Surfladle

 

Forgetting the rain for now, the summer weather we had last weekend made such a difference to how Life at the Beach has been (apart from Worthing, where the UKWA event had a no-wind weekend) .The roads were blocked (it took 20mins to get off the beach and onto the A259 when I left last Saturday evening) and there was rubbish everywhere but who cares, as it was so good to see so many people out on their paddleboards after such a long lay off (one local said it looked as though you could have hopped from board to board all the way to Lancing) and I do hope they have got the bug back and maybe managed to get a few more outings this week, as the weather has again been ‘calm’ and very pleasant. Even as we head into Autumn, with the right kit and a bit of a will to go, paddling can be a fairly warm and pleasant experience, right up until Christmas, as the water stays reasonably warm until January (on salt water.. lakes can get a bit chilly!). Barcombe Mills has been a popular river destination, as the Ouze has low banks at that point and is a more scenic paddle than the Adur or Arun, due to their raised banks which are there to prevent flooding but for paddlers, do rather restrict the view. It’s a shame that the evenings are now pulling in so quickly (the rate of the loss of evening light is always a bit of a shock, even after so many years of seeing it happen) as that is the end of the afterwork fun, unless you are lucky enough to finish at 4pm or..  be made redundant and now have ‘time on your hands’, like your good self Jan. Go on, reform the Band!! (sorry.. a private joke after a conversation outside the shop this morning with our favourite Dutch drummer). 

 

Time also ran out for the kelp beds that used to be so prolific off our shoreline. If you were around in the 80’s you would remember the tons of kelp that washed up onto the local beaches after storms and also the abundance of marine life, such as Lobsters,  Cuttle fish, Spider and Eddible Crabs, Dogfish, Rock Goby (they would survive in the mussel clusters on the old wood groynes when the tide was out!)  and many other species that I cannot rememeber the names of,  but now you rarely see anything, This was due to the Pair Trawling that took place in the nineties (why they allowed them to come within a couple of hundred metres of the beach was always a point of conversation) which totally destroyed the kelp beds and with it , the sea bed life.  So it is good news to hear that they are recovering and there is an active group who are trying to re’wild the area from Shoreham to Selsey, which if all goes well will bring life back to our rather desolate shoreline. It will be a big plus for the wave lovers as well, as the kelp beds create waves and also smooth the water surface above the beds. You can find out more at..  https://sussexkelp.org.uk/

 

Wings, we have traded in a couple of used F-One Strike V2 wings which I will post pics of tomo and also load them onto the website..  a 4.5m and 5.5m if anyone is looking for that combo or singular, of course. Weather..well,  what is this weekends serving going to be??

 

Saturday, it currently looks dry (hooray)  but there have been a couple of earlier forecasts showing showers (booh) so fingers crossed the current is correct. It’s the last of the warm weather, hitting 24°C during the afternoon but the winds are a coming and we will have a light Nor’East 8kt in the morning but backing East in the afternoon and increasing to 10-14kts. Overcast it may be but I won’t be surprised if we have a reasonable amount of  blue sky over the coastal strip. Tide is High at 13.02hrs on a 6.1m, so a good river paddling day should be had! 

Sunday, oh dear, all forecasts show the rain arriving mid morning and hanging about for most of the day (Windguru has a downpour forecast for around 1pm.. be prepared!) and the winds will remain from the East, 18-26kt in the morning and then slowly dropping back to 8kt by the end of the day. 

Temp is given as 18°C , so a bit of a change after last weekends 32°C. Tide is High at 13.25hrs and again on a 6.1m. Not sure what to suggest but I’m sure you can think of something to do!

 

As for next week.. it’s not looking like Alan weather, as we have strong Sou’West winds and mid afternoon High Tides (we won’t mention the rain..) but for others it wil be Nirvana Time.

 

Have a great weekend and I hope it all goes to Plan!