Surfladle

 

I hope you’ve all had a good week and have at least enjoyed the warmer weather that has brought another coldish snap to an end. It was absolutely glorious weather last Wednesday at Shoreham, almost Spring-like, which brought many people and their pets (two legged and four legged versions) to the beach, to promenade along the board walk. I was actually surprised by the amount of footfall for a day in February but also by something else related that didn’t happen with so many people down at the beach but more on that later. As for Thursday, well, I do have to apologise about yesterday’s rain, which was totally my fault as I was off for the day (just like last Thursday, no forecast for Rain but chucked it down during the morning). At least this week the winds came with it, so I am glad that I was of some use! Today has been a bit fickle as I’ve just heard that the wind did the dirty and dropped right off.. please note, THIS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH ME as I was at the shop!

 

I guess with it being a Half Term week a fair few of you will have been toeing the family line, either at home or outback, somewhere in the ‘Shire’ or maybe even out on the skis and boards, in cold mountainous places (lucky you!). If you’ve been close to the water, there’s nothing worse than being by the ‘playground’ and not able to slink off for a couple of valuable hours out on the water. Well,  we feel for you but be happy in the thought that you were at least gaining those valuable brownie points by partaking in the family duties and payback will surely come.. surely… right ?  I think I might be treading on dangerous water, let’s move on.

 

February is a month that often brings an ‘Oh YES’ feeling to the UK Watersports trade, which is in sharp contrast to the ‘Oh NO’ one in November. Towards the end of the month the Reps will have returned from their R&D time in warmer climates and having not endured all of the UK’s dark and damp winter days, they are much more ‘charged’ and therefore bring a much-needed revitalisation to those of us who have partially lost the will, due to a minimal UV intake! Cape Town is usually the place to be, as most of the water sports ‘industry’ is there getting the photoshoots and final touches ready for the 2024 product launches, which is all very positive and we do need that ‘vibe’ to keep the interest flowing. On the flip side, the retailers are at home (wherever home is) trying really hard to gently persuade the buying public that they do actually need the New 2023 kit that was launched in 2022 and that they can in fact afford it as well.. not quite as glamorous I grant you but ‘someone has to do it’. It might feel like we try in vain but generally all it takes is a few Sunny days above 14°C and things will blossom, as the UK and Northern Europe gets going again. I was however a little concerned this week, especially during the very pleasant Wednesday, as most years the Feb Half Term has been a week of passing people popping their heads around the shop door to ask about getting into the great sports of  SUP, Windsurfing, Kiting and even the Foil sports. Trade is never great but there is an interest. This week, even though it was a superb PPP Heads Wednesday, not one head popped around the door, which was a surprise and of course a little worrying. It’s not one of those ’is it us’ shop worries, even though we do ALL worry that it is ‘just us’ when the emails and phones go quiet. It’s more of a lack of interest in Watersports worry. We have seen this happen a few times during the 29 years of opening the shop doors and it generally follows a bad summer, where everyone just wants to get on a plane and go somewhere with SUN for their next holiday. As we all know, this phenomenon  occurred in 2022, as the Covid lock downs had forced people to stay UK bound in 2021 (which was in fact a brilliant summer on the whole) and come freedom time, they were off and so the predicted ‘rush’ for more iSUP boards during Summer 22, which put the industry into overdrive to provide a shed load of SUP boards, went out of the window. With that already in mind, in the past it has never been quite as bad as your mind thinks it could but with the current price increases and an understandable lack of ‘spare cash’, well, you can’t help but have it lingering in the forefront of your brain cell. Perhaps it’s just that this year is a little late in getting that Spring is in the Air feeling Once it is here we can relax and all will be fine but for now..
Yes folks, WE do have fantastic unreapeatable offers on inflatable SUP packages, so do try and entice your friends to get on board, as they will get a great deal, which they can afford and thanks to you will also have a great paddling summer.. (BIG SMILE!)., whatever the weather, as you already know!

 

Nothing on the trade-ins side this week, although *surprisingly we do still have the mint condition Used Fanatic Stubby 8’7” 2021 board, that has a state-of-the-art Flying Objects bag and is priced at only £875.00 (*not a surprise considering that it had ‘slipped off’ our Used SUP board page). 

 

No rugby on the box this weekend so no conflict of interests should the winds be as predicted.. and what are those predictions?? Must be time for the weekend weather and Tides times!

 

Saturday, the current forecast suggests that we will have a Sou’West wind running at 20-30kts pretty much all day. It does show the mornings winds to be a tad stronger than the afternoons, so I do hope we do not get a re-run of today when it dropped right off during the afternoon (guess that makes those learning to Wing Foil happy). Temp is 9°C and  Guru say there will be a 1.8m wave on a 7 second period. Tide is High at 9.35am on a 5.7m,  so low is at 16.00hrs , perfect for Shoreham. No rain mentioned but they said that for last Sunday and where I was, it rained all day!

 

Sunday, it’s Nor’West 10-14kts in the morning and then swings back round to the Sou’West 10-14kts early afternoon. Temp is 10°C, the wave height drops to 0.9m on a 6 sec period and once again, no rain mentioned. Tide is High at 10.30hrs on a 6.1m. Another good tide for Shoreham if the winds are strong enough for your needs. Dusk is now at approx. 17.55hrs.. we are getting there!

 

And that is that for another week.  Sorry if it has been a bit of an odd ramble but it’s been a bit of a funny old week, even in Paradise! Hope your weekend goes well and you know where we are, should you be in need of anything.

 

BFN and forgive any errors!