Latest News - 04/03/2023

We need heat, Nelson and George are great, Naish offers and..









 Here we are again.. another Seven days of winter have gone by and the question that I’m sure is on everybody’s mind is ‘When will this chilly weather give up’!  Well guess what, it’s not this weekend but Windguru are just showing a glimmer of hope for next weekend. Thankfully we’re at the first Friday evening of Mad March and we can all look forward to the next two days of a NO WORK Weekend!

 
Correction. when I say All,  I do of course mean You (unless you work weekends..) as our Weekend occurs on a Tuesday. It might only be a one-day weekend but that used to be a really good one day, as it was quiet everywhere you went and you could do so much, because  the rest of the world was at work. Ha, not so nowadays. You now need three days to do what you used to get through in one, and sometimes it becomes necessary to just give up and forget about it. I guess that’s progress for you!  Saturdays and Sundays are just another day at the office for James and I and have been since 1994 (yes, that means 30 years ‘served’ in September 2024.. oh my!)  but that’s the curse of shops, as some of you will know. When other people are out and about, the shopkeeper is always there, ready to  exchange the customers wealth for goods, that they can enjoy, right throughout their weekend and beyond! Only the Church manages to cut us off and reel us in, at 4pm on Sunday (when we are on summer hours) .  And whilst on the subject of work and weekends, perhaps it’s a good time to raise a glass to William Marsden, as it was this particular Manchurian gentleman, who back in the 1850’s had the common sense to campaign for only a half day of work on a Saturday, to give the workers ‘time’ to spend with their families or perhaps go along to the football match (there’s a surprise!) which is why football kick offs are generally 3pm. We do have to say ‘Thank you for our weekends William’ as without you.. where would we be.
In a shop!
 
As you can probably tell by the start to this weeks Friday Night Ramble, Watersports news is a little thin on the ground, at least in our neck of the woods, but it was great to hear that the Dinghy and Watersports Show, which was held over in Farnborough last weekend, was very well attended. If you didn’t know about it then I apologise, as maybe I should have mentioned it but presumed everyone who used the water would have been ‘flooded’ by the shows own social media output! We hope that this could become a yearly showcase for what’s new in all of the water based sports, as the talented youngsters of the UK need to be shown their options ASAP, if we are to continue being a player in sports of this nature. Make a note to go next year if you missed it! https://www.rya.org.uk/
 
 
There are still brave people getting out on the water but for many our current air temp of around 6°C and a sea temp of 7°C is just a tad too cold to contemplate continuous dunking in the English Channel or worst still, at a freshwater location! So, when an email or WhatsApp message arrives with a ‘link’ to a far-off location (both ‘down under’ in this instance) where you view people enjoying their summer, you can’t help but ‘whimper’. The two locations that arrived today were Nelson, at the top of the South Island of New Zealand and Lake George, situated between Adelaide and Melbourne in Aussie World (also a Lake George in New York State, USA).  Rainer Cramme , to whom we have been shipping Neil Pryde boom parts during the last few months, is an imported local of Nelson and sent us a link to his Instagram page, where there’s plenty of Go Pro footage of his Wind Foiling and Windsurfing exploits. The quiet beaches and water state look to be a foilers delight and Rainer did point out that locally the ‘fin’ is almost forgotten, as foils have taken over. I can’t link you to Rainer’s Instagram page but you can ‘meet Rainer’ via the Windsurfing Nelson You Tube page. He is quite a character and it’s quite a location (I did pass through Nelson back in 1990 but never had an opportunity to sail there)  . https://www.youtube.com/c/WindsurfingNelson
 
Alan Tucknott passed on the 2nd Hot spot, which is an amazing location and one where Wind foils don’t seem to be so much in vogue, possibly due to the depth of water and type of weed.. or maybe you just don’t need a foil there to have so much fun (wing foiling is bound to be getting popular there, as it is everywhere else).  I have not visited this spot (NZ is a little easier to hitch around than Aus!) and notice that Ben Proffitt from Windsurfing TV has not  made it there either.. see his remark on the You Tube link..  but it’s one that has a definite magic about it, even without a wave being anywhere in site. It’s One for the bucket list! 
Two links for this spot, as it has two faces.. 
 
I don’t think I take anymore of this.. where’s my Passport!
 
Ah , now, Wing Foiling Offers that have just sprung to mind and this week it’s from Naish (the UK Naish Rep just called to give us the good news..) and all of the below are in stock, within our shop’s doors! I am going to cry but you should be happy.. 
 
Brand New Naish Matador S26 Wings.
3.0m was £729.00 Now £465.00!  In Red
4.0m was £799.00 Now £499.00!  In Orange or Red
5.0m was £869.00 Now £529.00!  In Orange
 
Brand New Naish Wing Boards
S26 HOVER CARBON ULTRA 110lt £1269.00 NOW £899.00!
 
S26 HOVER GS 110lt £999.00 NOW £749.00!
S26 HOVER GS 125lt £999.00 NOW £779.00!
Info Link https://www.naishsurfing.com/product/hover-wing-foil-gs/
Note. No straps supplied with these boards  Add £50.00 if required.
 
Looks like the ‘deals’ are ramping up. 
 
Right, time to see what the weather allegedly has in store for the next two days!
 
Saturday, it’s going to be cold again. Winds are still from the North 8-12kts so not really of much use if you are in the mode to travel to try the Wing or Kite foil. Windguru reckon there might be a small wave on a 15sec period, which with an offshore wind could make the tiny waves hold up for a bit of SUP or  even prone Surf foil? Tide is High at 9.43hrs on a 5.1m, so no playing on the estuary today (unless you like mud) and not much sand for those walking their dogs along the beach! Temp is 7°C.
 
Sunday and would you believe it, the wind is shown to be swinging to the West during late morning and through the afternoon and may hit 12kts by mid- afternoon.
Tide is High at 10.22hrs on a 5.4m, so maybe enough water in the estuary and more sand showing down at the beach. Temp is lower at 6°C.
 
And that’s it for another week of UK Winter. At least the mornings are lighter and we are closing up the shop in the twilight (been impressive seeing Jupiter and Venus ‘merging’ on the way home.. odd to see ‘stars’ moving around the sky). Have a great weekend whatever you get up to.
 

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