Hurricane Katia brings a few waves to Shanklin

Hurricane Katia may have tracked north but it still delivered a few waves to us here on the Island. Last Sunday and Monday I got down to Shanklin capturing some of the action.
Sep 16, 2011 | Categories: The Noughties | Tags: archive, beach, blackley, blog, Dave Gray, Dave Grey, Doug Richards, Dougie Richards, Giles Barnes-Kilpatrick, hang 10, hang 5, Hangin five, Hangin ten, hanging 10, hanging 5, hanging five, Hanging Ten, history, Hope Beach, Hurricane, Ian Pacey, IOW, Isle of Wight, James Ransom, Joe Caudwell, Jon Hayward, Jonathan Hayward, Katia, Little Hope, longboard, Pacey, paul blackley, Paul Knight, people, photographs, portrait, Shanklin, Small Hope, stoked, surf, Surf Trip, surfboard, Surfer, surfing, swell, The Noughties, waves, wetsuit, wightsurfhistory | Comments Off on Hurricane Katia brings a few waves to Shanklin
The Perfect Day

It was a day when you surfed until you just couldn’t surf anymore and your arms were like jelly. You would come up to the car park and grab something to eat and drink and talk about your waves until you couldn’t watch the swell rolling in anymore and go in again. It never seemed busy, only about 15 people in the line up at any one time but people surfed all day and into the night. Keith Williams as I remember was one of the guys who surfed all day on his Chapter Longboard and was catching wave after wave right from outside the wreck right upto the beach where there used to be a couple of lumps of concrete just under the waters edge at high tide. Steve Williams also stood out and seemed a master a riding Compton. Ray Hutchings was doing amazing cutbacks and just knew exactly where to put his board staying right in the critical part of the wave. Clive Richardson togot his fair share of waves too, going left or right seeming to always pick a perfect wall. Jason Matthews was about my age and started surfing at the same time as me, but was a much better surfer than me. Jason was a goofy foot and would smash the lip on his back hand through the inside at Compton.
Sep 24, 2010 | Categories: The Eighties | Tags: 1986, 80's, Adrenaline, archive, autumn, beach, Beetle, blackley, blog, Brian Hill, Carisbrooke High School, cassette, Chapter, Clive Richardson, compton, Compton Bay, Countryfile, critical, critical section, Crystal Voyager, Eighties, footer, Freebird, goofy, Gunville, history, IOW, IOW Surf Club, Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight Surf Club, Jon Hayward, Keith Williams, longboard, Motorcycle, paul blackley, people, perfect, Perfection, photo, photographs, Pintail, Ray Hutchings, Rick Crutchlow, section, shortboard, Sixth Form, Snooker Club, steve williams, stoked, surf, surfboard, Surfer, surfing, swell, thruster, Volkswagon, Volkswagon Beetle, VW, VW Beetle, wave, waves, Weather Chart, Weather Forecast, wetsuit, wightsurfhistory, ZZ Top | Comments Off on The Perfect Day
Morthoe Surf Trip 1987

Isle of Wight Surf Club Trip to Morthoe 1987 In 1987 The Isle of Wight Surf Club organized a Surf Trip to North Devon about a week or so before the infamous storm of ’87. This was my first ever time to the West Country and my first ever surf trip with friends. We loaded […]
Feb 18, 2010 | Categories: Surf Trips, The Eighties | Tags: Alex Farr, Annie, blackley, Bryn Saunders, Chris Salter, Dave Jacobs, Devon, Doug Saunders, Dougie, Dougie Saunders, Gail Sheath, Graham Skelley, history, IOW, IOW Surf Club, Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight Surf Club, Johnny Hayward, Jon Hayward, Jonathan Hayward, Keith Williams, longboard, Malc Dredge, Mick Thompson, Mike Smith, Morthoe, North Devon, paul blackley, people, photo, photographs, Richard Harvey, Riverside Motors, Sid Pitman, stoked, surf, Surf Trip, Surf Trips, Surfer, surfing, waves, wightsurfhistory | Comments Off on Morthoe Surf Trip 1987