Surfladle

But hey, it’s Friday evening, its’ time to start another great Weekend in Paradise! 

 

The future is looking bright, as we may get a little light wind entertainment over Saturday and Sunday, if the forecast comes good.  By Monday (which is just typical) the winds will be back with a vengeance. The current forecast  is for 33-50kts, so that should get the adrenaline going. With a forecast like that I am guessing there could be a lot of people calling in ‘sick’ on Monday morning (another plus of working from home?) but as always, keep your eye on the forecast just in case it changes at the last moment, as it did last Monday and on Thursday. Shame to waste a useful sicky!

 

Winter.. it can be fun out on the water… as long as you stay warm during a session and wear the right kit that allows you to ‘operate’ without using too much precious energy. That’s something your body needs to hang onto, to keep the boiler stoked. A wetsuit that moves with you is a cinch to wear, whereas one that works against your movements will take the energy right out of you, in no time at all (as they did ‘a while back’..). Ultra-Stretch winter suits are super warm but their other great benefit is that they feel like you’re wearing a 3mm summer suit and that’s the trick of a good winter suit, not being restrictive. Don’t forget though that any wetsuit will only be as warm as the neck seal makes it. A leaking neck seal makes a great suit awful. Drysuits can be a good option but a little specialised and do have their pitfalls (they must be exhausted of air correctly or they can turn you turtle in the water). Then you have the essential Hoods, Beanies, Boots and where possible Gloves or Mitts (depending upon your sport and your personal preference) which all make a massive difference to a session’s time span. Even a super thin windcheater Cagoul over a 3mm Long John/Jane when out on a SUP can keep you ‘comfortable’ on the coldest of days.  Cagouls are a great device, by helping protect you from the evaporation effect and of course, that most dreaded heat sucker of all,  the ‘wind chill’ . The water evaporating off the neoprene or your bare skin takes valuable heat with it, just like a fridge, which is partly why the sunny days in the winter can feel really cold in comparison to overcast days and that was a reason for suits in past times to be made of single lined neoprene (rubberised on the outside) as the water ran off (no evaporation..)  and wind could not pass through. Sadly these suits were fragile and only really used by windsurfers, which is not a large world market.  Hope that quick explanation covers ‘why good kit helps ’. None of this kit is cheap (as if..) but buy right and it should be right for years.  You will get the same price with us as you will online, as we check for the ‘best price’ before you buy. We can’t be fairer than that, can we? But if the thought of hitting chilly water is not grabbing you… 

 

Rugby is back on the box this weekend! I’m sure the England - France game will be filling the pubs for a late afternoon session (kick off at 16.45hrs.. we might as well close at 16.30pm !) and depending upon the outcome, could go on into the early hours of Sunday (do try not to wipe your Sunday out..). If you support Wales or Scotland it looks like you’re in for a very long day, as they kick off at 14.15hrs and 15.00hrs respectively. Good luck to the players and more so the supporters!

And that’s it for this week, as time has run out and I need to close the door after it, so here’s the Weekends weather and its dear old Tide Times.

 

Saturday, we are led to believe that we will have Sou’Sou’East winds running at around 13-17kts from around 9am and throughout the day, with no rain presently shown and a top temp of only 6°C.  Tide hits High at 13.20hrs on a 6m, so could be good for Wings and SUP on the estuary. You will have slack-water from approx. 12.00hrs through to 15.00hrs, so be there early to get the most out of your on the water ‘session’, if you don’t want to be on moving water. If you are paddling up the river then you may want to use the moving water, on both legs, but do remember that Upper Beeding High Tide is said to be about 1hr later than Shoreham.

 

Sunday, back to the Sou’West 14-22kts in the morning and then slowly turning to Southerly during the late afternoon. The temp will become slightly more comfortable at 8°C and again, with luck, no rain. Tide is High at 13.53hrs on a 5.9m so still plenty of water in the estuary and the direction may give the Wings a more constant wind. All in all, it could be an OK Weekend!

 

Shop’s open from 9.30 – 5.30pm tomo and then 10.00-1.00pm on Sunday (it’s the penultimate Winter Hours Sunday!) 

Have a great time and forget your worries - they can wait until Monday!