More March Madness With Fergal

I swear to god, Fergal Smith has seen more barrels than the lads that work in the Guinness factory. Nice GoPro footage in this one too. From his blog Lately

C-SKINS presents MARCH with FERG from allan wilson on Vimeo.

Peniche Tour Of Duty

Got sent some random pics from last year's tour of duty in Peniche. The ferry is booked for the return epic, The Surfcastle awaits. Accompanying tune by Iron and Wine, with his cover of New Order's Love Vigilantes.

Excellent News For Bundoran

It seems the standard is about to rise further up in the North West with the announcement of plans for a Surfing Center of Excellence in Bundoran. It's great news for Irish Surfing, and further evidence (for better or worse!) of surfing's infiltration into the mainstream of sport and culture here in Ireland. Just a number of years ago, even the thought of getting funding for anything surfing related would have been laughable. This, along with the slow rise of the skate park across the country means that non traditional sports (which are just as valid an outlet as Rugby, Soccer, Gaa etc. and just as beneficial in every sense) are finally getting a crack of the whip. The only other such center in Europe is in Portugal, so we are placing ourselves at the forefront of Surfing excellence development by doing this. 

Only problem now is the next time you paddle out within a ten mile radius of Bundoran you're going to be surrounded 20 air reverse popping groms and will probably have to drive to Dublin to get a wave off a local. The price of progress!


Pic from Mindscape.ie on Bundorandsurfco.com.

If this doesn't make you want to pack your bags...

Then I don't know what will. Cheesy captions aside, I'm just about ready to set sail, and head South.

Out There, People are doing the things we're thinking about...

Lahinch surf report today, and my buddy Hank, far from where we met in Nicaragua, earning his turns on some snow capped peak or other, high up, in the North West of America. Damm Study...

Back to basics..

SO, a surf blog eh. Not that you'd know by the last few posts. Well, got back in the water this weekend. 4 foot glass, with little pockets of snow still on the mountains in the background. Nothing too hectic, but after 6 weeks out of the water it was cold gold. We were too excited to take many pics, but meanwhile, the boys in deepest brightest West Oz have been enjoying some summer swell. Pics by Baylesy.

Escape from the rain..

Staring out the window today made me wistfully think of summer and the gang at The Surfcastle, where I spent my last.

I can close my eyes and feel the warmth and stillness of a Portuguese evening. Sometimes the most perfect places are closer to home than you think.

Check out the guys' beautiful old house by the sea. Surfcastle

Parko wins the battle, if not the war

This clip shows a lot of the reasons I was sorry that Parko lost the world tour race this year. The man surfs so good, and seems to manage to be a seriously sound bloke while he's at it.Hope he pulls it off next year.

Tune is We Own The Sky by M83, which incidentally comes with it's own very cool video, check it out here