FRANCE 2004
Frenchy at Lafatania
On the 29th of September at approximately 2100hrs, 11 members of the RN/RM surf club met up at Plymouth ferry port in eager anticipation of the impending surf training trip to France. Having checked the swell forecast for the forthcoming week it was apparent that we were in for some excellent waves, these conditions being the result of the last hurricane to batter the east coast of America. For the less well informed, if you are going to plan a surf trip to France, then September/October is an ideal time to go; the water is still warm enough for boardies, the beaches are less crowed than in summer and the previously mentioned hurricane season on America’s east coast is having its full impact on any European beach facing West, add to this the remnants of Summer and you have the perfect ingredients for an awesome trip. It was with these thoughts that we set off to tackle the heavy beach and reef breaks of South West France, the team were going to be located at a campsite called Lafatania, this is approximately 10 miles south of Biarritz it is ideally suited for this time of year capable of holding up to a good 15 foot swell, the group was of a mixed ability and if the swell got too big (which it did) then observing some of us getting a serious beating from mother nature became a most entertaining sport. On those big days we also had the opportunity to travel further south and surf beaches not exposed to as much swell, the team had two minibus’s this allowed a split of abilities ensuring that everyone got to surf in whatever conditions they were capable.
BOYS ON TOUR
The overnight Ferry crossing to Roscoff was uneventful, some old and new acquaintances were made and much talk was had, “Big Wave Dave” reminded us all of his supreme water abilities, skills that could only be achieved through many hours in the water or was that the PUB. In the morning we awoke ready for the marathon drive down the whole west coast of France, this is an epic!, we stopped only for fuel, food and the obligatory swamp stop, we worked a roster on the drivers and pulled into our camp site some ten and a half hours later. The swell at this point was only about 2 foot, and with about one hours daylight left we managed to set up camp just before it got dark. Have you ever seen a matelot put up a tent??
ACCOMMODATION FOR THE WEEK/SEA VIEWS
On the first day awakening in our new camp site we were greeted with a still relatively small swell of about two feet, there were mutterings of “when is this swell going to arrive that you all keep talking about?” With the small swell at Lafatania the group went in search of something a bit bigger and were rewarded with a reasonable size swell at Cavaliers it was in the region of 3-4 feet there was a light offshore wind and the sun was out; day one surfing had turned into a little gem. Everyone had a good days surfing and that evening a few dits were spun about various waves/wipeouts etc. ‘Snowball’ obviously short of surfing dits managed to bring up in the conversation that he had only one ball, yes! one testicle that is! we couldn’t believe him, however no encouragement was required in him getting his tackle out to prove it, needless to say for the rest of the trip he was referred to as oneball, oddball and various other slangs. After a well earned meal at the Buffalo Grill the crew retired to their campsite in preparation for the next days events
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JUSTIN CAVALIERS
Saturday morning and the crew were up bright and early ready for some more waves, we had made a collective decision on arriving at Lafatania that if the swell was small then the transport would always leave at 0800hrs in order to search for better waves, this meant minimum daylight hours were wasted sitting driving around when all you wanted to be was in the water surfing. The group split and half went to ‘Cote De Basque’ a longboarders wave, while the remainder went to surf at the beach breaks of ‘Hossegor-sand dredging heavy barrels, it was apparent throughout the day that with every hour the swell was starting to increase and it was with anticipation that we waited to see how big it would get. The forecast had indicated a possible 10-15 foot swell.
During our time in France the Association of Surfing Professionals ASP would be taking in part the Quicksilver Pro competition to be held at Hossegor, it was a mobile event and the pros would surf whatever sandbars were breaking best. It was on this Saturday that a few of the boys got to watch some of their heroes literally rip the waves to shreds, giving a fantastic demonstration of exceptional surfing ability; little did they know but the next day was going to prove monumental in the history of European surfing competitions.
PROS RIP
On returning to our tented camp that evening it was obvious the conditions had changed dramatically, Lafatania was now turning it on, the swell had gone from being about 3 foot in the morning to a good solid 6-8 feet, there was about an hour and half left until darkness and it was with this thought in our minds that a few of us raced into our wetsuits and quickly paddled into the lineup. The wave at Lafatania is a point right hand reef break which peels for about 400 yards it is not the fastest right hand wave in the world but, when the swell gets big you can have solid 10 foot clear air drops these fire you down the line towards a stalling lip which is perfect for practicing your cutbacks; occasionally you will get a set swinging wide and if your on the wrong side of it, then standby for a very humbling experience. We surfed that evening until it started to get dark then got out of the water thinking how tired ours arms were, hopefully they would recover before first light because the surf was going to be Massive.
LAFATANIA WELL OVERHEAD/MASSIVE
Sunday morning some of us got up at 0600hrs, it was still dark but you could hear the booming of the ocean as it unleashed its power on the near shore. Shit its massive we thought then turned to the job in hand, breakfast was had, stretching carried out, toilet etc all the things you do when you know the Ocean is big, Sunday morning was extremely big somewhere easily in the region of a solid 10-12 foot swell, this was the hurricane swell here at last. We sat and watched the sets for a good twenty minutes planning how to get in and out keeping things as safe as possible. The sets were coming in nice long periods giving enough time to get in/out of the water, if you got it wrong then you were going to end up on a ten foot shore dump wave doing a nice big face plant right back on the beach.
We paddled out into the rip with about four other people in the water this was now 0715AM. As we paddled out, I kept reminding myself not to sit too deep no kickings today please GOD. As we got to the lineup a set wave came through a local French lad paddled into it taking a free air drop into a wave that was easily three times overhead.
That morning was an epic I had about 4 or 5 waves then got out thinking how lucky I was to still be in one piece. As we got back to the tents some people were just getting up and we decided that it would be worth going to look for somewhere a little bit more manageable for us all. Next stop Hosssegor.
SUNNY GARCIA KICKING SERIOUS BUTT
HOSSEGOR GOES OFF!
“Quicksilver were rumored to have God on their payroll” commented a local surf magazine, the surf at Hossegor that day was 12-16 feet solid, conditions were compared to Sunset Beach in Hawaii, the surf was that big that all the pros were towed out to the line up via jet ski, we sat down and watched some of the best surfers on the planet do their stuff, in the background we watched the local tow-in boys being pulled into twenty foot waves.(check the Photos,)
FIFTEEN FOOT SET WAVE/TOW-INS WERE THE ORDER OF THE DAY
That afternoon after the competition finished we decided to head for ‘Cote de Basque and surfed waves in the region of 4-5 feet. On completion of our surf and coming to realize that you just can’t physically surf all day we retired to the local bar for a few quiet beers.
Whilst standing at the BAR someone pointed out how BIG WAVE DAVE’S HAIR, had started to go a strange colour of orange, and with subsequent interrogation the sad individual admitted to smothering his head with SUN IN. Well GINGE we know that was a mistake now don’t we!!. Whilst some of us were interrogating GINGE, a few of the lads had gone back to the challenge of Lafatania they turned up few hours later telling tales of lucky escapes something to do with 12 foot waves, it being dark and trying to get out of the water.
PETE/LA NORD
For the remainder of the trip the surf didn’t drop below 4-6 foot, the sun shone pretty much every day and with individuals starting to realize the limitations of being a human being it wasn’t long before muscle fatigue started to set in. Three surfs a day were becoming two surfs as recovery time took longer. Waves surfed over the next few days were Lafatania every morning by the early crew, Hossegor, Cavaliers and La Barre all providing quality waves. The whole time we were in France the wind was offshore and the swell consistently pumped, it was without doubt a most successful trip, some of the highlights in terms of Surfing was getting there in time for the hurricane swell and being able to watch the Pros surf at the Quicksilver contest in Hossegor. Everyone came back from the trip happy with the level of surfing that they had achieved, with a total distance traveled of some 3239 miles there were a few sleepy heads on the ferry. Some of the lessons learned were, don’t ever admit to putting SUN IN on your head, always say you have two balls not one and never forget to put your tachometer into your vehicle if it’s fitted for one(we luckily escaped a 2000 euro fine with the production of a military ID card). The next surf training trip to France will hopefully be planned to include the Plymouth-Santander Ferry route, remember these trips cater for a full range of abilities apart from you horrible little spongers (that is).
BIG WAVE DAVE/LA NORD
A huge amount of thanks goes to CDR Barge RN, HMS Temeraire for his guidance in the planning and financial support for some of the trip, also Bill the Lot man for the contribution made from the sports lottery Fund. So who fancies a trip to Indo then?
A final phot for the ladies, none other than our very own RM PTI rippling in France, C/SGT Warren Keys-Smith nice shorts Warren!!
THE END.