Stick a fork in me

I am done:)

Another day another dollar, some lovely fast ones on the reef. Straight off shore and Single fin loving all the way. Just a quick one as its a work day so was being made up at 6am!!!

I did a sort of floater too, could have stayed out forever.

Hell in a kelp bed

Got up for a dawny down on one of the local reefs. One out, me, and it looked very good. Decided to take my short board which turned out to be a big mistake, The wave was running fast and I was just struggling to find the spot back hand so decided to go in for my single fin which would be more forgiving on the take-off and give me time to get into the excellent waves that were coming though.

About 1/4 of a mile away

Got back out in the line-up and caught a couple but it was getting really low as was my mood. The kelp was showing in the line-up which was not helping.

The next reef over had been looking big all morning and I talked myself into paddling over just for a quick look before coming in. A right too so front side for me, looked like big lumps hitting the reef and running into the channel.

I sat in the channel and had a look for a while and most were coming in big n fat but a few had real picture postcard 1.5 to 2 overhead shape and were running down the point – East Coast goes Indo – wtf! If I could just get one. I pushed in to the peak a bit and chased around for a while not wanting to get mown down by a big one, the inside on the rocks did not look a nice place to be. It was deep and nice on the shoulder. I sniffed at one and pulled back – what lay below was not in my comfort zone.

Then a wide one with my name on rolled in, I was in position, now or never, time to turn a shit surf around, paddle hard. The take-off was easy but the view on the drop was from hell, the impact zone was a field of kelp heads and that reef did look rather close. Coming off the bottom and heading for that friendly shoulder became a growing concern as I realised that I was too deep, way to bloody deep - how the fuck did I catch the only wave I wasn’t going to make. Drove ahead of the lip and ejected arse first to the bottom as my world exploded. Somewhere mid tumble the leash snapped (enjoy the swim sunshine) which at least took my mind off hitting the reef.

Surfaced near my board and was given a respite to retrieve it and get back the channel, where I sat, laughed, shook and giggled my adrenaline levels back to normal – then went in for a coffee knowing sleep would be harder to find that night.

My Biggest wave? Maybe - I once surfed third reef runny on a silly day. Ugliest and most critical? No doubt. I want more.

Some fat ones at Saltburn

Nipped over to salty on my way home and caught a nice swell before lights out.

Was getting a bit fat at high tide but got some good lumpy ones on the single fin. Despite being north of the pier I managed to have to avoid two others on my best waves :( other than that a nice evening and the wind held off till getting out time. 

Got a good working on a dumper too.

 

Clubman works well as a surf car too.

Midnight on the A708 - first test of the Mini..

Its 12:30am and I am rolling out of Moffatt onto one of the best roads in the country, a personal top five road, thirty perfect miles, the A702 St Mary’s Loch special. My Elise and I know this road very well indeed. In fact one summer evening a few years ago I had my perfect night drive along here, roof down and in the pitch black I got absorbed in giving it everything. But I am not in the Lotus tonight, no between here and Selkirk it is judgement time for my new company car, my little ugly/girls/gay (delete as appropriate) Mini Clubman D.

I chose this car against everyone else’s better judgement. Since ordering it my sexuality and my eyesight have both been brought into question and some think I have lost my mind, but my criteria for this latest choice was simple, It had to be cheap to run, spec’d nicely (leather, nav etc.) and I wanted something to make me smile on nights like this, i.e. at midnight, when the roads are empty and its just me and the car. So I chose a mini, rumour had it they handled quite nicely.

Back to the present, mood lighting is set to blue, sat nav is glowing, full beam is on, sport button is pushed, time to put some rubber on the road and find out if I have gone crazy…

Well the next thirty miles gets split into four parts, 1) the first few miles are very poorly surfaced, undulating and quite narrow. The mini struggles with the surface and I have to hold on tight, we are airborne on a couple of occasions but the narrowness of the car and the fact it is dark means I can push on a bit, any enjoyment being countered by misery if I am in the wrong gear exiting a corner – as expected there is not enough power to be lazy.

the run up to the county line.

Part two starts around the Great mare’s tail car park with the great section of road up the narrow valley (think hill on one side and Armco on the other) to the country line. I fly up here and over the top to the long winding section down to and by the loch itself. Done mainly in 4^th and 5^th the car feels really good along here, excellent steering and nicely balanced through the long corners, and the engine is keeping up no probs.

Then into the more twisty section (part three) and I start to get frustrated, I am struggling to make smooth progress and corner entry to exit is not done in one fluid motion – I am struggling to put my finger on the issue.. so I start to push on harder and really hustle the car. Things now get really entertaining and it feels like it can handle the abuse, standing it on its nose, launching it into tight forested bends, and burying the engine down the next straight. Huge fun but this isn’t turning in to a top ten night drive of my life scenario.

Part four, I reach the last few miles into Selkirk and there are a few properties around so I ease down and suddenly realise how tired I am, I have been presenting at work all day, been to an evening do in Liverpool and am on the arse end of a 200mile drive.. –there’s a dodgy humpback bridge up ahead somewhere and I can’t quite remember where - a foggy mind has arrived. The roads are also wet and leafy so I cruise and consider what I have learned about this car. Handling is great, steering is great, but those downshifts need something.. hmm perhaps heal and toe is required. Next week in Wales should give some answers.

New Mini arrives at last

Clubman Cooper D with Chilli Leather and Nav

End of Term for the I30

I figured that seeing as I am giving it back soon after 3 months and as I have become quite fond of the thing I would write a quick review of my latest rental car, one of Enterprise’s finest, the Hyundai I30.

Let’s start with road presence - probably the most anonymous car I have ever driven. When you are driving some cars people look in to have a peak at the driver as they pass. Ladies glance across at the lights having mentally played the “hot or not” game prior to pulling up. Not so the I30, it is a car so totally ordinary it feels like it is fitted with a cloaking device. It’s a grandad’s car… or a pervert’s car.. indeed you can people watch as much as you like and they are totally oblivious, what a great attribute for a car to have. Rolf Harris might drive an I30 (allegedly).

Really not a car for ones ego then, when caught outside the car, at a service station for example, I found myself hoping people had seen the green “e” on the back telling them that it is in fact a rental, and that at home I may have a huge penis of a car..or maybe a sorn’d Elise.

Despite these failings it is actually not that bad looking from some angles. Jelly from the side yes, but there is a sniff of sporty from the back and a mild stench of aero at the front, and inside it’s pretty cool in a Jap sort of way. The dash is good and who can complain about a 17button steering wheel, including one switch that when pressed seems to say “norks”. The amusement of that alone once kept me amused from Wetherby to Scotch Corner. It is a better place to sit than the Focus for sure.

Camping with En-Synk

It drives ok too, it’s not quick but at 110bhp the diesel engine can keep up when given the nudge on the motorway, and on weekly overtaking duties on the A1 between Newcastle and Edinburgh it never let me down, occasionally sailing past whole lines of traffic like only a hire car can.

Bends, it’s seen a few, which sadly revealed it’s not as sharp as the Focus it replaced, but did reveal a chassis that became mildly entertaining when pushed a bit. My biggest issue with my old Leon FR was that when pushed it all became a bit ragged, not enough feel plus a front end that was trying and failing to do all the work. But you can really hustle the I30 along and if you really set it at a corner, it takes on a stance that is actually quite satisfying, working all four tyres rather than the two at the front. Don’t be deceived though, this car is light years behind the new focus which remains one of the better hatchbacks I have driven.

Early start in the Focus. Bass Rock.

The I30’s greatest asset though is the ability to cover miles, I regularly did 250mile stints in it and it never felt happier than sitting in the outside lane, doing 85 whilst sucking tunes out of my iphone.

I actually had two I30s the first one gave me the best moment. En-sync (reg was EN62 SNC) and I were approaching the great stretch of twisty between Gullane and Aberlady when some clever sod rocketed by on a superbike. Game on.. the I30 owned the bike all the way to Aberlady’s 30 signs, proving it is true what they say, “there is nothing faster than a rental.” I almost felt sorry for him – done by a Hyundai!

So should you buy one? No, but if you are on the blower to the rental company and a focus is not available, then don’t be too depressed if you get an I30. Unless it is En-Synk which I handed back with an Electrical problem!

Camping with EJ-UJO

New Juke

Has arrived!!!