The pic above is the view we were greeted with as we walked over the dunes on the second day! This spot is about half a mile north of "La Nord." The pic is not all
Day one in Hossegor...October 22nd 2008
Today was pretty mellow. Gil and his friend Fred met me at the airport. We spent some time around Hossegor and the surround towns doing little errands. Fred's wife made us a great lunch and I fell out for a little while on their couch while Gil prepped his boat. Actually he sold the boat a couple of months ago when he took a job doing a show in Baharain. And he is borrowing it back for this event. Then he heads to Dubai for three months on another show!
We spent the afternoon surfing Hossegor at like 10foot plus faces. Great first day to say the least!
Day three in Hossegor.
WOW...Yesterday we did jump-offs with the wave runner in like 8-12 foot surf! A jump-off is where the driver puts you in position on the wave and you jump off on to the surfboard...kind of a little like tow surfing...or normal surfing just without the paddling. What a great time! We each got a bunch of waves while Marc Sickerling and a few of the other Germans rode...err well Marc rode and the others got washed up on the beach!
Today rode again, and I got on Alex's ski, the one that I am supposed to ride in the show tomorrow and Sunday. But the ski is blown up or has some other problem. Feels like a dome is cracked or the or rings are blown out. Other than that the ski should be OK...hopefully we can fix it in the morning.
Today was full of good comedy at the beach. Surf was solid 8-12 feet with the occasional plus set. Best waves that I have ever had a chance to ride a ski in by far, and some of the best surf I have a seen period. There were these 10ft + bombs that would come in and just pitch! Unreal surf, and great conditions! One problem was the 4-6 foot shore break combined with 10 Germans who may not have even seen the ocean before in their lives...ahh good stuff. No one got seriously hurt, well one guy did break his nose...he was just trying to catch a ski getting pounded in the shore break. And Martin, Marc's mechanic had the best flying dismount on the beach I have ever seen. He rode the ski that I am riding to see if he could figure out what was wrong with it. And on the way back in, he mistimes the shore break, and launches off a 4 foot wave that is breaking right on the shore...totally dry. He winds up just throwing the ski mid air and it lands tail first in the sand, and he and the ski get washed up the beach! Fortunately he was fine, and it was a lightweight.de hull from Norbert, so it too was fine.
I watched Marc catch a few amazing waves...that guy is unreal. The German that rides in the surf 10 times a year and always looks great! I guess it helps to have won 5 freestyle and one freeride world championship in the past 20 years that you have been riding.
Great place...amazing!
