So That's It...

Not so much "that's it" as in "that's all folks", more like "that's how/why it's done". Arguably it all started with an interesting evening last night, where a great daily special (flaked cod croquettes with beany rice and tomatoes) at the Relax was followed with an hour and a few beers at the Cafe Calema. The Calema is the kind of place where you just know you could find someone who could get the very thing you need, populated by locals, male and female, and tourists, as well as a very good band playing reggae fairly loudly but well. The bass player was 6' 6" with huge dreads, skinny thighs and a very cool attitude, so they must have been good. The only downside was the embarrassing 50+ year old guys hanging around the black local ladies, who weren't having a problem with this, but really... And I'm not talking about me, although there was a group of 3-4 who came in with some English cash-flashers who were absolutely stunning and clearly enjoying their evening-long private joke, and smelling incredible, a mixture of perfume and something else, musky, African... Hmm. Left after three beers and discussed the various people including Fat Pedro and his mate Roberto on the other side of the bar. Even slept well thanks to earplugs - what a great idea! Only the noises and voices in my head to keep me awake now.

And then this morning, lighter wind, sunny, time to go windsurf. Took out a 104 Synchro and 5.7m Ice, and didn't get munched in the shorebreak, because a) it was smaller b) I checked the beach topography before going in and found a spot with fewer stones, so got to sand fast and got away - result! Just blasted up and down, occasionally managed to make a gybe or two, but starting to work out why I don't. Good. Tried to raise my level of aggression generally - it's too easy to pootle along reflectively and not work it. I eventually stopped after an enjoyable 90 minutes, end came in not so cold or tired as previously. Hmm. Food for thought there... and also food for me, since I was hungry by this time.

Slept a bit, then went down to the point to see Josh and some other locals working the break at the point, took some good photos. One of the Brits, Chris, was out there, and I got some good shots of his first wave rides, including the last one where he held in too long, got hit by white water, fell off and took the next 3 big ones on the head, resulting in a broken boom. Josh accepted 80EUR for that, which I guess was nice of him ;-).

Adam bought some more local trinket stuff from Emmanuel, his pet project on the way home, and we stopped at the other Mistral centre for a Happy Hour punch and nibbles. And now I've just copied lots of pix onto various SD cards for folks around, guess I'll have to get wave rider Chris's email because they haven't got any spare or empty ones. Time for updating the blog, checking email and getting out for tea :-) not sure where yet. Oh yes, Julian got in at 7 am, after Jungle/Calema/Late Opening bar sessions... Ah youth. He looked like shit. Apparently!