Sorry I have not written on here for quite a while. Things have been surprisingly busy here. We went to El Tur for 3 days last week, which was great. We had a small amount of time to ourselves to windsurf, and then we had a busy day doing photoshoots with Oceansource.

The photo shoots were because the new hotel at the wave beach there is very close to being finished, and ready to open. There are no centres in the new hotel yet, but its still looking good for non windsurfer’s as well as a bit more luxury for windsurfers in a brilliant spot. The wavebeach is offering its well known and loved conditions as usual, nothing has changed on the beach its still the unspoilt, quiet cross-on wave spot.

Phil and I got some sailing in on our new Severne S1’s both in the bay and at the wavebeach, followed by me getting out in the waves to do a watershoot for Brad, a South African kiter who will be working in the near future with Oceansource for clinics and stuff. Being my first in water shoot in waves, it was interesting, rather amusing, and also quite rewarding to get a few great shots from it. It wasn’t the windiest of days we have had there but for kiting it was ideal, and for me it was ideal, any bigger waves and I think I would have probably swallowed half the Red Sea.

Since this trip we have been back in Dahab, working hard and also testing out our new sails from Severne. They are great, they look fantastic, can be seen for miles and as we are the only ones in the bay using them you can’t miss us! They feel good, they have changed slightly from last year but nothing major, and are still lightweight powerful sails which work really well for being thrown around for freestyle.

This week we are awaiting our stickers to be ready, we have ordered them locally and they should be ready today I hope. We have some coaching lined up next week, and then its over to El Tur again on the 12^th for our next clinic, which is due to be a great week.

All exciting stuff!

Windy in Egypt

Its been really windy here in Dahab, Phil and I have been busy teaching and photographing and things are going good! I am off the water for a few days but hopefully not long, this weeks forecast looks fantastic. We have been too busy to get many photo shoots for ourselves in, but maybe tomorrow if i cant windsurf i will get in the water and do a shoot for the others :) Until then here's one of Phil enjoying his new board.

Nice new board!!!

So got some Go Pro pics, not the best but still show my good looking new board! I'm getting more used to it now, got some nice spock 540's yesterday, so much faster than my old board! Sweet!

Will be getting more photos asap of Phil and myself using the new kit, and will get them up for all to see, until then time for me to go windsurfing :) and enjoy our few days break in El Tur.

Our next clinic date has been announced for Oct 11th-16th here in El Tur. Be in touch if you or anyone you know is interested!

getwindsurfing.danielle@gmail.com

My holiday was awesome..rainy and cold....awesome!

We are now back in Dahab Egypt, with shiny a new 90l Fanatic Skate each. They look awesome with all the colours and having spent a few hours on mine, so far so good. They are much faster than my last board, not only blasting but also spinning and rotating during moves, something I am getting used to, but trying all the stuff I've been trying I had a great time, I can see i'm going to have a lot of fun with it and hopefully master lots of new moves. E Sliders are getting stupidly close now :) I started trying shuv-its again too...to me it's like a big wiggle but I will keep at it because its such a cool move.

We were working today so we didn't get any opportunity to get photos but tomorrow until saturday we'll be in El Tur for a mini holiday with mates so should be able to get some good shots over there. Watch this space!

I am currently back in the UK having a short holiday with family. Its lovely to be back, being with family, eating good food and enjoying a lot less heat (25degrees or so less!!). I am not feeling so well today which is sod's law, just when I want to OD on good food and things I have been missing having been in Egypt, I'm stuck on plain food..hopefully not for long as we are lucky enough to be going to a hotel this weekend with the whole of my mums family for my grandmas 80th! Its set to be a great weekend, Phil will be back by then too, even better!

Things in Dahab have been good, very very busy. We have had loads of work which is good, as well as a lot of friends out in Egypt too! Its been great to see mates, sail with them and enjoy some good nights out and chilled out afternoons. When we return we will have a few days holiday in El Tur with them too, which will be lovely, and hopefully we should have our hands on new boards by then too! Very exciting times.

Until then, I here are a few pictures we have been taking in the last week or two in Dahab. Hope you enjoy! I have also found I have 2 or 3 pictures printed in this months boards magazine too! I think thats the 3rd issue now to have my photos up, very happy!

GetWindsurfing and Bray Lake

Getwindsurfing is something Phil and I have been working on since we decided to finish working in El Tur. We wanted to push ourselves freelancing windsurfing coaching and also doing photos, lining up some clinics at the same time and trying to make a go of it in the coaching world, working for ourselves. We chose the name Getwindsurfing and have brought the domain name Getwindurfing.com which will soon have our website up in action! We have moved to Dahab because of this, as there are so many hundreds more windsurfers here every week than anywhere else in Egypt. Our goals look further than just Egypt, aiming to make something which we can in the future take anywhere, to make the best of all the amazing locations for windsurfers around the world, sharing our knowledge and love of the sport with as many people as we can on the way.

Phil and I have been working in the past and have very close friends and connections with Bray Lake, a windsurfing and sailing centre and club in Maidenhead, UK. Since we have started doing our own thing setting up Getwindsurfing, they have very kindly offered us even more support than they had already been giving us, in a form of sponsorship, helping us to be able to pursue our ideas easier than it would otherwise be.

For us this is fantastic and we are already enjoying the benefits as well as knowing we are working together again with them, in different ways. Obviously we meet many windsurfers from all over, and many are keen to learn of a new place to sail, a club to join to meet other windsurfers, or even just a shop where they can visit to get good advice and equipment. Bray Lake has all this to offer and more, and we are really keen to encourage people to keep it in mind for their windsurfing needs. Their website can be found in my links section, where you find their blog, very funny to read at the moment as the boys from Bray are writing about their trip to Morrocco, and also the forum. They also brought their club trip out to Egypt to visit us when we were just finishing work in El Tur and this was a fun week with many people learning loads from their time on the water, and so we have had some great times with the crew from there too.

So basically we just want to thank the lake for the support and encourage everyone we know to think of them for all things watersports.

News...

Been a bit lazy on my blog, sorry!! We have been organising and participating in EL Tornament 2010! Check out the blog and also the facebook page

Will be back online with more blogging soon!! Almost landing a couple of new moves... so definitly have to have a photo shoot soon and some new video clips.

Until then enjoy the tornament action and also check out my video, not great upload quality due to being in egypt but when i get to the UK i will update it with a full quality version.

Thanks guys!

water shoot action!

I got out for a water shoot two days ago here in Dahab, with some of the staff sailors. It was great fun if a little scary at times, the scariest moments not being the guys freestyling incredibly close but the other random sailors who seemed to magnetically attracted to wherever I seemed to go...its always the way.

We got some great shots, some of which i have put up for you to see. I will also be putting images on our facebook page, Getwindsurfing http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=108269209223401.

Check out our page and join up if you haven't already.

I love go-pro!

Road tripping round the Sinai!

Back in El Tur, we are spending some time planning some future clinics and getting some photos and footage for promotion. Its good to be back, we had a great session up at the wavebeach yesterday, the waves were awesome, got some good airtime as well as some great riding. Who says Egypt is only for flat water!

We are now in the car, using mobile internet (Egypt is coming along in the world of technology) and we are on the road north from El Tur, headed to Moon Beach to check the location out for future work and clinic oportunities. Its really exciting, and we are looking forward to getting on the water to see what its all about, as well as meeting the team and seeing what kit they have. I have now set up a blog for the next El Tornament, check it out: www.eltornament2010.blogspot.com

We will be updating this as soon as possible, so keep checking it out. The comp will be on the 31st July so we have less than one month now to get everyone involved, arrange prizes and make it a great event again, following last years. Can't wait!

dahab action :)

Having spent a few days getting settled in Dahab, we are now back in El Tur for a short while to handover to the new manager of Oceansource. We managed to get some photo time for ourselves yesterday whilst shooting in Dahab...good day with a nice mix of work and play...here's a few to taste, its great to shoot in a new location and i can see Dahab has a lot of potential for different angles which will work great at different times of day...good stuff :)

Oh yeah hop you like the lion fish, we think it is pretty cool! :) We have some local camels by our house, they will be featuring soon too :)

New Pad :)

We have now moved home, from the west coast of the Sinai Penisular in Egypt to the East coast. From El Tur to Dahab. Dahab is a very famous windsurfing spot, where we have decided to base ourselves for the rest of the summer to try to establish ourselves as freelance coaches and also we will be doing some photography on the side too.

Our new pad is really nice, very hot today but everywhere is with 45degrees C +!!! I have attached some pics, please note the empty bedroom waiting for guests ;)

All is good here, and will hopefully get some fresh pictures of me and mr phil up on here very soon....very busy with new plans but we will make sure of it!

A little more time now....

I edited my blog and now I can't undo the changes, so I am stuck with Jelly beans for now as I can't find anything better! I was hoping I could use my own photo for the background but apparently not :(

Now we have a little more time, after a brilliant week with the Bray Lake group, I have put up some more pictures for you.

Phil and I have also had some time and decided on a new name for our website for our up and coming job change and new adventures (trying to break into the world of freelance coaching), beginning here in Egypt and then hoping to succeed and take our work all over. Once we have the site up and running I will let you know! Its all very exciting though. Watch this space ;)

We have had a really busy week, with Bray Lake club trip coming to stay and lots of wind. Its been great fun, and even had a little time for blasting with mates and some short freestyle sessions. I have put up a couple of pics, more to come soon :) I am also putting together a video with some Go-pro clips and recent Dahab action so watch this space...coming soon!

No new photos for a while, but news is I'm in Dahab at the moment, where I have been lucky enough to get a space on an intermediate windsurf instructor course, which is really helping to pull together all that I already know and enable me hopefully to have more confidence now in my teaching. I have wanted to take this course for a long time without luck, and now its perfect because I even have got away with not doing it in chilly England! I am really enjoying the course, although looking forward to getting back to El Tur to Phil, home, familiarity and a few less people on the water than here. Until then i believe its a party night tonight ;) Club Dahab here we go.

Holiday!!!

So we have just had a lovely sunny week in the UK, visiting family following a wedding of one of our mates. Its been a great week, no windsurfing and not even a camera with me made it somewhat different to the average week in Egypt and it was great to see my family and catch up again. Back to Egypt tonight, fr a really good forecast which i am very very excited about. Phil has just got a Go-Pro which is cool, i have already got many vulcans and a couple of messy spocks on it and look forward to playing with mast mounts and stuff next week.

Things for us are changing soon too, as we have decided to change our job situation slightly, giving us a very exciting future as many people with ideas and plans have been approaching us, as well as our own ideas in the mix...watch this space!!

Been a while....

The weather has been very up and down with a lot of clouds and not a lot of wind once the clouds cleared. We have had a couple of mates form the UK here this week and so have been out and about, climbing the mountain nearby, dining in the lovely (haha) Sharm, and a good amount of snorkelling. The next 2 days look good and then on friday we are off to the UK for a week with friends and family, a weeks holiday!!

Exciting news is that we have done something controversial and bought ourselves a kite! Its a 10metre and so we will use it when there is not enough wind for our 5.3/5.0's. Will be good to learn and also helpful on days off when there's just not quite enough wind for windsurfing as we like.

Photos will follow :)

It was pretty windy or the start of the week and then we got a lucky day of rest before some more win came through.

We have a very strange situation here where we have guests stuck out here who cannot fly home because of the ash cloud over europe, as well as many who were supposed to arrive and are unable to get here. People are no longer here by choice, need and want to go home to families and work, and although it's been windy and so they are happy enough its a strange thing when everyone is normally here on holiday loving it.

Last night the staff had a trip to Sharm for some good food, which was lovely, and as always makes us feel very happy to come back to El Tur away from the lights, noise and mass tourism of Sharm. Today is a light one forecast, but hopefully it will pick up enough for me to have a kite lesson, I would really like to get up and riding again this year as it would open many lightwind doors for me and Phil.

Windy windy windy

We have just had another very windy day here, putting me on a 3.7 and the guests on 4.7's and 5.3's. I have been busy taking photo's for various people, including the Ant Baker Wave Clinic. They all seemed to enjoy themselves a lot at the wave beach, getting some awesome air time and good riding too. Action in the bay was also going on, but the best pics are from the wavebeach. Tomorrow's forecast is bringing more wind and so a good week looks to be had by all :)

Its been super windy again, putting me on my 3.3 a lot. We have been getting a good amount of water time in as well as working, luckily the workshop has needed a lot less attention this week :) Phew!! I have been taking shots for the guests as well as some staff, and luckily Phil took a few shots of me when we did a watershoot too which was cool. (During this shoot you see the moment i nearly got slid into by one of our guests learning to vulcan at the camera!) The last few days have been really exciting as i have finally landed a few new moves, well Spock 540 so a variation on the Spocks (i have been trying to get these for too long as they are supposed to be easier!!) and also got my first couple of real Flakas...sweet! Very happy! I am also working hard on switch and so really excited about the progress. Bring on more wind...although a couple of days rest would be nice too right now ;)

Fish eye fun!!

Yesterday bought some surprise light winds, enough to get me going on a 5.3, so i took out one of the centres new 5.3 Gators (stealthy black of course) and had half an hour play, with Phil as my personal camera man. This of course means I was the only one he was there to photograph, but as always when you get a camera out its like a magnet and everyone is drawn in, which was a little annoying, even the Russians from Ibi and Friends suddenly decided they could sail upwind and came over to get in the way and make horrible board chop!! The wind died pretty rapidly, but we still got some funny shots, and I also got a Spock 540 woohoo!! Finally! I got all the way round upright, perfect, smooth, and then slow motion managed to mess up the foot change and fall in! D'oh! Getting there, and 5.3 is the biggest sail I've freestyled on since we left here in November, having been spoiled by Cape Town and also March's windy days this winter. I'm happy with that!

We have got a small break from the wind for two or three days, chance to catch up on repairs and other jobs. We also have the fun task of getting our visas today, always interesting, a place full of tourists yet nobody seems to speak English! Later on we will also be practising our volleyball skills, something we enjoy when the lack of wind allows.

We have a 12 people from Portsmouth Uni here this week, so we're also having fun with the students, a BBQ was cooked earlier in the week which was a big success, tonight we will do dinner and tour of the town and then tomorrow its will be a bonfire and duty free clean up for them before they fly home on Saturday.

EL Tur..super busy, super windy! what size for me today?

So we've been super busy here in Egypt. First we had Cambridge and Oxford University students followed by Jem Hall and his 13 students, plus various other guests from around the world. We now have Portsmouth Uni, a smaller group but still plenty to do. The workshop has been a very visited place these last two weeks, our repairs are getting much quicker and easier thats for sure but we are looking forward to having everything fixed up and no damage for a while...please!!

I have a day off today, so hope to get on the water a lot, the forecast is good. I am still working on consistancy for spocks and trying to make spaka's into Flaka's. The past three weeks have brought so many days seeing me on my 3.3, I am very happy I have it, but hope today for a more gentle 4 metre day. I have not had much time for photos for me and Phil as we have been super busy, so only a couple to show at the moment on this post...soon there will be more though, hopefully get some today.