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Rip currents, which are present to some degree at every beach in the world where there is wave action, are the experienced surfers best friend, allowing him to quickly gain his position out back with minimal effort. However, rips are an extreme danger to the unwary and, although posing the greatest hazard to swimmers, need to be understood by all who intend to use the ocean as a playground, including surfers.

PHOTO CREDIT - ROBYNE JAY

Obviously all the water that is pushed towards the shore must flow back out again but in neither direction does this do so in regular or even patterns. Water will find the quickest route to flow back out to sea and thus low lying, narrow channels of high velocity water known as rips develop, flowing from the shoreline and out to sea. The speed of water-flow in a rip channel will vary considerably, in some cases so that it is barely discernible while in the most ferocious of rips the water can race at 8 feet per second.

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Talked about with smiles and admiration amongst the Eastern Caribbean cruisers, but barely known by people in the rest of the world, the Grenadines are an attractive group of islands between St. Vincent and Grenada. The official name of the country is St. Vincent and the Grenadines, with the mother island being mountainous, green and mostly unspoiled and its southern “off-spring” existing of hills, stunning beaches, small communities and clear waters. The best (and sometimes only) way to visit the Grenadines is by private vessel or affordable ferry.

 Sunrise in Salt Whistle Bay, Mayreau                                                                          © Liesbet Collaert

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Nowhere is the distinction between short-boarding and long-boarding more evident than when surfers are paddling out through the impact zone to get to the line-up. These are the only times when I wish my board shorter so that I could sink its nose and duck-dive effortlessly out of harm's way. The size and volume of a long board or Mal make it unsinkable by all but the most hefty of surfers and this means learning other tricks to avoid taking a battering or finding yourself right back on the beach where you started.

GETTING THROUGH THE SOUP                                                     PHOTO CREDIT - MIKE BAIRD

Unlike short-boarding there are a variety of different methods of getting though breaking or broken waves and although many surfers will try and argue that one is definitely better than the others it really is a case of personal preference. There is one similarity between the methods you will use as a Mal rider and duck-diving a short board and that is that both take patience and practice to perfect.

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If I asked you who first came up with the 3 fin concept on the 'modern' shortboard, what would your answer be? If you're like most people, you'd answer that Australian board shaper, Simon Anderson, first came up with the three fin concept around 1980, right? Nope, read on ....

testemale-photos.com

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We keep counting the days as more than two weeks pass by since the Great Eastern Japanese Earthquake and subsequent Tsunami and Nuclear disasters hit our island.

The Tohoku region was hit hardest, however the whole country has felt the pain.

Surfers lost their lives up north, and as the rest of us mourn for our community we are also running or anxiously waiting for the outcome of the ongoing nuclear emergency at Fukushima.

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I have a good friend in Belgium, whom I see once a year while visiting “home”. He and his girlfriend love to travel, they don’t have children and they are both teachers, meaning plenty of vacation time. All these factors make them very plausible candidates for an Irie visit in the Caribbean.  Only, in four years time, it hasn’t happened yet, even though I suggest the idea yearly. So, last fall, I personally asked him this: “Imagine you have a good friend who basically lives in the Caribbean on a catamaran, where you could stay for free and have a wonderful vacation in a pleasant climate and a great environment. What would you do?” His answer: “I would come visit.” Duh!

 Northeastern Antigua                                                                                                  © Liesbet Collaert

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We've all been there.......travelled for miles in search of a wave but it's either flat as a pancake, too crowded to be any fun or blown out. Then there are the long periods of summer where there is no swell for days and days on end. Only another surfer can recognise that gnawing frustration that comes with being too long out of the water but over the years I have learned there are a few things I can do which, although they don't take the itch away, stop me from going completely crazy.

PHOTO CREDIT - HORIA VARLAN

Street Surfing

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A quick break from my pregnancy posts, but more to come I promise.

As many of my readers know, my husband, son and I are based in Japan, in a surfing village called Isumi city, in Chiba prefecture. The earthquake hit us hard on March 11^th, whilst our little son was at kindy, but as our self-built wood cabin house and studio remained in one-piece during what was the most intense serious of earth movements you will ever feel in your life, we were never to know what the nation was in for next.

We were safe, our boy was safe, but the tsunami warnings started coming over the town’s loud speakers and everyone was in panic. We evacuated, taking almost nothing with us, got our son from kindy and threw the dogs in the car, and got up high for the rest of the day and night. The tsunami did hit our waters, but the majority was up north, so aside from a few boats strewn into the port’s carpark, most houses including ours were spared. We were lucky. Friends up north weren’t.

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People who are called cruisers have made the decision to swap a land based life with a water based life for a considerate amount of time. Note that I wrote “life” and not “holiday”. Contrary to the romantic notion that living on the water is idyllic, easy and wonderful, sustaining a boat life requires even more time and effort than keeping up with the “normal” land life one is accustomed to. While on shore, routines are executed in a convenient and predictable manner, using cars, phones and electrical devices to make life easier, on a sailboat, comparable errands entail twice the amount of time and three times the effort. This article is a reality check, you are warned!

 Dinghy "parking" at a popular bar                                                                                 © Liesbet Collaert               

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The first time I ever got successfully to the end of Daisy Looper, my beloved 9' 2'', I was so shocked I promptly fell off. I'd tried so many times and failed that when it actually happened I just wasn't ready for it. Learning to noseride can be a painful journey; lack of success normally involves graceless nosediving and being put into the vulnerable position of being in front of your bulky board - somewhere close behind is a big, sharp fin. I have surfaced to find my board nowhere to be seen and then unexpectedly dropping from the heavens, tail first. That encounter left me with an enormous bump on the head and a multi-coloured shiner which made me the butt of jokes for days.

PHOTO CREDIT - MIKE BAIRD

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As with every design aspect of your board, the tail has a lot to say about how your board performs, and more specifically, how it feels through turns. Although it accounts for a relatively small percentage of your surfboards surface area, you may be surprised at how differently one tail feels over another.

(c) Dailystoke.com

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In the earliest days of my surfing my only goal was to overcome the crippling water phobia which stood between me and any chance of success. I had no idea what style I was going for and no aspirations beyond being in the water without hyperventilating. That is until I saw a photograph of Kassia Meador in a surfing magazine and from that moment on I had absolutely no doubts what my ultimate goal was. The photograph depicted this graceful, elf like women standing at the end of a surf board as casually as if she was waiting in a shopping queue. The elegance and beauty appealed so strongly to my appreciation of the aesthetic that I still, to this day, have a copy of that picture with me wherever I travel in the world.

CREDIT - DANE PETERSON

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Grenada is one of those places that never disappoint. Consisting of three main islands, the country of Grenada is a great sailing destination, whether you visit during the high or the low season. Mark and I enjoy spending the summer (hurricane season) here because of its relatively safe location, smaller crowd and many wonderful bays and sights. There are a couple of hurricane holes available but if worst comes to worse, you are only one day away from safety further down in Trinidad. 

 Annandale Falls                                                                                                            © Liesbet Collaert

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Surf etiquette used to be known as the unwritten rules of surfing but with so many 'learn to surf' publications available this isn't strictly true any more. All of the rules are designed for fairness or safety and all are about respect. They can seem fairly complicated to a beginner but it is essential that they are observed to prevent the magic of wave riding turning nasty.

If you learn to surf with a good surf instructor the rules of the waves will be explained to you but if you go it alone then often you may not be aware of any etiquette violation until you get yelled at, subjected to stink-eye or worse.

Different countries and even different breaks do have slight variations but the following rules of surfing, listed here, should cover all the basics that you need to know.

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Food for fuel-pregnancy super foods

There’s no doubt surfers who surf regularly need more calories in keep their energy levels on par. For pregnant surfing chickies, our need for calories is much greater. Here are some great little calorie pick me ups to enjoy before/after surfing or anytime you need a quick energy kick.

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