Saturday was spent by Anna doing more shopping & getting us even closer to having everything we need for PiwiWiwi. I really must get a photo of our garage - its bursting!
I spent most of the day modifying & improving the strap arrangement in our prototype van. I then headed out to 'test drive' another longboard. How many do I need? Well, seeing as Anna likes stealing mine I guess at least two.. Anyway, the waves were rubbish (too much wind) but the board was good so I agreed to buy it.
Anna got back just in time for us to go to a 'Pecha Kucha' night at Raglan's community centre. I'd never heard of this type of thing before but basically it gives people 20 slides at 20 seconds each (so just over 6 1/2 minutes) to talk about something they are interested in. It was great, with stories about the windfarm up on the hill, interior design, Kuwait's 1991 oil field fires (truly amazing eyewitness story) & designing the new Museum that's nearly built in Raglan. It was really good for us 'newcomers' because it was a community thing & we got chatting to some great people. One of these was Simon, a guy who'd helped point me to the right skip for dead computers at Extreme Waste, who asked me how the project was going. Drat! 'Forgotten' I said, but thought I'd better get on with it before too long.
Today (Sunday) dawned sunny & cold (we actually had frost last week, I was skating down our steps by the time I realised it) but most importantly, still. No wind means good waves. The beach had some great waves & I got some of them! Anna got a pretty big one too & did amazingly well considering she hasn't faced anything like this before. After the great surf we had bacon sarnies then I set to trimming the various trees & shrubs that scrape down our van each time we drive in or out. Then it was more bacon sarnies & another surf, this time windier & more choppy but good all the same. I misread a couple of waves & got eaten & pummeled by them but also got a couple or three very good ones too. Next, into town to collect the new longboard. Its another non-standard by a crazy Californian shaper so it will fit right in with our Campbell Brother's Bonzer 5 & George Greenough 'Wilderness' board. After our two surfs obviously we were hungry so we dined out on burgers! I had a tasty double bacon, double cheese burger. Look, we don't often eat meat & today I was HUNGRY ok?! What's wrong with every meal in a day having bacon in it?
Anyway, it hit the spot & after letting it settle for a while I decided to do get on with the aforementioned project. About an hour in the garage (wearing two fleeces, gloves & a hat) with drill, jigsaw, soldering iron etc.* & I produced something that should see my getting into a dry wetsuit rather than a cold & wet one tomorrow morning! Its basically a couple of old computer fans attached to a couple of clothes hangers. The fans run off a drill battery & blow air through the wetsuit so it drys more quickly. Everything went together ok so providing the battery's got enough juice I should not be so cold tomorrow morning!
Finally, its gone midnight so Happy Birthday Mum, have a great day.
*I love the fact that I have a workshop. Everyone should have one. Make space for one, let yourself try out the things you always said you would. Its great!
Stop pointing that thing at me!
Manu Bay looking nice
Ready for surf 2
Shell on beach Copyright A. Cunningham
Karioi from the beach
Who's this? She has slightly redder cheeks now...
The workshop / storage.
It ain't pretty...
Nor's this!
But it works!
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