Brant Lake Camp 1989-2009. So, how do I begin trying to explain this place Brant Lake Camp to the uninitiated? Short answer is I can’t. But being told I can’t do something, never stopped me before. In fact, it usually made me more determined, so here goes. I would guess there are other camps that are equally meaningful to their own alumni, although I’m not so sure. I spent just 9 days back at my “other home” in early July and, yes, there were moments of frustration and despair, and times when I wondered if I’d get my voice back [View Full Entry]

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Surfing Chat: How to Play Your Mates Up Obviously with all nang sports comes the nang sports lingo. American Pie (the movie, in fact the greatest movie trilogy of all time - yep, Star Wars quite literally wasn't on the same planet!) had a formula for calculating how many boy/girlfriends you actually hooked up with at College. For guys you have to divide their claims by 3, and for girls you multiply by 3. You have to apply similar principles when listening to your surf buddies tell you how good the waves were when you weren't there. So, if I were [View Full Entry]

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San Sebastian Surf We soon got into a rhythm in San Sebastian. Wake up early, hit the surf before the wind (and the crowds) pick up, find a cool breakfast spot, then head into town, before planning the evening session as the winds drop again. Today was no different, other than it followed the night before. I was carrying a wash of ale in my stomach and surfing in this state was like trying to paddle out on a water bed. Still, it didn't stop me. By day, San Sebastian was a pretty cool city with a lot of culture, some [View Full Entry]

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Onboard the Pont Aven The fezza trip was rocking - well rocking in the same way that Chesney Hawkes is rocking - in fact it was a little too much like a mill-pond. Well, right up until the point when the captain announced the "Orca Team" had just spotted a whale on the right hand side of the boat. At which point, the ferry keeled over to Starboard. You didn't think that one through did you skip! We had a lovely meal in the rezza (on the fezza) and settled in for some crap magic at the cabaret. To be fair [View Full Entry]

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The Wedginald's So as is routine at this time of year - the Wedge had us drive down to Plyms to do some bitch work on his yacht. This involves finding some skanky old paint (anti-foul actually) and slapping it on the "Seraph's" underside - I think they call it hull. Fortunately, the weather was with us, so it wa'n't too painful. Sailing up the River Having done all of Wedge's bitch work, while he claimed to be busy saving the world with Nuclear Submarine Safety Procedures (unfortunately that's true - well I don't think he's actually saved the world yet, [View Full Entry]

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Useless & Colin Buckle Up So, holiday season begins, and ‘The Duke’ had his first lengthy road trip - culminating in a ferry crossing to a whole other country (or 2). Hitchhiking along for the ride was Colin the Clanger. Col has some travelling experience but ostensibly this was gonna be his ‘trip of a lifetime.’ So, to ensure Colin didn’t ‘peak too soon’ we eased our way into the trip with a nice visit to the local vets. Colin said goodbye to Useless and then was warned about what happens to naughty Clangers with a visit to one of Leonard [View Full Entry]

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Bangin Sounds Unfortunately I didn't take any pics of the speakers going in, though it was a right mission. Had to take the side panels off to jig saw the holes in, which also meant taking the units out to get the driver's side panel off. As the recesses were not deep enough to house me bangin speakers I had to make an extension ring for both sides. Fortunately I'd left enough excess in the carpet to wrap neatly under the speakers. Finally had to trail the cables under the roof and down the passenger side door frame. With plenty of [View Full Entry]

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Heading South for the Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend So the van, nearing completion took off (with my assistance) on route to Cornwall for a few days of camping, surfing and general beach grooving. We managed to score some cheeky waves on Saturday night in a swell that was supposed to have gone, but hung on just long enough for us to get wet and make fools of ourselves again. All good fun, and we managed a 2 hour session. Water warming up too - summer suit and boots only this time. A nice change to full winters on the last trip [View Full Entry]

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Getting the table in place Back to Dave Lowe's place for the table fitting. I managed to pick up the leg, floor mount and top plate for about £20 from a company who sell all sorts of bits for boats & caravans etc. The base was made of plastic but looked strong enough. The only glitch to this bit was the strengtheners running across the bottom of the base. So having found the right spot for the table - ensuring we weren't gonna hit any pipes or suchlike underneath Dave drilled the central hole. Then to ensure we got a snug [View Full Entry]

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Rock-n-Roll Baby Yeah! Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of the bed seat fitting but it was a pretty painless process. Again, there are a few places who make the beds. I went for one made of steel in a Worksop buy a guy who has made hundreds. He's adapted his design over a number of years, and the latest version fits neatly to the existing floor mounts (so no need for additional welding etc), it has a high seat back (for extra comfort) and also includes seat belts. The total cost including the boards and high density foam made to [View Full Entry]

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