All Girls Surf Charter!

This Saturday I'm heading off on an all girls surf charter around the North Male Atolls in the Maldives. I've kept it under wraps but am very excited that the day has almost arrived. We have a photographer coming with us so hopefully I'll get great waves and a few great photos to remember them with!

Really hoping to progress my surfing while I'm there. We haven't had much in the way of consistent swell here this Winter and I won't get up north this year either. On the up side, a surf trip to the Maldives and another to Bali is pretty sweet!

We popped up to Lancelin a few weeks back. The conditions looked amazing when we arrived. Check these photos! This is winter!! However the waves quickly deteriorated and I struggled to find anything with shape.

Mini Grom

Kristy with her 30th birthday present from the crew!

The sun might be out but the water is cold!




Me with the Mini

Loads of news when I'm back from my boat trip!

Storm Surfers

Another girls Lancelin trip. We didn't have the best of weather, but we had a great time. We made up for the lack of wave quality by eating our body weight in bacon and banana bread.

Messy....

Wave huntin'!

Some of us are off to Bali next month for a week of warm weather and surf coaching! The story will unfold here!

Girls Gone Wild at Wedge

It is becoming something of a tradition now for our group of girls to head up to
Lancelin once or twice a year. As the back beach often provides nothing but
disappointment we have begun venturing further a field. Now with two 4WDs
between us, we have been sleeping at Lano and burning up to Wedge to surf. This
is what we did this trip. Checked out the back beach. (Filthy, silty, weedy close outs
with two frothers out) then went for a drive to Wedge just for the sake of it.

For those not in the know, Wedge Island is a little island off the coast of WA, north
of Lancelin. The coastline in between is relatively uncrowded and isolated. The
Bombing Range (yes, it has that name for a reason) is a long strip of white sand and
waves accessible only by 4x4 and enjoyed by surfers and fishermen alike.

The little encampment of holiday and fishing shacks is generally just known as
Wedge. So we head up to Wedge, past the makeshift rubbish tip, and then find our
way onto the beach to drive until we like the look of the waves.

Generally speaking, we’ve always been with fathers and husbands when doing any
serious beach driving. Last time we came, there was a cyclone, high tides and no
beach to drive on at all. Great waves though!!

So this time we made it along the tracks and onto the beach with Leeann leading
the way. I always encourage this as I seem to have a blank zone in my brain for
directions when it comes to this place. Onto there beach and there was some
hilarious fishtailing until I suggested to Leeann that she go a bit faster – which she
happily did without any further encouragement.

At this point I need to say again that conditions were hideous on Saturday. Not
another soul on the beach for as far as it stretched. But the winds… Strong cross-
shore winds which eventually swung onshore.


So surfing consisted of catching whitewater, or if you were sensible, hiding in the car and reading a book, like Jo did. The winds were creating a small dune under my car that directed sand up and
straight in through the windows! After packing up, we had a good inch of flour-like
sand over everything in the boot.


 

Now. Which entry did we come onto the beach from? The one next to the cliff?
Which track did we take? I don’t remember this corner? Must have been left… I
don’t remember these bushes. I was supremely happy to follow Leeann for reasons
I already mentioned. So we ended up driving up a too narrow track to a hill that
we hadn’t been to before. We decided to turn around. Leeann performed a perfect
three-point turn at the top of a dune, cos no one told her she couldn’t. I decided to
do mine on a ‘flat’ section of ground and wound up with one tire off the ground! An
adventure if ever I saw one! We were all out of the car to inspect said tire. Solutions
were debated and tires were deflated.
The girls had no problem pushing me out and promptly enjoyed covered up the holey evidence. I gunned it back over our previous hill and then it was Leeann’s turn. Halfway up the hill, then back down. At this point we were wandering the track trying to figure out where they’d ended up. Tires down and then they were up and over. A left and another left and we were out. Nothing dramatic but I think we all felt like we had been tested and passed.

About 20km out of Lancelin we saw a group of skater guys preparing to leave their
skins on the bitumen during their descent from Nilgen Lookout to the valley below.
Typical Aussies; topless in boardies. Some of them may have been wearing thongs
(flipflops).

The reward for our search is always a bbq fry up. On Friday, Tania and I did the
food shop and bought a kilo of bacon (which we didn’t come close to eating!) eggs,
tomatoes, mushrooms and hashbrowns! Nothing tastes better after a surf!

Champagne slushies helped fuel us for the night we spent walking the entire length
of the Lancelin township in gale force winds. Turns out the pub restaurant can be
booked out in Lano. Should have made a reservation! And that’s without the skimpies
working. So back we walked to a quieter restaurant. Tania and I were upsold on the
seafood pasta, which tasted like it only had those two ingredients.

Early start on Sunday morn as the forecast was favourable. Straight up to Wedge this
time. Saw two tiger snakes and a bobtail before we even got to the sand track. We
all paid a lot more attention to the directions this time. A few more cars on the beach
today and some pretty nice looking peaks. A group of four longboarders were loving
the peak near where we parked up. Conditions were a lot smaller than the previous
day and just perfect for us.


I took out my 5’6 mini simmons and had a great time catching its first shapely waves.
It is taking some getting used to after my usual 7’6 and 9’1. Any advice would be
much appreciated. Feels like it needs positioning in the centre/front of the board, but
with more weight on the back foot.




Between both days, all the girls had some good waves and the two plus hour trip
home was a very subdued affair. Of course we didn’t leave before we had bacon and
avocado toasted sandwiches with the remainder of the kilo of bacon Tania insisted
we buy. Good call.

Bombing Range

We went up to Lancelin for the weekend back in May. The waves were terrible, it was too big for the banks. So we made our own fun.

mini grom

Girls Gone Wild ~ Lancelin 2011

The trip this January was the best yet. Conditions a week out were generally looking pretty good and we were all excited. Then Tropical Cyclone Bodhi... (forgotten it's name already) reared its ugly head and it was looking like we'd be stuck inside waiting out the storm. It hit Friday night, waking up the light sleepers with lightning outside the window and heavy rain.

But the next morning dawned; sunny, hot and a little windy. We checked the back beach which looked uninspiring. It was decided, with much bravado about knowing the way, that we'd head up to Wedge.  At the very least we had 2 4WDs for security, if very little know-how. We got there relatively easily and ended up parking behind the dune. There were plenty of waves to be had just over the hill and there wasn't any beach to drive on anyway - the high tide from the cyclone.

What we found...

Paradise

The waves were a little fat this first day, but still super fun and we basically had the place to ourselves.

There was just enough time to get back to our rental and cook up a bbq storm before the real storm rolled in and the power went out. Wind, rain, lightning, plus thunder this time. A much needed trip to the bottle-o, via the beach to check the carnage. Onshore mess. By the time we got back home, the wind was conspicuous in its absence. A perhaps unwise decision to indulge in champagne slushies before two of us raced back down to the back beach for an arvo session.
No wind.
The empty car park quickly filled as we slip-slop-slapped, as though surfers everywhere had received the 'all-clear' signal.
We found a peak to ourselves and passed a happy hour surfing glassy waves under a glassy sky.

 

The power eventually came back on around 9pm. All the pubs were closed and nothing was open for dinner. Instead doughnuts and CCs were on the menu.

Sunday was windy. Kinda NW, which isn't good. We felt that we'd make a go of it anyway and head straight back to Wedge. Protected by a northern groyne it was super fun and less fat than the day before. Helped along by the fact that I'd taken out my 6'8 the day before, surfing my 7'6 this day was so much fun. Best surf I've had since Gnaraloo. Things were really clicking and I was getting some great turns and carving happening.

We're all chomping at the bit to get back up there. But do we wait for another cyclone?

Lancelin again

We're off to Lancelin again tonight. We've got a house near the back beach and 4 mates to spend the weekend with!! Good times ahead. We'll be throwing the boards in the van and heading off about 4:30. Along with out 7'6s, the new addition will be making its debut over the weekend... 6'8" x 20 1/2" x 3" Nice. And. Fat. The spray is growing on me. Can't wait to get a handle on it. I'm mainly worried about stability but also just getting my confidence up. Guess I'll be learning how to duck dive this summer... A few pics from Bali. Taken with the Go Pro board mounted camera. Lovin it. Definitely James' turn to get some good shots this weekend.

Lancelin Girls' Surf Safari

We had a great time up in Lancelin. Kristy and I headed up Friday arvo, arriving around 3:30. The accommodation was so dodgy but added to the flavour of the weekend. We made burritos for the girls - who arrived around 7pm - without any taco seasoning. Somehow that didn't make the journey from our shopping basket to our plastic bag!

Sleeping Friday night was a challenge as the tavern - next to our room - closed at midnight, spewing forth all the bogans in Lancelin and all of the bikies that had evidently booked the room next to ours. They were yelling and swearing and revving their cars until about 3am.

Saturday morning the 'light offshore' breeze that was forecast was more of a moderate offshore breeze, ruffling the palm trees and blowing huge streams off the waves. Packed up and convoy to the beach. The waves out the back were pretty impressive! Nice shape, most about head high and pretty hollow. We weren't quite ready for that. Unfortunately the shallower water didn't offer much of an alternative. We struggled to find some reforms and I resorted to taking some photos.

After a quick relocation to a spot further down the beach we had a bit more luck and some fun rides. Brunch was a fabulous affair - bbq brekkie in the park. The esky and the beers came with us and it was well earned!

After a nap in the arvo we headed back down the beach for an arvo session. The swell had dropped but the combination of onshore wind and incoming tide made it pretty difficult to sit anywhere useful. After an hour or so paddling through the 'minestrone' we went back for showers and some girl time before heading out to dinner.

No girls weekend would be complete without a late night car ride in search of sweets. We finished dinner at the ripe old time of 8pm. By then all the shops were closed and the only dessert option open to us was an ice cream from the pizza shop. I manage to not get us killed on the trip back along the street to Casa del Femme. Some late night hilarity followed by a restful night sans bikies...

Sunday morning was a totally different story. We were a bit slow getting up after a few drinks and a long day, but managed to pack ourselves and everything else in our cars before heading to the beach. Glassy, still, fabulous peaks out the back and the swell had dropped. Heaven. We got out the back and stayed there. I caught some of the biggest waves I've ridden. Out next to the boys. I found that we had a bit of trouble catching them so we moved to a different peak - let the guys have this one to themselves. I got a few nice rides and some cool drops. Nat managed to get herself some big waves out the back and also had a go on my board.

This was a morning I didn't want to end. Unfortunately the wind came in gradually as did the tide and it was time to go. Lunch at the bakery before making the trek back to Perth.

Check out more photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/hannah.katarski/LancelinGirlsSurfSafari#