A much anticipated road trip! With more boards in the van than anyone could possibly need it was another mission to the west coast of Ireland. The storms lead to a pretty rough ferry crossing but by early morning Saturday we were in the Maharees. After a little walk and some breakfast we headed to the beach for a session. Some chose to kite, and others chose to wing. I had a new Appletree surfboard I was keen to test. It was the perfect start to the trip.
That afternoon we got access to our accommodation and decided to sort our kit and get organised. The shed came in very handy allowing us to decant excess kit and only take what we needed with us each day. We brought gear to surf, sup, kite foil, wing foil, surf foil, and of course kite surf.
We woke up to no wind, but plenty of sun and nice waves rolling it. Perfect for any kind of surfing really so we headed down to the beach and took all the gear. I figured it would be a good opportunity for some photos before heading in.
After a lunch break it was time to drive round the bay to find another spot to surf. This time Rich decided to chill on the beach and got some drone shots. It was a tricky session with waves not breaking in the same place consistently, but we got some good waves. I was having a great time on the new surf sup (my Infinity New Deal review).
The next morning was comp morning. I did not enter this year so was helping out. It was a slow start but the wind was howling and the locals were out ripping. Some of the crew opted to join in with the wing fun. I got some shots.
Once things got going I spent the morning caddying and grabbing the odd shot. Here is Rou getting warmed up. It was clearly challenging conditions for the riders.
I hit the water in the afternoon for a session. It was windy and cross shore but still hard to get things to line up. With small waves though it was low consequence to charge around and have fun.
Next up another surf morning. I was starting to feel pretty dialled into the surf sup now and really enjoying it. I could have spent all day there. Sadly at this point I lost the gopro in the sea.
After going back for lunch we got dangerously comfortable on the sofas. The wind had picked up, but the rain had also arrived. We forced ourselves out for an evening kite session. It took me a while to warm up, but it was a lot of fun in the end and we kited till sun down.
The big competition day. Howling windy and big waves. An impressive display of skill. The white water was so big taking photos from the beach was almost pointless. You could barely see a rider unless they were hitting the top of a wave.
I went out for a kite surf once the competition was over. It was pretty challenging and the waves were of a size you really did not want to mess up in. Once out the back you could not really see what was happening on the beach. After a few good waves I saw Liam head back to the beach. There were only a few kites on the water at this point. As I headed back to shore, I noticed everyone had left. After spending all day in the rain and wind, what everyone wanted was beers by the fire down the pub. The shot below on the chat group made it seem pretty inviting. We joined them.
The last day saw flukey cross off winds, with pretty big waves. I headed out on a 7m, but quickly realised I was needing more power to get out over the waves. I came back in and took an 8m. I headed out again and got smashed by some waves. My leash failed and the board headed back to shore, so I followed it in. Third time lucky. I got a few good waves but was finding conditions pretty tough so called it a day.
That afternoon we went for a group wing session. Mad windy and tough conditions took a while to get the hang of but eventually I got up to speed and was cruising around. It turned out to be a good final session for the trip.
