Raves & Rants . . from Penzance

It was morning, and work timings had unusually left me free for a couple of hours. That would normally mean the surf was onshore, or blown out, or flat or something, adhering as it usually does to the First Law of Surfing . But not today. Blue Rinse Today looked like a bleak, grey, midwinter day with (from a brief glimpse of the sea on the school run) a weak looking swell and the wind threatening to go onshore. But I had time. Time to take pictures. So I trawled along the coast looking for surf or seascape images, but found very little. Until I came to the reef. Which, oddly, seemed to be firing. Fryer  Several locals and some of the Aggy crew were making the most of a small day before the expected 'Hercules II' storm at the weekend. An acceptable peak Empty Dan Joel Mole getting critical Captain Fryer on a set wave A chill wind cut through the grey pall that hung over the break, warmed slightly by the relaxed atmosphere. Styling ...

I love getting in the water to shoot surfing, it gives such a fresh perspective on what is really going on in the water.   Today was also fantastically bright, which helps with getting faster shutter speeds to freeze the action.  Porthleven today Freezing was the buzz word today, with a near zero air temperature and blocks of ice for feet after a long session swimming about in the water ensuring that hobbling across the barnacled reef afterwards was like stepping on red hot knives.  But a brilliant blue sky day with sparkling clear light and some great colours. More of the shots here :  Porthleven Today Return to Ocean-Image.com

Today was a day of barrels, everywhere you looked there were barrels peeling down a reef.  And a lot of takers too, doesn't anyone in Cornwall have a job ?  Bert Wright Is this you ? Although there were plenty of deep pits, it wasn't as big as expected. Seemingly most of the swell went south to Brittany and Galicia, and hit the west coast of Ireland in a very big way.   There were a lot of smiling faces at Porthleven today though. Bert Wright There were so many barrels, some people just stood there, mesmerized .. . . . . Surf zombies transfixed by barrels Did you manage to get in? Retuen to Ocean-Image.com