Coldwater: Cayton Bay

Finally managed to run the Cayton bay event on Saturday. Thanks to everyone who turned up and helped make the day a success. It was especially good to see so many new faces...that's what it's all about. Well done to Gary Adcock for surfing to victory in style. Conditions were particularly difficult, turning into a 6ft beach dump, but a good day was had by all :)

Sea Kayaking in Guernsey

I've just got back up 'tut' north and Autumn's arrived with a bang, but had a great week back home in Guernsey, Sea Kayaking, Surfing and generally chilling out.

The sea kayaking around Guernsey is amongst the best in the world in my opinion... 10m tides, Atlantic swells and loads of small islands to explore.

Mike (a colleague from work) joined me down there and we did a couple of short classics: a round island trip and accross to Herm. Windy conditions prevented us from doing anything epic but it nice to get a break. Got lots on the 'to do list' though! Will have to return soon!

Harvey Brothers Sponsored by Watertech

My brother Adam (Junior World Champion) has just joined me in the Watertech Team...exciting times! I'm stoked about his surfing...he's really ripping, although it's getting hot on the heels!

check out the Watertech news at: http://surfkayak-watertech.blogspot.com/

Watertech Sponsorship

Firstly a big thanks to Malcolm at Mega for his support over the last few years. However, i'm really excited to join the team at Watertech and start on a new journey. There's a new boat on the way and i'm looking forward to getting out in the ONA. I'm especially excited to get involved in the design process and work with the guys at watertech to drive the sport forward... watch this space over the next few months!

New Website Under Development

You've probably noticed that things have been a bit quiet of late. It's been a busy season and there's a lot to catch up on. I'm working on the finishing touches of the new site but hopefully this will be easier for everyone to see what's going on in my world! Happy Surfing :)

Wave Chasing: Scotland's North Shore

With it being so flat on the East Coast and a long weekend ahead i'm just about head north in search of some North Atlantic swells. It looks like the North Coast of Scotland should be preety sweet with 6-8ft clean for the nexdt few days...watch this space!

Outdoor Show

I've just got back from outdoor show, where i was presenting a talk about the sport and my adventures...quite a lot of nerves this morning but all went smoothly (i think). Big thanks to Zach at RunandJump for setting that up. They've got some great new designs coming out at the moment. check out: www.runandjumpclothing.co.uk

Hatric at Santa Cruz :)

photo by Caroline Woolward (in the good surf pre-event)

It's been a really tough event over in Santa Cruz with almost no waves for the first 2 days of competition. Somehow after taking off on rocks and a lot of jostling for the few waves, I scraped through the flat spell. I thought it was game over in my semi when my deck blew (first time ever) but the couple of wave i'd had were sufficiently high scoring to get me into the final. Although nothing like last year's waves, the new swell started to hit and there were some nice rides to be had from the point. A strong offshore wind meant I held back from going big on the lip but i got in sync with the sets and secured some nice rides and finished just ahead of local ripper Galen Licht. I think it's the first ever hatric at the event so that feels really good but as always it's just great being here, all the guys are awesome and event is really well organised. It's a lot of fun and great to see the likes of Marc Woolward (the only other UK competitor this year) and Eric Connor ripping it up. Thanks to Devon, Louise and little Fiona for putting up with me for a week again...it's great seeing you guys.

I'm working on getting some pictures over the next week so watch this space. Happy Surfing

A nice weekend

It's finally a bit warmer (for a few days at least!)...and we've had a great weekend of waves up in the NE :)

Israel Coaching Weekend

Well...here i am again...sat at the airport waiting for my flight home and hoping everything arrives back in one piece.

Israel may not be your typical surfing destination and my initial reaction when i was contacted by Omer of Terra Santa Kayaking was disbelief...surely there couldn't be good waves in the Med. Add to this the bad news recently and i had visions of flying into a warzone...how wrong i was! With the full length of the Medditteranean ahead of it, Israel picks up some suprisingly large waves...in fact Sunday...although messy...was double overhead which made coaching interesting!


Photo (left to right): Kafir (Mr Top Turn!), Avi, Sharon, Omer, Me, Harri (sorry if that's spelt wrong) and in the front...Michael the human fish ;)

I flew out on Friday and stepped off the plane into a climate more like an English summer...with the water even warmer. In the middle of a drought...i was almost guarenteed to have sunshine and hot weather!...but it turned out the Gods had other thoughts and that night the heavens opened as the biggest storm of the for a year hit the coast... strong winds, thunder & lightning and rain so heavy it was like having a hose pipe on...(i'm now considering setting up business as a rainmaker!) Despite the weather which at a 'freezing' 16 degrees was almost too cold for the locals their enthusiasm kept spirits high and we rode the storm out, surfing Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday. Evenings were spent eating great food and sampling the local beer :)

On Monday we got lucky...the wind dropped...the waves cleaned up and we had hot sunshine, surfing the day away on nice 4ft clean beach break with a good bit of punch to it. It was the perfect way to finish with everyone able to apply the techniques and skills we'd been practicing.

Unfortunately this time it was a flying a visit so i didn't get to explore the country, but it really is a great place. The hospitality made me feel like i was home, the food is amazing and the culture rich and the scenary breathtaking. And obviously surfing in 20degrees water was great too! A big thanks to Omer and all all the guys for being so welcoming and braving the 'cold' weather for the weekend. I made a lot of friends over the weekend, I was really inspired by everyone's enthusiasm for the sport and will definately be back in Israel soon...so as we say in Guernsey... 'a la perchoine' (until the next time)

Thanks to Adam for taking the photos. Check them out at: http://picasaweb.google.com/adam.dunsky/ChrisHarvey#

Happy Surfing

Coldwater Series 2009

This is a new Kayak Surf Series in the NE England. Great prizes, including a cash prize in the finals! check out the website: www.coldwaterkayaksurf.co.uk for more info and online entry.

Had a nice day surfing with Dan Green 'somewhere' up in Northumberland yesterday. Nice n clean ledgy reefs and sandy beaches...probably one of the nicest places i've surfed...just the freezing water to contend with! A few more pics in my gallery: click here