My First wave at Aileens and More!

Photo: Micheal Fairbairn (@old_man_fairbs)

                      On the 10th of October 2015 an amazing day began to unfold. I started early, a standard leave at 6am job. I reached Kennedys centre in Lahinch at 8:15 from where I collected Lahinch local Tadhg Kennedy. We got some rocket fuel (orange juice) and headed on to the Cliffs of Moher. Tadhg and I jumped out of the car and with towels, boards and wetsuits flying everywhere, we ran down the cliff. On the way down we bumped into Stef Skajarowski, Peter Conroy and Alex Gray, all of whom were stoked on us getting into the water! We carried on down the goats trail and threw our wetsuits on ourselves. We then met fellow rebel booger Cian O Donavan and surfer John "Podge" O Donnell. We ran all the way down, Cian and myself first, Tadhg and John just behind us. Cian was telling me about the previous evenings antics and before I knew it we were at the waters edge! I put my fins and leash on and began paddling out. My heart was beating fast but I must admit the excitement outweighed the nerves! As we neared the peak we bumped into Matt Smith and Mitch Corbett who both wished us good luck and headed in with big smiles on their faces, a sign of things to come for us! We eventually made it to the peak and a nice looking set came in. I looked around me, no body had committed to it so I stamped my name on it and went! I dropped down the face at speed I have never felt on a bodyboard. The wave felt so big that my eyes struggled to focus on the bottom of the wave as it was so far away! I made it all the way down it and kicked off with hand shakes and smiles of congratulations from the lads! I was absolutely delighted! Then the biggest set of the day came in and I went on the first one, once again couldn't believe i was living the dream! I turned around to see Cian dropping down the face of the biggest wave I have ever seen in person! I was so happy for him! We had surfed all the other waves around together for the first time and it was nice to do the same at Aileens! We then got out and began making our way to part 2 of our day!

Photo: Tadhg Kennedy (@tadhgkennedy0)

        So onwards we went, to the infamous slab that we all love! It was safe to safe it was absolutely pumping!! I jumped in straight away and I had at least 3 of the best waves of my life! The vibe was great, plenty of craic with the lads. This was the best session and there is no point in me trying to portray how it made me felt on this because I simply couldn't! I hope the photos do it justice!

Photo: Clem McInerney (@clemymc)

Photo: Clem McInerny (@clemymc)

Ehmm party wave? Photo: Tom Knox (@tomknox.ky)

Loved this wave! Photo: Tom Gillespie (@tom_gillespie)

   I am so excited for the winter ahead! Hopefully some amazing sessions at this left and some more experience out at Aileens! Hopefully next time I will have a photo of my waves!! Thank you to all the photographers who have been documenting it all! Thanks to all the lads who have helped me in these waves over the last few months and for being legends! Yieww!

  

                                    SUMMER 2015!

(Clem McInerny)

Photos: Clem McInerny (@clemymc)

              Cian O Mahony (@cianxxii)

              Conor McGuinness (@c.m.gram)

              Gavin Cronin (@gavincronin14)

                                          It has been an action packed summer, plenty of waves and plenty of great memories! My summer started with a few sessions at a well known slab in Clare. I have been making a lot of progress there and i'm getting more familiar with the place each time I go out! I got 2 of the best waves of my life there this summer so I can't wait to see what winter will bring!

(Clem McInerny)

                   At the end of July I went to Kerry with my family and a Spanish friend of mine, Jaime. Jaime and I planned on surfing for the 2 weeks while my family went did their own thing. This plan went well because over the 2 weeks I surfed for 70 hours! We got plenty of waves but only a handful of good days. I was working on getting my spins faster, inverts and backflips. My spins improved greatly and I was getting close to backflips but I hadn't really found a proper section to land one yet! I landed one nice invert and since then I have landed another few. I was really happy to see improvements in my surfing with the effort I was putting in!

(Conor McGuinness)

                   Coming to the end of the summer I had a competition up in Donegal. It was the last one of the 2015 tour so the category 2015 winners. The waves were due to be pumping so I was really looking forward to it. We woke up early, had some breakfast and were at the competition site for 8:50am and the waves looked unreal! Head and a half to double over head on the biggest ones and nice and clean with the offshore breeze! I was keen on a surf before my heat so I paddled out with David Hartley an under 16 shortboarder! It was great surfing with just the two of us out catching nice clean waves for about an hour! My heat was on at 12:30 against fellow Cork man Billy "Billzo" Cronin. I was looking forward to competing in good waves with just the two of us out. We paddled out and I caught a good few waves. I finished the heat in first place with two 8's and an overall heat total of 16.00. I was happy with how I surfed in the heat. One of my friends then text me saying that one of the reefs in Bundoran was pumping but I was trapped in Rossnowladh. To help my broken heart and to pass some time I went for a 2 hour surf in Rossnowladh and had a bit of fun trying drop knee! The presentation then started at 6:30 and everyone got medals. Then they announced the tour winners, I won the under 18 bodyboarding, so I was happy! We then shot over to Bundoran to surf one of the reefs by a housing estate and myself and Billy jumped in straight away! It was pumping and just us, Jason and Garbhan out, trading epic waves for an hour and a half! I would like to thank Jason for the help with positioning out there! I was delighted, we caught some really fun waves. After, I went into town and Conor Maguire the legend donated a wetsuit to me which I was very grateful for as my old 3:2 was a bit chilly! 

  

               Overall it was a fantastic weekend for me and my club! I would like to congratulate everyone on their wins and good luck next year! Here are some other photos from the summer!

(Clem McInerny)

(Clem McInerny)

(Conor McGuinness)

(Me!)

(Conor McGuinness)

(Cian O Mahony)

(Gavin Cronin)

Thanks to my sponsor Bigsurfshop!

Thank you for reading! Until next time!

(John O Donnell)

                                  Making Progress!

Images by:  Cj Henry and Andrew Kilfeather.

Instagram: @Clemymc

Facebook: Andrew Kilfeather Photography 

Instagram: @Andrewkilfeather

 

          For once I hadn't been looking at the forecast constantly. I had been working loads, and Cian was on holidays so I wasn't sure would I have a lift even if there were to be waves, therefore I wasn't too keen on looking and finding out that it was going to be pumping and I wasn't able to get there. 

         Anyway, Tadhg rang me up out of nowhere on Sunday night and says to me, "Going to be pumping up here tomorrow evening, get up here fast!!" He said I could stay at his house and that the spot we were going to would not work until about 2pm on Monday anyway! I had a look at bus times and found out I could leave at 6 in the morning from cork and eventually make it to Lahinch by 11:30am on Monday. I quickly gathered everything I needed and headed to bed for an early start the next morning. After a long bus journey I finally made it. Myself and Tadhg had some time to burn so we had a bite to eat while talking about the craziness that we were about to encounter. The legend himself Dan Skajarowski picked us up at 2pm and we headed for the coast. 

                                                     

 Photo: Cj Henry

 We reached our location and started to walk through the numerous fields to get to the wave. It was well worth it as we were greeted by a 6ft bomb running all the way across the slab accompanied by a huge spit at the end. It was by far my biggest day out there and I knew I wouldn't go in if I watched it for too long, so I threw on my wetsuit and got out there as quick as I could. On my way out Stephen Kilfeather got the airdrop of the day right infront of me and from then on I wasn't scared anymore, I was just so stoked to be out there! I messed around with a few warm up waves and then a medium sized one came in. To be fair to the lads the gave me a chance to catch it so I gratefully took the chance and went. I dropped down the face on the biggest wave I had ever caught out there and made it all the way to the end. I was delighted. I couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the day. Here is the wave that got me this excited!

                                      

                                           My face of pure excitement when I made it!

                                                    Photos: Cj Henry

That was an average one that day. I must admit that on the big ones, Shane Meehan, Dan Skajarowski, Andrew Kilfeather Liam Grant and Fergal Smith were the standouts on the boog. I can honestly say that I have never seen bodyboarding like it. They were pulling in to these massive kegs so stylishly and smoothly and getting blown out of them at the end. It really inspired me for the next time I am out there. I have to catch a bomb! 

                                                          Dan on a lovely sunny one!

                                                                  Photo: Cj Henry

                                                   Shane Meehan Lining one up stylishly!

                                                          Photo: Andrew Kilfeather.

     The waves kept coming! I have to hand it to everyone out there, the surfers were going crazy! I have never seen anyone surf waves of this heaviness before and the lads put on a show! I think we can all agree that it was an amazing day of surfing, and one that I will never forget. Massive thanks to all the lads out there for all the tips and confidence. Can't wait for another day like it again!

                                        Me dropping into one of my bigger ones of the day!

                                                         Photo: Andrew Kilfeather.

                                                           Me shtallin the ball!

                                                      Photo: Andrew Kilfeather

Massive thanks to Andrew and Cj for the photos!

And thanks to my sponsors: Bigsurfshop and Proteus clothing.

                                                   

                                Another day in Clare!

                                     Hugh Galloway on a Beauty!

               I spotted the forecast for this day very early. When I first saw it it looked perfect, bar the neap high tide. This meant it was going to be shallow.. if the forecast stayed the same. Thankfully it did! Cian had gone on holidays so I was going solo for this one. I left at 9am on the Thursday and arrived at 11:45am. It was perfect timing. I quickly gathered my things and myself and Tadhg Kennedy (Lahinch local and a very good friend of mine) ran down in what usually take 30 minutes, in 17 minutes! Tadhg was injured so unfortunately he couldn't get in the water. I got changed quickly as I wasn't sure as to how long the perfect conditions would last for. 

Photos: Tadhg Kennedy!

     I hopped in the water as soon as I was changed. I paddled out the back and I couldn't wait to catch one. There was a good crew out there, consisting of, Hugh Galloway, Peter Conroy, Clem McInerny, Stef skajarowski, Seamus O Riain, Fergal Smith and George Karbus. I have to admit, it felt amazing for me to be out in the water with some of the guys that inspired me to go surf these heavier waves in the first place! I had a few warm up waves and then a big one came in and the lads shouted at me to go. I was way too deep but went anyway. I fell and for a milli second I was very scared but I came up out of the wipeout unscathed and with a lot more confidence! From there on I started pulling into a few barrels and boosting off the end section! I was having so much that I hadn't even noticed how low the tide had got. It was time to get out, but not before Rileys threw the biggest wave of the day towards Myself and Fergal (everyone else had gone in) Fergal would be well used to big waves as he is one of the best surfers in Ireland. Me on the other hand I started to paddle to get out of there and I almost got caught and thrown towards the seabed quite close below, fortunately I got over it and I was okay! 

               It was a very memorable session for me. I gained so much confidence out there and I can't wait to surf there again! Maybe with a bit more size next time! I really am loving surfing these heavier waves and I am learning so much as I ride them! Here are two screengrabs from Thursday!                       

 Photos: Clem McInerny

Thanks to my sponsors : Bigsurfshop.com

                                        Proteus Clothing co.

 

  

First Session At Rileys!

                                      

                                       Rileys!

Where to start is the question! What a day. I figure I might as well start right from the beginning!

                                                 All the sessions, the hours I have spent surfing slabs and heavy waves have all lead up to surfing Rileys in my mind! Surfing a wave like it was the reason I started bodyboarding in the first place. Cian and I had seen a potential Rileys session a couple days previous so we were so happy when we saw that the forecast had stuck and that we thought she would be working. It was an early one again and we reached Clare at 8am with the prospect of surfing 2 differant slabs before heading onto Rileys. The first place we went to looked good but when we got out there the wind was blowing in the wrong direction and it wasn't breaking the way it usually does so we got out after about an hour and a half, disappointed but happy to get in the water none the less!

                                                         

                                                                                                                             We then met up with our friends Tom and Emer and went for a well needed breakfast . We had a lovely 2 hours having a laugh and exchanging stories. Myself and Cian then realised that it was time we headed to our second wave of the day so we parted ways with Tom and Emer and struck off to our second stop of the day! When we arrived it was pretty windy and it wasn't looking good. The two of us sat in the grass examining it anyway just in case it started to work so we would have had time to get in straight away. That didn't happen, the waves stayed like it was so I guess we will have to wait to surf her! 

                  

                          

          After about 3 hours of watching waves, playing music and playing cards, finally it was time to head to Rileys where we met up with Tom and Emer as Tom wanted to surf it too! When we turned up it looked perfect! Head and a half to double over head perfect lefts coming through! We were stoked! We packed up and headed down. The usual half hour walk down didn't seem to take as long this time. We didn't really look at the wave much when we went down, I just wanted to get in the water! I was nervous. I paddled out and as soon as I was in position I saw a massive wall of water roll in, the offshore wind slowly started to make the lip pick up. Then the the wave jacked up and the lip threw out so far accompanied with a bomb like noise. It was on! I caught my first wave and my nerves began to settle. I slowly but surely worked my way to the peak. A big set came in and I began to paddle for it. As the wave began to pick me up I looked down to see the slab of rock beneath the surface in perfect view. I dropped down the face and pulled in and made it out of the end section barrel! I pulled off the wave and I knew that that wave was one of the better ones I had ever caught in my life! I was so happy! I can not wait to go down there again! Here are a few photos of Rileys, unfortunately the camera ran out of battery so the whole session wasn't documented!

Photos: Emer Murphy.

                           Cian

 Cian about to drop in!

 Me eyeing up the end section!

    

Where did the waves go?

 

Small Slab Session                                   Photos: Jack ClohessyInstagram: jackclohessy 

Myself and Cian hadn't surfed in about 2 weeks. There hadn't been waves in Cork and everywhere else was just big, onshore and not worth the trip up to. We saw a slight opportunity to get a surf in at one of our favorite waves. Even though we knew it wasn't going to be great, we needed a surf and decided it was worth the trip!

                           

We left at 6am as the tide suited a surf for about 8am and it's a two hour drive to Clare from our houses. When we arrived the tide was still a bit low but we couldn't wait for another surf so we jumped in anyway and were in the water for 8:30. It was pretty fun out there for how small it was and we traded waves for almost 3 hours. Only two of us out and we were happy!

The tide then got too low, so we jumped out and headed for lunch. We had some time to burn before it would start working again so we decided to go look for a place that one our friends had told us about a couple of weeks ago. It took us a while be we eventually found it and it looked like it had the making of a sick wave! I can't wait to surf it, After our little search we decided it was about time we went back to that slab so we headed off over to it. When we turned up it looked pretty similar to that morning so we got in for 2.5 hours. I was happy because I landed a nice ARS and I got a lovely little barrel on my last wave! Good end to a fun fun day. Looking forward to the next proper swell, Which hopefully won't be too long away!  Here is the rest of the photos.

Cian lining one up.

Thanks to Bigsurfshop for the support over the past few months.