| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Fee |
BodyboardingI've always sort of scoffed at bodyboarders, thinking them doing that because they can't surf, but I had a go in Anglesey over the weekend and it was so much fun!I now have my very own wetsuit and board, and will be aiming for the South coast soon. To be fair, I bought a wetsuit and board before I knew if I'd enjoy it, but I was sick of sitting on the beach watching/taking pictures of the fun and wanted to get in the water with the others. I know, me in a wetsuit, not a great look I don't think, but better than a swimming costume, or heaven forbid, a bikini  . OH has grown somewhat of a larger beer gut since his wetsuit's last outing too, most amusing 
Anyway, it was fun! And telling you lot about it is another way to avoid doing stuff I should be doing for another 10 minutes 
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| Barefoot Andrew |
Re: Bodyboarding
Just in time for winter 
A. |
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| Jamanda |
You don't want the South coast. You want the North Devon/Cornwall coast. | ||||||
| Chez |
Croyde? | ||||||
| sean |
Croyde can get a bit aggressive apparently. Now Croyde itself obviously, but the people who surf there. | ||||||
| Fee |
Just what I said
We were thinking of North West France at the end of September for a week anyway, for a bit of camping (and kite boarding  ).
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| Ian33568 |
or...how about here in N Spain - Asturias - some of the better body boarding and surfing beaches there are around ......or now you are with wetsuit....
The October/November Swim the River Sella Challenge - only 16 kilometers down stream.......mind you there are rapids
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| Fee |
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| vegplot |
Re: Bodyboarding
Was that at or near Rhosneigr? There was some good surf last week. You should have let us know you were in the area. |
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| Becki |
I am going to try this with the kids
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| woodsprite |
My eldest often pops over to the Gower for a spot of surfing, he was there on Friday. He surfs wherever he can and actually prefers the Gower to Devon/Cornwall, not so full of poseurs apparently!
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| Fee |
I did think about you, we were telling my in-laws about your new build while we were driving past Rhosneigr. We ran out of time though, unfortunately, too many people to see! Lots of old friends were up, so did a lot of catching up, and even got some new work out of it! We were in Trearddur Bay, where they live/Paul's from, their house is about 200 metres from the beach, so just went there rather than round to Rhosneigr. Pretty good little bay for it when the surf's good.
Do it! Paul said he hasn't seen me grin like that for years, which is nice, but a bit sad at the same time, I've let the psoriasis on my legs stop me from doing things like this 
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| Becki |
I will do it. My weight has a large amount to do with me not having done it already but I've finally thought 'sod it' I'm going to do it anyway. Life's too short! | ||||||
| Jamanda |
I've got a very cheap, nasty one and a wetsuit. I'll come and play with you some time. |
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| Fee |
Now there's an offer
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| Fee |
And yeah, it's probably helped stop me too, but no more! Life is indeed far too short. |
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| Ian33568 |
What is it about body image??????.....Life is too short to care about what some (a minority of people) think. Let's face it, if they are the sort of person who judges individuals on the shape of their ass or a medical condition, then would you really want approval from them anyway?.... Get over it, get on with it and splash, splash, splash.......  There is nothing better than letting go and letting that disinhibited child within - shine through......enjoy
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| Rob R |
Re: Bodyboarding
And posting photo's will take up at least half an hour
I watched On a Clear Day on TV the other night, just to give you ideas...
I'd vote for the North Sea; bracing 
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| vegplot |
Nice area. Rhoscolyn is idyllic. We like to take the kayaks out from there. Cable Bay is another good spot as the surf is great when the wind is right. I sound like an old hand but I don't play in the surf, not yet anyway. When I saw it the other day I though I must get a body board (not sure I can stand on a surf board). |
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| Jonnyboy |
Saunton's a lot more laid back than croyde, plus you've got more change of getting a wave to yourself.
It's also easier to learn on, the white water will often reform into a clean wave giving you a decent ride. Just watch out for the longboarders who will have picked up a wave about half a mile further out.
I always preferred surfing Saunton, nice lefts off the rocks in good conditions. |
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| happytechie |
As someone who used to windsurf in the waves at rhosneigr I'd never tried body boarding before . The waves in trearddur bay were the best that I have seen after 20 or so years playing and surfingthem. SW (onshore) for a couple of days and then switched to SSE (cross offshore) right at high water, there were 8 foot hollow faces to the waves as they broke,loads of fun. There wasn't enough wind to drag my windsurf kit down and the bodyboarding was a whole world of fun. Much easier than surfing, you'll be dropping down the waves and turning in on your 3rd or 4th wave I may well be looking for a surfboard soon that I can put footstraps on and use with a kite
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| shopgirlsue |
My sister and her family have just come back from 2 weeks in Polzeath. The kids all surf but she did bodyboarding and loved it - trying to persuade me to go next year
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| Fee |
In my language, big ones that crashed just before the shore, that you could surf along the top of, right to the beach, loads of fun
Go, shopgirlsue, I guarantee you'll love it, and laugh hard
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| vegplot |
Well anyone willing to help out with our home build next year will only be a few miles from Trearddur Bay and a couple of miles from Rhosneigr. 
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| Cathryn |
I've got the wetsuit (somewhere or other) I will bring it just in case. |
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| bernie-woman |
Lovely surfing beach Polzeath
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| Jamanda |
Plus Saunton is huuuuuuuuuge. And it has interesting botany in the dunes. But Putsborough and Woolacombe are nice too. Westwood ho! is OK. Sandymouth, Widmouth and Bude are good too |
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| lettucewoman |
have you not seen the paeans of praise i have put on here about bodyboarding in the past Fee???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We bodyboard every time we go away - (on honeymoon too). I ve been boarding for years, and taught Teddy and Daniel. Cornwall is great, as long as you can avoid the "tree trunks"...people who just stand in the sea looking at you as you sweep towards them!! The thing about boarding is you can get going really quickly - and have fun riding the smaller beach breaks...or go out to the bigger waves and slide down them, do turns etc etc...its so much fun. We were on Poltreath beach for most of our hols this year, and will be going back for more in October...the sea is still warmish, and there's no tourists
We can board round here too - and when they finish the reef at Boscombe it ought to make for some good waves. You can get a reasonably good board for 20 odd quid....and fins are useful if you wanna go after the big stuff.. (I just have fun rushing in on the beach breaks!!) It's amazing how many people turn thier noses up at "boogie boarding"...and then find out what fun it is!!
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| shopgirlsue |
but they're threatening to go in FEBRUARY Can you get thermal lined wetsuits
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| lettucewoman |
winter weight wet suits - 5mm thick, plus boots, gloves and balaclava and your'e sorted!! |
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| Fee |
Apparently, you can get some very toasty warm ones! |
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| vegplot |
Yes, I have one. Only trouble is I've put on a little weight since buying it and have to loose it before I can take it out. It's known as a semi-dry and has a reflective lining. Thick neoprene suits for cold water can be a pain to get on and off. |
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| happytechie |
wetsuits for surfing and sailing come in two forms ones that let water in and out and ones that only let a bit of water in. My old one is a full winter (5 and 3 mm) suit that lets hardly any water in (before it had holes in it) it's warm enough to use in the UK in January when it's snowing, Fee's is a short sleeved convertible one that lets quite a bit of water in when she has a wave dump on her head but keeps it in (hence the fat ankles afterwards ) probably not good in the winter but it'll be fine for the summer. I had a shortie on at the weekend, it was OK but I was starting to get chilly after a while and I couldn't feel my fingers or toes.
You can also get neoprene drysuits and full drysuits which are much warmer but can cut down your freedom of movement a bit. Generally as they get more expensive they get warmer. |
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| Fee |
The only problem was mine, was cold nips after a while
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| Rob R |
Anyone know a good cleaning product to get coffee off computer keyboards? | ||||||
| shopgirlsue |
I never realised there were so many different types of wetsuit. I'm going to have to do some research before I agree to go
Rob I thought you would know by now not to eat or drink anything while reading DS
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| happytechie |
it's easy,what do you want to do, when and where do you want to do it. Bodyboarding in the UK in the summer means a sumer suit will be fine, 50 - 100 GBP. A winter 'steamer' suit will be more money but will be fine in the winter as well as the summer. If you want to spend longer in the water, boots, gloves and a hood can really help. The fit of the suit it much more vital than the latest buzz word material, different brands are different sizes, go and try some on (take a swimming cossie with you). You'll get bargain summer suits at the moment and in the spring is the nest time for a bargain winter suit. Fee got a more than decent deal on a new suit from the (usually expensive) beach side shop in the old lifeboat house in trearddur. Online shops will be cheeper but you can't try them on |
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| missysx |
i've grown up canoeing but our oldest wanted to have a go at bodyboarding and he's loved it.
i got both boys and my husband wetsuits on ebay and they have enjoyed it so much. i'm holding off on getting myself a wetsuit as i'm currently pregnant, however i fully intend to get one in time for next summer. |
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| Jamanda |
Congratulations Missysx. Another one! There must be something in the water or something. | ||||||
| Fee |
Some piccies, mostly of Happytechie (from before I made a beeline to the surf shop and got myself a wetsuit and bodyboard), up on Facebook. You should be able to see them without having an account. | ||||||
| Jamanda |
Good piccies Fee. But where are the ones of you? | ||||||
| Fee |
Paul's Mum was taking them
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| Fee |
And she hadn't turned the camera on on the second day, I don't think, but then she is used to a point and shoot, so we probably should have explained more. Or something. | ||||||
| Becki |
Good. Then we can make idiots of ourselves together
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| Becki |
I got one for my middle child because she is so skinny that she really gets cold. And a thermal rash vest. She's toasty now
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| Barefoot Andrew |
There was an item about kite surfing at Rhosneigr on Sunday-just-gone's Countryfile.
A. |
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| Jonnyboy |
It's worth spending as much as you can on a decent wetsuit, I still have an old titanium lined 5/3 which is used in pretty much all reasons but the depth of winter.
A thick suit may keep you warmer but it will restrict your movement more and you'll be tired out sooner. |
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| Rob R |
Yes! Knew I'd seen it somewhere, just couldn't remember where  Was thinking of happytechie when I watched that.
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| Pel |
I've got a bodyboard... even works for skimming on sand too, wetsuit (full length with short sleves), fins, gloves, boots even the balaclava, not that i do that much now. Did go on surfing course, if boards weren't so expensive i'd definetely taken up surfing, wouldnt have needed to wear fins.. don't have a strong enough kick when bodyboarding. Best place i've found is New Gale in pembrokeshire, was a bit soupy last time i went though.
Bodyboarding is a serious sport within itself, not just for people who can't surf, there are some amazing tricks you can pull. |
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| lettucewoman |
wot they said!!
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