RSB mk 1 is sold, subject to payment.

Great news, the Redsurfbus was on the auction site for 5 minutes before the starting price was matched and then bettered. Within the first 3 hours I had over 50 watchers, now up to 90! I have replied to about 15 'how much for cash' emails, only one got back to negotiate and I got what I only dreamed of, most of it in cash, a bit of it in reclaimed parts (bed and alarm).

Tomorrow morning I should have the money in the bank, alarm and bed will be taken out by the end of tomorrow evening. Van should be picked up on Thursday, online shops for camper conversions will be richer by Friday! Just need to arrange to get the windows fitted, alarm fitted and leisure battery (I think all the wiring for this is already in place).

This sale will pay for the majority of the conversion of the new van, including top end spec parts. Wind is guaranteed now at weekends as I have jobs I need to do in order to get it ready for the summer holidays!

Good Speed and winds 

The Bus mk2

NEW NEW NEW, exciting week

This past 10 days were a roller  coaster ride. It started when I noticed really clean oil dripping from the engine of the bus. I knew it could only be from the gearbox, straight to the garage I went. Toby is a great mechanic but always booked for for at least 2 weeks, so he sent me to an auto gearbox specialist. They said bring it back the next day and they would change the seals.

On the Friday afternoon they told me it was more serious than that, the gearbox had to come out. I started looking for vans on the off chance it would be a very expensive repair. I saw the perfect van, slightly bigger, low mileage, reasonably good bodywork and not too expensive.....AND RED! For months I had been looking for a bigger red van as well, just out of interest.

Tuesday arrived and impatience got the best of me, I negotiated a deal with the seller and he took it off the robbing website you are all familiar with. Wednesday was time to raise the funds to pay for it. I phoned the bank to arrange a cash transfer from my credit card, and got off the phone with a loan at 5% interest. Now that's a lower APR than the rate that food, bills and fuel are increasing here in England*. Half an hour later the garage phoned to tell me that the repair would be at least £2200+vat and there were other things I should consider repairing while the box was off. I said put it in the boot and I will sell the van as spares or repair.

Yesterday I picked up Redsurfbus mk2. Bigger heavier and more industrial, lots of power in the engine (158bhp) and lots of space in the back. Already ply-lined she is perfect for conversion and ready and waiting.

I do not believe in fate, destiny or anything like that. I cannot help thinking that some things are too well timed to be random, even though I know better. 

Since I bought the first Redsurfbus I was forced to resign from being director of maths at work, suffered a nervous breakdown due to it, had a heart attack and other serious illnesses, amongst other things that have been quite mis-fortunate. I feel like my fortunes have changed and I have weathered the storm.  Although if all that had not have happened I would not be as addicted to windsurfing as I now am, and would not have started this website.

More news in the next couple of days. My new Hot Sails GPS have arrived. I have used them today, lighter, faster, stronger, and a lot camp-er, well I do have a campervan................. ;)

Good speeds and winds
The Bus

*I know the word for the rate of increase in prices is inflation. Here in this  wonderful country (and no doubt most others)we include TV's and MP3 players in this which obviously keeps it low as TV's and MP3 players fall in price whilst everything else goes up. I have never bought an MP3 player and have bought 1 TV in the past 10 years......Stupid method of measurement. Carrots and coffee however seem to go up by 5% every time I go shopping let alone once per year.

Finally the season is warming up properly.

Yesterday was one of the most enjoyable sessions ever for me. A good friend from my teacher training at Keele Uni came to visit. He is great company, one of the wisest and kind hearted people I know. Back at Keele his online name was Hookipa, I asked him what it meant and it all started there.

As long time readers will know I tried windsurfing as a kid, for about 10 minutes on a school trip (scarily this is about 25years ago). I had always wanted to learn it but life got in the way and I forgot until I was 28. He reminded me of this ambition, and in my summer off I travelled to Cornwall but ended up surfing instead. Upon moving to Weymouth I started slowly but surely with windsurfing, treating myself to a board and rig for my 30th. It was great to be able to sail with Ioannis yesterday. I know he really enjoyed it, especially when the sun came out!

In terms of the session, it looked a lot windier on the water than it felt in the sail. Usually I would have been well powered up with my 7.3 Hot Sails GPS and Exocet RS2 (90l). I was on my smaller board (non intended sinker) for a short period of time, but quite slow, indicating not enough sail/board/fin. I was beating myself up for only getting a peak over 32knots, I like to think of this as a minimum now with an average over 30. The conditions looked like more speed was easily possible, perhaps I need to shed more of the Christmas pudding that is still making my harness tighter than it should be. Results for the day here, in hindsight I am very happy with them.

Hopefully more sun and good winds later this week.

The Bus

Thanks again to Andy "Scottys Caddy" Stallman for the photos. ;)

Season is warming up nicely

After a very cold couple of months with only a couple of sessions my fitness is at a low point. This is now hopefully quickly changing, I am forcing myself to exercise every morning and evening to boost any time on the water. This last week I have been out more than the rest of this year so far. Nothing great to report, just a warm up to what I hope will be a great season.

New sails are on the ship on their way over here, and recently I took delivery of my new Black Project Type RS 'Ultra fast downwind slalom' fins. I ordered the 30, 32 and 42cm and already had a prototype 34cm. The 34cm is the only one I have used properly so far with my 7.3 Hot Sails GPS late last year. It is a fast fin when running off the wind, with a slightly looser feel than the 35cm Type R, which I prefer as I love my 35 Type S.

You can see most of my fins in the picture, there are a couple of the tiny speed fins missing from it. These are my regularly used fins. The new Type RS 30 and 32 will be great for my 6.6 in choppier water, and I am looking forward to trying the 32 with my 7.3 on flat water with a small board in well powered conditions. Clockwise from the left in the picture are my Type R fins (40, 45, 50cm) for big board/sails, then my most used Type S (29, 32, 35cm), WeedSpeed fins (34, 42cm), medium size slalom (32.5, 35, 37.5cm) and finally at the bottom of the pic are the new shape Type RS (30, 32, 34, 42cm). I think I am covered for all conditions, hidden away with my speed board are my Type S 24 and 26.5 and a prototype 20cm speed fin.

The white block you can see over the 40R is a device I have made to fill the void in a deep tuttlebox, I find this so incredibly useful for quickly getting the bolts in without threading the brass inserts, and ensuring the fin doesnt rise into the box when tightening the bolts. As I use Allen head bolts over tightening is a lot easier than with a normal screwdriver.

The Type RS 42 was a gamble, I rarely use a fin so big and have so far only had a session in very light winds with my 8.8 where I rarely planed. I should have chosen a bigger fin to go with my Exocet SL Sport 78, which is a wide 129l board. I think in well powered 8.8 conditions this fin and board combination will be great, but at that point I always look to move down to my 8m which I find to be a couple of knots faster. This fin will be great as the biggest for my RS4, and smallest for the SL Sport. It will be my go to fin for summer cruising I hope, when the winds here often ramp up enough in the afternoons on hot days for some cruising.

Thanks for reading,

good speeds and winds

The Bus.

Young Talented Speed Surfer - Scotty Stallman

Not long ago a new regular turned up at our local salty lake. Scotty Stallman was small in stature, but not in ambition. One week after his ninth birthday he began his first few lessons with Tris Best at the very popular OTC (Official Test Centre, which delivers for any ability or age and is now partnered with PuraVida Boardriders).

He progressed quickly and soon became a popular part of the local scene. Over the last year I have seen full grown adults stay on shore because of less than ideal conditions, while Scotty was out clocking up some incredible distance.