another magic september session with a downbeat
hey there everyone,
i was going to post my latest trip way earlier, but incidents kept me away from writing. this was meant to be my third trip to the atlanci ocean and the one with the best conditions. but seriously it could hardly get worse after the last two. we had trouble finding a car to travel with, cause i dont have one and others were not available. so we planned to rent one which was going to be pretty expensive. but andre was kind enough to rent us his one for half and we were off to france. it was me, frank and katja who i know from work pretty well. she is about to finish exam and need a break for a week. the trip included a lot of planning and driving around but i made it happen.
the first week was in vieux boucau, as usual i guess. we had a mobile home and it was pretty funny. frank and i were able to watch the all blacks and the basketball europe championship, cause we this year we bought a internet flatrate. the weather was pretty nice. the waves were not. pretty much every day katja and i got up very early and went down to hossegor to check the sandbars over there, because vieux was not breaking well. but it was fun, like back in new zealand. checking alle the spots in the morning, but the food is better. we went to a brasserie and got crossants and baguette with coffee. then i went for a surf and katja was enjoying the scenery. it was mostly warm before the sund rises, but the ocean was really warm. i guess 22° and i was really thinking about waering a wetsuit. specially during daytime.
the waves were small the first day, but suddenly got really big. the local boys were towing themselfes in to the waves, because paddling seemed to be no option. it was amazing to see and the waves were peeling just beautiful. by the way, these are the only self made pictures left :/
i had only one good session in vieux. it was late afternoon, some clouds prevent the onshore and it was hightide. ones you make it through the shorebreak it was a easy but quite long paddle. i had the 7'6 from andre which was only getting dusty below my bed in jena anyway. about 15 guys out, but only a frenshi and i were somehow able to catch waves. shortborders didnt had fun though. the sun was falling and i was constantly paddeling. once a caught a waves to the shore you had to kick out pretty fast, cause the shorebreak was kind a gnarly. then paddeling back with noodle arms later. once i made it back out it was time to go on another one again, like a rollercoaster. my and the frenshi yelling and grining all the time until it was almost dark and the waves werent breaking any more because of the incoming tide. frank was out too, but way behind the lines. when we met he just said: i saw you out there but only for a few seconds and you were off on another one. asshole ;) he was right, i had an amazing session out there.
on a cloundy and flat day we went down to boarritz to do some sightseeing. it was pretty cool walking through this old citiy right at the beach between the rocks with a slightly modern attitude. this is what france seemed to be all about. old houses right at the beach and cliffs with a scenery worth making a trip and staying a while. the combination of history and modern life is just beautiful.
the second week we were camping on a campsite in downtown capbreton. its just 500m to all the famous beaches and we were very close to all the spots. as usual i was cooking in capmingstyle and frank was washing dishes. it works :) on wednesday we were again down in la piste, a spot famour for our german nazi-bunker, which are laying upside down in the shorebreak. it wasnt really good, but we were put together, it was our 3rd session and we were going until the dark rises to its fullest. we had a little photosession infront of the bunkers and the last daylight. magical.
the down beat. two days before leaving we had an incident. we were checking the spots like every morning and went on one one mile away from hossegor. we were the only car around which doesn't bother us. we went up the sanddunes checked the waves for about a minute and went back. ther is was, the car was somehow unlocked and the carlock broken. my camera and the wallet and cellphone of frank were gone. we were evan lucky, because they didn't found my wallet. we actually just had wetsuits and boards in our car, but unfortunatly this stuff too. so that's why you wont see any photos oder videos from the trip. i'm so sorry about it, because there were quite a lot. we went to the police station with a little bummer, but were sure, we get everything back from the insurance. but financially it was pretty tough, cause i had to carry both of us.
just 20 min after the robbing, i met an old friend from new zealand. we were travelling in my car for quite a time and had a lot of fun going surfing together. annabelle is from bochum, but pretty much lives with her fiance bruce, a maori, in brisbane. there waited in germany for annabelles visa to come. they were on there last session before going home and just checking waves in hossegor. they were about to go out for a last session but we need to go to the cops first, then unfortunatly we didn't met again. but the surf the next two days was amazing. it was getting really bit and we had offshore all day long on friday. about 2,5-3m peaks were rolling through, but tough to catch. most of them were closing out so you really have to be careful with the selection. once i wanna to go for one, they were hard to catch on a shortboard. just right when they hit the sandbar they became suddenly hollow and suck the water of the sand, which shortens the takeoff-spot rapidly and made me think evan more twice. the bigger spot next to me was barreling all the way though with a couple of guys charging. i wasn't ready fro them. i was out for maybe two hours or more and didn't caught a wave. but it was still amazing and an experience worth it. sure you shouldn't think about it too much and just go, but it's earier said than done. the waves wave getting really big and rolling, but still hard to paddle for it. then when you think just a couple of strokes more it suddenly became so sucky, you think you dont make it down the wall. it is going to be just a freefall. and you pull back, because you didn't had the speed needed to take off. wow.
it was fun, with a little bummer, but still really nice. we had very nice weather and blessing with the swell, the sandbars not so much. lots of lost photos and just the momories in my head. well, this happens. i have been down in france quite often and it had to happen at some point. we made the most of it and the next trip is coming for sure.
i was going to post my latest trip way earlier, but incidents kept me away from writing. this was meant to be my third trip to the atlanci ocean and the one with the best conditions. but seriously it could hardly get worse after the last two. we had trouble finding a car to travel with, cause i dont have one and others were not available. so we planned to rent one which was going to be pretty expensive. but andre was kind enough to rent us his one for half and we were off to france. it was me, frank and katja who i know from work pretty well. she is about to finish exam and need a break for a week. the trip included a lot of planning and driving around but i made it happen.
the first week was in vieux boucau, as usual i guess. we had a mobile home and it was pretty funny. frank and i were able to watch the all blacks and the basketball europe championship, cause we this year we bought a internet flatrate. the weather was pretty nice. the waves were not. pretty much every day katja and i got up very early and went down to hossegor to check the sandbars over there, because vieux was not breaking well. but it was fun, like back in new zealand. checking alle the spots in the morning, but the food is better. we went to a brasserie and got crossants and baguette with coffee. then i went for a surf and katja was enjoying the scenery. it was mostly warm before the sund rises, but the ocean was really warm. i guess 22° and i was really thinking about waering a wetsuit. specially during daytime.
the waves were small the first day, but suddenly got really big. the local boys were towing themselfes in to the waves, because paddling seemed to be no option. it was amazing to see and the waves were peeling just beautiful. by the way, these are the only self made pictures left :/
i had only one good session in vieux. it was late afternoon, some clouds prevent the onshore and it was hightide. ones you make it through the shorebreak it was a easy but quite long paddle. i had the 7'6 from andre which was only getting dusty below my bed in jena anyway. about 15 guys out, but only a frenshi and i were somehow able to catch waves. shortborders didnt had fun though. the sun was falling and i was constantly paddeling. once a caught a waves to the shore you had to kick out pretty fast, cause the shorebreak was kind a gnarly. then paddeling back with noodle arms later. once i made it back out it was time to go on another one again, like a rollercoaster. my and the frenshi yelling and grining all the time until it was almost dark and the waves werent breaking any more because of the incoming tide. frank was out too, but way behind the lines. when we met he just said: i saw you out there but only for a few seconds and you were off on another one. asshole ;) he was right, i had an amazing session out there.
on a cloundy and flat day we went down to boarritz to do some sightseeing. it was pretty cool walking through this old citiy right at the beach between the rocks with a slightly modern attitude. this is what france seemed to be all about. old houses right at the beach and cliffs with a scenery worth making a trip and staying a while. the combination of history and modern life is just beautiful.
the second week we were camping on a campsite in downtown capbreton. its just 500m to all the famous beaches and we were very close to all the spots. as usual i was cooking in capmingstyle and frank was washing dishes. it works :) on wednesday we were again down in la piste, a spot famour for our german nazi-bunker, which are laying upside down in the shorebreak. it wasnt really good, but we were put together, it was our 3rd session and we were going until the dark rises to its fullest. we had a little photosession infront of the bunkers and the last daylight. magical.
the down beat. two days before leaving we had an incident. we were checking the spots like every morning and went on one one mile away from hossegor. we were the only car around which doesn't bother us. we went up the sanddunes checked the waves for about a minute and went back. ther is was, the car was somehow unlocked and the carlock broken. my camera and the wallet and cellphone of frank were gone. we were evan lucky, because they didn't found my wallet. we actually just had wetsuits and boards in our car, but unfortunatly this stuff too. so that's why you wont see any photos oder videos from the trip. i'm so sorry about it, because there were quite a lot. we went to the police station with a little bummer, but were sure, we get everything back from the insurance. but financially it was pretty tough, cause i had to carry both of us.
just 20 min after the robbing, i met an old friend from new zealand. we were travelling in my car for quite a time and had a lot of fun going surfing together. annabelle is from bochum, but pretty much lives with her fiance bruce, a maori, in brisbane. there waited in germany for annabelles visa to come. they were on there last session before going home and just checking waves in hossegor. they were about to go out for a last session but we need to go to the cops first, then unfortunatly we didn't met again. but the surf the next two days was amazing. it was getting really bit and we had offshore all day long on friday. about 2,5-3m peaks were rolling through, but tough to catch. most of them were closing out so you really have to be careful with the selection. once i wanna to go for one, they were hard to catch on a shortboard. just right when they hit the sandbar they became suddenly hollow and suck the water of the sand, which shortens the takeoff-spot rapidly and made me think evan more twice. the bigger spot next to me was barreling all the way though with a couple of guys charging. i wasn't ready fro them. i was out for maybe two hours or more and didn't caught a wave. but it was still amazing and an experience worth it. sure you shouldn't think about it too much and just go, but it's earier said than done. the waves wave getting really big and rolling, but still hard to paddle for it. then when you think just a couple of strokes more it suddenly became so sucky, you think you dont make it down the wall. it is going to be just a freefall. and you pull back, because you didn't had the speed needed to take off. wow.
it was fun, with a little bummer, but still really nice. we had very nice weather and blessing with the swell, the sandbars not so much. lots of lost photos and just the momories in my head. well, this happens. i have been down in france quite often and it had to happen at some point. we made the most of it and the next trip is coming for sure.
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