Surfladle

 

Not a lot as far as I can see. I did have a whip round the net to check out if there was anything water based happening and the closest thing I could find was The Coastal Foraging Workshop over at Brighton Marina, which sounds quite interesting, or an inland event at Keymer near Hassocks, which is about Toads..  The South-East Toad Summit, A chance to get together and talk all things toad!. Neither were quite what I had in mind but at this time of year you cannot expect to find organised waterborne events, other than those that like a refreshing open water swim of course (if you want to join those already enjoying a daily dowsing but are a bit doubtful about open water, maybe Swim and Tonic can help?). All links below in case you want to know more and if you go along to the Forage or Summit, please let me know how it went! 

 

 

 

As you would expect, the shop (as per just about every other shop in the UK) is pretty quiet during the last week of January, as most peoples bank balances are in recovery after Christmas and the wages are not yet in but this year we all have the added fright of extremely nasty bills for power, draining even more money from the account. You could not have imagined a year back (how many times has that been said since Covid) that most people have lost enough spare cash in a month, due to increased power costs, that would have covered a nice new iSUP or perhaps in some cases, two. That has hurt us as an industry for sure!  Chatting with other people in the industry, one thing came up which I feel I should mention, as the people in question are few and far between and WE DO NEED THEM. I speak, or rather write about those that offer repair services. They run their businesses on very modest profit margins and due to that they need paying as soon as a repair is completed, otherwise their cashflow becomes a problem, as most repairs incur buying in materials or parts, which nowadays are not cheap. Monofilm, X-ply, Rip Stop Polyesters, Resins, Carbon fibre and even some paints that were once found in abundance in our great sea faring nations marine warehouses, are now in short supply, hence the prices are rocketing. So, please can everyone get that transfer or card payment over to them as soon as they say it’s ready, whether or not you don’t plan to collect it or use it for the next couple of months, as if they lose the will and decide to pack it in, there is no one else locally that can help and that would be a nightmare!

 

Water Quality is the last point of tonight’s ramble and it is one where a UK Windsurfing Pro has decided to leave Blighty and head off to the Canaries because of it. This is one of those News items that I can see will split opinions both locally and countrywide, as some will agree with Sarah’s decision to leave due to the health issues (which is why we have Surfers Against Sewage, as a lot of the Cornish Surf resorts have been dealing with bad water for many a year now) and some may ask if it is right to make a public statement on the subject but then head South. Should they have instead stayed and risked their health, maybe to bang the drum as someone with a standing in UK sport and make a real point out of it, until something is done? Everyone will have a view on this and it’s a tricky subject, as there are sponsors involved and at the end of the day, the kit that Sarah is given to compete with is for promotion of the brand, which in the long run is paid for by those who are all having to sail in that same water, maybe not every time it’s windy as Sarah would, but they will be on the water as much as they can.

One thing we can all agree on is that the water quality in and around the UK should be a lot better than it is but pollutants are not always visible and a lot of natural harmless ‘scum’ is often presumed to be sewage, which is more often than not found to be the case when people talk of poor water quality. Profits are more important to most companies in this country and successive Governments have continued the policy of not spending ‘our money on our infrastructure’ and apart from the odd fine, are not seen to be ensuring that the privatised companies are either. That said, I know that there are a lot of you who work within the Waterworks and can provide us with the hard facts as to why there seems to be so many issues with our outfalls and river pollution. Our extreme weather events must be quite difficult to deal with on their own! On a local point, it has been amazing and slightly worrying, to see the convoy of Pooper Scooper Tankers lined up at the entrance to Shoreham Beach for the last 3 months (is it that long?), on standby in case of problems with the Lancing outfall. Now, that has got to be an expensive exercise, as pooh wagon drivers earn good money for dealing with their cargo but at least they, by which I mean Southern Water,  are trying to prevent further pollution which is commendable. The ongoing issue is will WE be prepared to accept the increased costs that would have to be passed on, even if a large percentage of the shareholders profits were grabbed by an Ombudsman and put back into the pot,  to ensure a long-term countrywide cure to our dirty water, if that it is at all possible?  Food for thought.

You can find out more about Sarah’s story using the below link and I have to be honest here.. if she needs a paid caddy to help out,  I am on that plane!

Perhaps Sarah leaving Hayling will get a ball rolling.. we can but live in hope! 

Many thanks to Alan T for bringing the news clip to my attention. Now, what hope for the weekend?

 

Saturday we are expecting the winds to be from the North, at a light 5-10kts and for some reason the temp is going to hit 5°C best, whereas today and Sunday it’s a sweltering 8 or 9°C.  

No rain shown but we take that with a pinch of salt, as there wasn’t for yesterday evening either, yet it managed to rain all the way from Brighton to Gatwick.  Tide is High at 16.07hrs on a 5.5m, as stated on our NEW Tide Tables which are available NOW (all proceeds to RNLI)  which means a *river paddle and possibly a Wing Session on the estuary could be on the cards, if the wind reached 10kts and the cold does not put you off.  * Please note. Wind will be against the Tide heading up the valley, so in places you will encounter a very choppy water state.. just so you know.

Sunday brings a whole New World, as the winds shift around to the West and increase to 14-22kts!

I’m sure that’s what it says!! Temp is upped to 9°C and that will bring a whole new urge to getting back on the water, for a number of you. The Tide is High at 5.00pm on a 5.1m, so even though it’s verging onto a Neap, the West wind will make Shoreham (or poss. Carrots)  the best low tide morning and afternoon venue. River paddling will be a little lacking on the water front the further you head inland, making riverbank exits slightly more of a challenge. Why worry, it will be fine!

 

And I think that’s it for this and for next week as well ( hence I have given you ‘more’ this week) as I am taking time off. No holiday in a far-off hot place or a high snow-covered mountain.. it’s house clearing in Yeovil for me. Oh yes, I AM LIVING THE DREAM!

 

The megastore is open  9.30 – 5.30pm Saturday and then 10.00 – 1.00pm on Sunday.. should you be in need of anything.  I do hope I’ve not made too many typos or grammatical errors and I also hope that your weekend goes very well and may all of the problems in your life, go off somewhere nice, for their own weekend. 

 

Arrivederci.

Back in Feb.