Dawn Session

Just enjoyed some dawn solitude at a local break. Really clean swell, and about 40mins with the waves all to myself. Took a bit of motivation to face the approaching winter temperatures but well worth it. 

For me there's something really special about being on the water and having the line up to myself as the sun rises...the perfect way to start a day for sure.

I took out my brother's Watertech wave-ski which was fun...albeit a bit more twitchy than i'm used to at times paddling out! I'm probably going to do some more waveski-ing over the winter so should be entertaining :-)

 

Check out more pictures in my gallery: https://picasaweb.google.com/chrisharveyonline/November82012

Perfect Day

Just had a great 36hrs of playing around in the prototype. With 5 fin boxes i've been able to play around with different setups and so far the thruster seems the best. It's amazing the difference fins make to boat performance and i'd definitely recommend everyone plays around with size, positions etc. The thing i love most about this boat so far is the rails which engage with the wave really well and make for great carving turns as well as enabling you to get locked in high up on the wave...all i need now is a few deep hollow pits to get into.

And a few more pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/chrisharveyonline/October292012

Prototype Arrived Today!

I finally got my hands on the prototype i've been working on with Watertech. And first impressions are :-) awesome! It was a really messy 4-5ft windblown swell but the boat performed nicely, really tight carving turns, rail engages well and shoots down the line...lots more testing to do, but a shortboard style  hollow wave boat is what i wanted and looks like it's on the money...watch this space!

3 Days of Searching & Surfing

With a few days off last week, i was glued to the swell charts and contemplating a trip to Scotland but with a nice swell headed straight for the East Coast, decided to stay put, hook up with my brother (Adam) and enjoy some local sessions. 

However, instead of joining the bank holiday crowds at the usual spots we decided to explore a bit beyond the beaten track and scored some great waves... some nice and mellow, others a tad more gnarly...


One area of coast i've been wanting to check out for a while was particularly epic...after a 2 mile walk in at low tide our concern that it might be for nothing was turned on it's head when we reached a ledgy section of reef with hollow monsters dredging out and a rip like a river snaking between the peaks. After a bit of psyching up i launched (heart thumping) into the cauldron to see if anything was rideable. Another half hour of psyching up and i dropped into a steep  left hand wedge, holding the rail in as hard as i could and only millimeters away from carnage...fun! 


Not everthing we surfed was as gnarly and we clocked up many hours of great waves with everything from 6ft adrenalin pumping wedges to long playful walls and 2ft mellow beach breaks and all this with barely a soul in sight!

The view after walking for over an hour.

Only just making the drop on a very shallow ledge!

The long walk

Adam keeping it tight under the lip

Lots of fun

And some more...

Enjoying the view

Ke11y...the Legend!

If you've been following the ASP world tour you'll know that Kelly Slater has just been crowned 11th time World Champ...amazing achievement that makes him one of the sporting greats, and as if to stamp his mark on it he pulled off an insane tube ride just after the final hooter in San Fran. yesterday... check out the very last replay in R4 H2 on: http://live.ripcurl.com/index.php?Search2011LiveControl ...legend!

Back Home

Back from Portugal....bit of a mixture of surf during the back end of the trip. A few more pictures in the Gallery now. Had a great time and desperate to get back and check out some more spots!

Portugal So Far...

What can i say!....sunshine...warm water....great hospitality....i might just stay here! I had great waves at Santa Cruz the first few days. Then a quick trip down to the Algarve for a storm swell and scored a small but very fun beach pound at a quiet little spot on the south coast (check out teh gallery...i only broke one fin!). Back up in Santa Cruz now but everything's pretty much maxed out. Been playing with some ideas and shapes with Bruno (watertech shaper)...very excited! watch this space!

Portugal...

Good forecast...week off...flights booked for Weds! Hopefully a recipe for a great week of surfing coming up!

My Favourite Shot

It' gone flat today so steadily sifting through the GoPro footage. I love this shot!

Charging The ONA

2-3ft Perfection!

I'll admit i struggled to get up this morning...Yorkshire drizzle and aching body after yesterday's battering. Glad i did though as my local spot was 2-3ft of perfection. Quite hard to pull into the small barrels but made a few on the inside followed by a really nice wall. Only hit the bottom once!

A few more pics in my gallery:
https://picasaweb.google.com/chrisharveyonline/GoPro110811#

Belly of the Beast!

Yesterday was massive with some really heavy breaks on the reefs! Managed to get some real chargers....the ONA is so fast down the line it's unreal. 6hours of fun wasn't without it's carnage though! Broke my camera mount and had 2 very gnarly wipeouts...amazed i didn't snap the boat or my back! Got a few shots but this thought i'd put this one up quickly before i head out this morning. Much smaller today but hoping to find something :-)

...

The new swell started to kick in last night, but was accompanied by heavy showers and thunder storms. Managed to get inside a rainbow though, even if the barrels were a bit elusive! Cleaning up for tomorrow!

Swell on it's way!

Looks like a good swell developing up north. If the wind goes offshore this week there could be some great waves about! :-)

Searching for the green room!

Summer's here and after a 6 month lull we've had some good swells in the last few weeks. With the summer holiday fast approaching and the GoPro camera in hand i'm hunting for a classic 'green room' shot. There's nothing like tucking in and feeling the lip throw out above your head as you charge the barrel and hopefully find the exit! I'm a long way from that perfect shot but despite a slight onshore wind, the small swell was dredging quite nicely on a local sandbar. (Couple of shots below to get you inspired).

What a week! The spring swells have been pretty good the last couple of weeks. Squeezing in 2 sessions a day most days is great! Some exciting things in the pipeline this summer too...watch this space! Photo...A local reef; a tad messy but the ONA makes it smooth!

Still Here!

Hello...from the deepest darkest depths of yorkshire! For those of you wondering, I'm still alive and kicking, just been a bit manic lately with buying a house!! I know I must be getting old...there's only so long i can live in a van! It's been a long cold winter up here with long flat spells but Spring's arrived and so have the waves. Had a great session this evening at Saltburn putting the Watertech ONA through its paces. :-) Really impressed. Locks in nicely on the steep fast walls and charges really down the line. I'm making sections that i don't expect to. It's slightly more locked in so harder to tail slash but that's a small price to pay, compared to the speed and effortless way that it roundhouses...feels great! Hopefully i'll be able to find someone with a camera soon to get some shots. Meanwhile, it's back to working on the house (between sessions), which in it's current state is only a small step up from my van!

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/