gone. I should give up football entirely (agreed) and only surf sparingly (really?). That way there's still a chance of a good session. Constantly pushing myself, as I do, is a recipe for disaster.

4. It's time to get a dog and go for long walks. One that lives with me, that is. And get into gardening (which I do quite like).

Sometimes, in this usually optimistic, glass half-full blog, one feels depressed. But wait, what's this? An email from my friend Mr Ryan Air. He reminds me to check in because I'm off to Lanzarote on Saturday with my sons, Harry and Elliot. Warm water, warm air, warm waves, an island I know with people who are nice... Maybe surfing will work for me again?

Hope springs eternal (in the minds of the serially deluded, at least).

Pictured courtesy of Cammer's Camera: me, at the crest of a wave.

A Simple Premise

I have a simple premise for a simple premise involving the musings of a deranged novelist who, unable to think of a simple premise, decides to concentrate on complexity - a simple enough conceit, you might think, but not for this novelist because, unbeknown to his readers, his parents, his car, his cat and his wardrobe, he has long been repressing a desperate urge to come up with a simple premise for a simple premise, or even just a simple premise, but either way one which could shout its name from the rooftops and whisper from the basements and speak in a normal voice, at a reasonable level, in the landings and corridors and kitchens and make him a fortune unless, of course, he was too often bedevilled by insomnia, in which case he couldn't sleep, something which he would solve by counting sheep jumping over a gate, or was it a fence, a simple enough panacea and one which worked very well, or would work very well, until the sheep mutated into dogs and then, such is our hero's discombobulatory self, he would angonise over their fate because - and let's confront the truth - no one really cares how sheep land when they jump over gates, it's just the jumping that matters, or rather the imagination of the jumping, but when it comes to dogs - man's best friend, woman's too - the jumping over a gate becomes an altogether different thing for what if, unbeknown to the bounding hound, there was a mineshaft on the other side of the gate, or was it a fence, into which the tragic canines would fall forever? What then?

PS Tony Plant came round to see me yesterday. He is a wonderful person who has a curious effect on the rhythms of one's life.

A Glove Box Interview

Here I am being interviewed again. My word, it's almost as if I have something to say!

Guest Post: Finding the Right Wetsuit

Find the Right Wetsuits for Your Family Holiday

If you’re planning a family holiday which is going to involve surfing, you may want to think about buying your own wetsuits, writes Emily Waterman. Not all families will require their own individual wetsuits but if you all enjoy surfing on a regular basis and know that you’ll be spending a lot of time in the water then buying your own wetsuits can be a sensible option.

Wetsuits are specifically designed for men, women and children to suit different body types and requirements. It may be an idea to buy all of your wetsuits from one company that you know has a good reputation, so you can be assured of high quality. O’Neill wetsuits available at www.secretspot.co.uk are the first choice for many, as they’re affordable, high quality and come in a range of fun colours and styles to suit everyone’s tastes.

Finding the Right Wetsuit for You

You’ll most likely need a specific kind of wetsuit, depending on what kind of holiday you’re going on. If you’ll be surfing in cold water, you’ll need a full wetsuit, possibly with a hood to ensure maximum insulation, like the O’Neill Men’s Heat 6mm; full sleeves and feet will help to keep you warm as well. That aspect might depend on exactly how cold you expect the water to be, though. On the northeast cost temperatures vary between 5 degrees to 13 centigrade (winter/summer) compared to 8-18 off the southwest coast according to the met office.

If you’re likely to be taking your boards somewhere a little warmer you may be able to get away with buying shorter or more lightweight suits, such as the O’Neill Men’s Hammer 2mm or Women’s Bahia 2.1mm wetsuits. These are great if you’re thinking of going snorkelling as well, and don’t need the added protection of a full suit.

Consider Your Needs Fully

Taking the above into consideration, there are still certain factors which you may want to take into account before purchasing a short suit; for example, some beaches are home to stinging creatures against which a short suit would offer very little protection. Make sure to fully assess your wetsuit needs before purchasing your new full or short wetsuit.

Pictured courtesy of Aerial Attack: my good self, contemplating the beast that is Danger Bay (suitably attired in one of the two O'Neill wetsuits that have kept me going for the past six or seven years).

Another Achilles Heel

A few minutes ago I posted something highly relevant to the issues of the day on Achilles and Ancient Greek. It then occurred to me that if I opted to share posts on Facebook as well as Twitter, very little difference would be made to anything at all. What I then did was reset this incoherent blog so that its musings, Achilles heels and all, would also now appear on my Facebook page.

But I doubt the success of this enterprise and so am meaninglessly writing this post to see if what I've done has worked.

An Achilles Heel

Sleepless because of chronic Achilles tendonitis I feel a great deal of ἄχος.

ἄχος is an Ancient Greek word meaning 'grief'.

I am lucky enough to know it because, aged 14, I eschewed the study of geography 'O' level in favour of that in Ancient Greek. I went on to study Greek 'A' level.

I went on to win the school prize for Greek 'A' level.

I went on to mention this in a blog about surfing.

This was not difficult. My grades caused my teacher a lot of ἄχος (pronounced akhos) - though not, I hope, sleepless nights - but I was the only person in the class.

The prize had to be given to someone. I was the only person in with a shout. I won the prize.

And I am the only person who writes this blog, at 4am, with an Achilles heel.

Pictured: The Education of Achilles by James Barry.

 

 

 

Some Wise Advice from Bill

Keep thy foot out of brothels, thy hand out of plackets, thy pen from lenders' books, and defy the foul fiend.*

* Shakespeare