Mat Surfing with Mart

Go an email from Old Surfer yesterday. He's since signed up and I'm sure will be adding posts of his own in due course but he kindly agreed to me putting this one up.

Enjoy.

Cheers

G

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Hi G,
Thought you might like the attached pics and following spot review.
Where is it - Alderney in the channel isles, total land size 3.5miles
x 1.5miles, breaks- one beach and a few reefs in precarious offshore
positions known to the few local surfers but due to vicious tidal
flows, times and rips, reefs are best left to locals.

The beach break is Corblets bay, best conditions 3hrs after or before
high with southeast wind (offshore) and swell from north west ie across
from the south west of cornwall.Thankfully thats what I caught when
visiting my island resident sister in law this year.

Been visiting on and off for 30 years and usually get in at some time
board, bodyboard or bodysurfing.

Managed to get in last year after PG, bless him, sent my RTT just in
time for me to catch the plane two days later but as surf and my
matting skills not up too much had a good play around to christen lilo
lil'.

So back to this year end of september, matting skills still not up to
much but had studied all manner of matting videos on line and thought
it time to get going and enjoying my surfing again.

Had the beach to myself one day and two hours later felt I had at least
managed to take off and pull myself onto the mat without fluffing the
top of the wave down and be left floundering and kicking like a paddle
steamer trying to hook back up with the now breaking wave! No pics and
a 2 mile bike uphill still didn't wipe the grin of the stoke off my
face.

The second day was best and thanks to my ever patient wife handling the
camera was able to actually see that hey yes I did manage to catch a
few and look sort of composed whilst doing it.

Oh and by the way if I look a bit scary in the goggles and the
bandana.

The goggles are because without them, I have, to the delight of my
fellow lineup, been known to paddle for an approaching darkening rain
storm on the horizon thinking it was the set of the day mmmmm short
sighted see, and the bandana, well, I can tell you skin cancer on your
forehead hurts when they cut it out and takes a while to heal all them
stitches, so don't want to repeat that eh.

Thanks for taking the time to keep the UK mat scene going and for
reading these ramblings of the old surfer,

Hope to meet up at mat meet 8, cheers for now, mart.