Danielle Lucas Photos and Travel

2010-10-01T10:02:00.001-07:00

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

2010-09-11T04:43:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2010-08-27T02:02:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-08-18T07:33:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-11T11:01:00.001-07:00

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...

2010-08-03T04:24:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-07-17T06:59:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-07-08T06:32:00.000-07:00

Road tripping round the Sinai!

2010-07-02T02:05:00.000-07:00

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 :)

2010-06-24T05:15:00.000-07:00

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 :)

2010-06-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

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....

2010-06-13T23:00:00.001-07:00

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 ;)

2010-06-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-05-28T21:33:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2010-05-20T00:57:00.001-07:00

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....

2010-05-10T01:00:00.000-07:00

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!!

2010-04-24T08:07:00.000-07:00

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 :)

2010-04-18T23:14:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-12T09:01:00.001-07:00

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 :)

2010-04-08T23:29:00.001-07:00

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!!

2010-04-03T09:57:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-04-01T05:33:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-03-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

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.

Back in the desert :)

2010-03-11T22:28:00.001-08:00

We have been back in El Tur for one week now. Its great to be back and luckily a not so good forecast has provided two days surprise wind to test out my new 5.0, as well as some super strong southerly wind too providing ramps and swell in the bay, very unusual for this location.

Luckily for me, although I have mostly been behind the lens taking the photos this week, Imanaged to get Dan to get a couple of shots of me back on my 'home' ground. I particularly like it that the guy behind me on the massive slalom kit is not planing and I was on my 4.0m :)

The other pics show the Oceansource team testing our new kit out in the brief minutes we have had to play on the water, things are super busy out here right now, and with 25 students arriving on saturday its only going to get busier.

Home for 5 mins

2010-02-28T13:23:00.000-08:00

We are now back in the UK seeing friends and family before flying to Egypt next thursday. The end of our trip to Cape Town was great, windy, wavy and hot. There are not many pics due to us being desperate to get every minute possible on the water. Phil managed to break nearly every piece of kit he had throughout the trip, saving the best till last shredding his 4.3 in two! I'm just thankful he didn't break himself, so this means we'l be seeing some shiny new 2010 kit in my future pics :)

England is good, cold but good. Looking forward to getting back to home waters at the end of the week, we'll have a lot of work, but hopefully lots of wind too.

Happy camping up north

2010-02-19T10:04:00.000-08:00

Save us driving too much we pitched a tent and spent the night right by the sea, very nice too :) The windsurfing wasn't epic but it was (sketchy) 4.7 weather and more than we'd had if we'd stayed down in Cape Town.

More days up the coast...

2010-02-13T07:16:00.000-08:00

We had a good couple of days on the water up north again last week, one for freestyle at Langebaan, followed by a long day waiting for wind at Paternoster, the boys got out surfing, and eventually we got some very light 4.7 weather with big swell. I found it pretty scary as the wind was so light and the waves were logo high or more in the sets, but we went out, had a few waves each (you can see me disappearing in between two in the pics!) and then we hit the road home in time for a party round our place!

The wind has been a little disappointing here this year, we've had a good amount but unfortunately had to do a lot of driving to find it. Next week though it looks like we will get some good wind here in cape town finally, so hopefully our last 2 weeks will be action packed and really get us some awesome down-the-line action before we head back to England and then straight onto Egypt.

Witsands, mast high and wind from the right!

2010-02-06T11:45:00.001-08:00

Today we had some wind from the north, providing us with a session on starboard tack. Unfortunatly the wind was super gusty, strong and offshore and the waves had picked up to mast high in some sets, and so it wasnt easy for me. I quickly took to the camera so you can see how big but also very nice the waves actually were.

Paternoster playtime again! Love it!

2010-02-06T02:35:00.000-08:00

So we have had little wind this last week, the best of it was to be found up north of Cape Town, in Paternoster again. We had two days up there, both times on arrival it looked a little dodgy conditions, marginal wind and not much waves but both sessions proved to be really good fun for me. It was pretty crowded, and getting waves was sometimes a battle with everyone, but i had some great rides and really good sessions, and then ended each of the days getting some photos for mates. I really love it up there, the waves are so clean and long and easy for someone of my ability. Even when it gets big its easy to get out and easy to ride.

We had an interesting journey home though as our merc broke down in the middle of nowhere. Luckily we rolled it on to the next town, found some KFC and some few hours later were saved by the car company, who gave us a lovely banana yellow Hyundai Atos, one of the smallest cars ever!! Pretty funny although not really working for us on the windsurfing front...its howling outside and we have to wait for a mate to take us to the beach :( A good night out last night means everyone's pretty sleepy today too...sure we'll get there eventually!

At the Aquarium

2010-01-27T10:04:00.001-08:00

We went to the aquarium, and had some fun with my fisheye lens. It was really good fun and amazing to see the different creatures of the sea. I have to remember now that all the sharks we saw are only real in the aquarium, and they don't really exist in the sea where we windsurf ;)

2010-01-26T01:29:00.000-08:00

The same day as the party, we took a walk up Lion's Head, the lump of rock/hill next to Table Mountain. The walk was more of a climb than we had expected but the views were amazing, letting us see all across the city, up to the northern beaches, as well as down the coast towards the Cape of Good Hope, and as my pictures show, we could see round both sides of Table Mountain. It was an awesome way to spend a windless afternoon, and I love the results from my fisheye lens.

2010-01-24T05:00:00.000-08:00

We had an 80's surf themed party on friday night, timed nicely to celebrate Ben's birthday. It was very amusing, good fun had all round with some amazing costumes to be seen :)

wooo me on a wave

2010-01-21T00:57:00.000-08:00

my first clip of me waveriding :)

Some nice shots from northern beaches

2010-01-18T02:35:00.000-08:00

We've been out on the water loads, and now have a couple of days to rest up. We have spent a few days in Langebaan sailing with mates, and also spent an afternoon up at a place called Paternoster which was awesome. It had some great waves, some of them getting pretty large, and really nice to catch and ride. I managed to get some really nice rides, and phil managed to get a few good shots for me too :)

2010-01-13T01:21:00.000-08:00

Phil got some pics of me, which was nice :)

We have had loads of wind, lots of sessions on my 3.3. Now we have a couple of days to rest!

2010-01-08T04:36:00.000-08:00

Had a very big day yesterday, 3.3 by the end of the day and huge swell. I spent a some time at the tripod so here's some pics of Phil. Unfortunately you are shooting straight into the sun in the afternoons here but this is the best time for wind.

Cape Town 2010

2010-01-06T02:50:00.000-08:00

I've been in Cape Town a few days now, after a fantastic new years party (that's a whole other story!). We have had one day on the water, starting in the morning at the lake to warm up and see how much freestyle we've forgotton!! Luckily I had a pretty good session, although the wind was pretty on and off, making it a good workout too. In the afternoon the wind still didnt seem that strong when we checked out Big Bay so we headed to Sunset beach, rigged up 4.0 and quickly realised 3.3 was needed, it had become really windy!! I had a great session, realising the improvement since i was last here two years ago. I managed my first proper Cape Town wave ride putting in a good few turns, which is something I really want to work on this year as well as learning to control jumps on port again, something living in a starboard tack location has ruined for me!

Unfortunately I only got the camera out once I was finished sailing so Phil also by this time was done so the photos I have are of random people on the waves. Still i'm pretty excited about the photos we can achieve this year with my new kit.

London

2009-12-18T00:58:00.000-08:00

We had a fantastic day in London yesterday, we were lucky to go on a boat ride from Westminster to Greenwich, before wandering up through the town. The weather was great, even though we'd been mid blizzard the day before upon arrival in the city. That was pretty special though, bringing something magical to the centre of London.

fish eye playtime

2009-12-13T09:15:00.000-08:00

We have been playing lots with my new lens, learning what it can do. I am hopeful for more blue skies and sunny days so i can get out more with it. Can't wait to try it for a water session in Egypt!

Photos from Hayling Brrrrr!

2009-12-13T03:38:00.000-08:00

So here are the best of the pics from our chilly session at Hayling and Langstone last Sunday. It was a major shock to the system, after 14 months in Egypt arriving home to the UK in December!! I really enjoyed the session, although everything is much harder with numb fingers and the temperature made me a bit slow to react..unfortunately never a good thing when trying to avoid falling in!!! It was great to check out my new shiny kit, looks good hey? Love it!

I am really hoping the weatherman is wrong and that instead of cold and snow next week we get some good wind and warmer weather. I would love another couple of sessions in England with mates before we fly to Cape Town.

2009-12-09T03:06:00.000-08:00

We got out on Sunday at Hayling Island. Unfortunately we were a bit late for the tide and so the shore break was nasty, but I went for a spin on my new Wavetwin 66 which was sweet. We relocated to Langstone Harbour at high tide and had a bit of a play on the flat. Everything is a lot more difficult when you can't feel your fingers!! It was really great to get out in the UK, sailing with mates we have not seen for far too long. I am very happy with my new board and also got to try out my new 4.0m which is super light and really nice. Photos will be coming at the weekend as my computer is in for repair at the moment. :S

Home sweet home!! 10-15degrees cooler, but still gagging for some windsurfing!!

2009-12-05T12:55:00.000-08:00

We spent our last week in El Tur packing up the centre for the winter. It will be closed for 2 months while some maintenance is done, before reopening in February. There was not much wind, which although we would have loved some, helped us pack away smoothly and prepare ourselves for a month in the UK, something which, when you have lived in Egypt as long as we have, is quite a shock to the system!

We are now in the UK, a little cold, but very excited as we are going to Hayling Island tomorrow for a Severne demo day. The forecast is good!! 20-30Knots of wind and 4m swell! Bring it on!

I am really excited as I get to take out my new 66litre RRD Wavetwin with some new sails too, Severne S1's. Its under a month now until we go to Cape Town and so I am really excited to get some practise in on my new kit before we fly!

Hopefully I can get some shots up here to show you after tomorrow, I am excited too because I can pick up my new Fisheye lens tomorrow night too so there will be fun to had with that too! Watch this space!

2009-11-25T11:05:00.000-08:00

We've had lots of wind again and so we've been out trying to nail new moves before we leave for our winter holidays (starting in the UK brrr!!). I also spent a while in the tower a few days ago and got some nice shots from a new angle. Its hard to get as close to the tower as we'd like but Phil did a good job and i really like the shots. We have a tower to put in the water but it is not so stable and scares the life out of me so we will have to put up with this! No one else offers to go up and picture me though so i guess i'm not the only one scared although the equipment is all mine which definitely adds to my fear!

El Tur from up high

2009-11-23T00:02:00.000-08:00

We went for a hill/mountain climb after a lightwind day. It was a bit of a scramble but the views were amazing and it was really nice chilled out way to finish the day and start the evening. The views are of the wave bay and the moses bay where our hotel is, as well as the inland view of El Tur, the administrative capital of the Sinai.

The wind is back :)

2009-11-17T03:24:00.001-08:00

Finally the wind has come back, in true egyptian winter style its cool and gusty, but also very very strong! Today I am holding back from going out as even on the smallest sails available its not fun. I will wait till later or tomorrow, as i'd rather do this than injure myself!

We managed to get some night shots last week, which was quite fun although unfortunately technical problems meant we didn't get so many as we'd hoped...maybe later we can try again!

I have ordered a new lens to play with, a 6mm fisheye, which I am really excited to see the results we can get from watershoots and and also just other fun shots with it. I will pick this up when i get to the UK so this is going to be amusement until our trip to Cape Town where I hope for some awesome results.

Watch this space :)

2009-10-29T01:30:00.000-07:00

Still little wind over here, but the volleyball action has been intense and we are now getting pretty good at it, we have beaten the Russians from the other centre 3 days in a row now, they even tried to put us off by buying a new ball which was a bit odd but we got used to it, and whooped them again :) They are pretty good players too!

We have also had a few more BBQ's, one especially good was for my birthday, which Phil and I made homemade burgers with garlic, chilly, crushed black pepper and stuffed with Mozerella....sooo yummy!!! And also some amazing lemon and chilly calamari! Dinner was amazing and it was great to have the Russian staff over to have a meal between friends, no guests invited :)

Last night Phil and I went to Sharm el Sheik again, not for ice skating this time but to eat some good food and a watch the football. It was great to get away, do something we haven't done in such a long time, and we even managed to find a very nice bar with a very nice wide-screen TV and three sofas just for us, most importantly not too many horrible English tourists about to make us want to come back to El Tur!

No wind, BBQ time!!

2009-10-20T00:23:00.000-07:00

No wind has led to us building our very own homemade BBQ, which we are surprisingly very pleased with! Last night saw its debue and it was awesome, really tasty food and a good night had by all! Just excuse the dodgy photo, although i think its kinda funny!

Where is the wind?!!!

2009-10-17T02:09:00.000-07:00

So there has been very little blog action because there has been very little wind!! Somebody turned it off and to start with it was a nice rest, now we are slowly going crazy!!

We have played a lot of volleyball, been SUPing and snorkelling lots and connect 4 has become a very popular game!

Last night we had some excitement in the form of iceskating in Sharm el Sheikh followed by a few drinks in the centre of Sharm. We are not fans of Sharm, its tourist central and so built up and busy, but we know a couple of good places, chilled to for a bit, got in our dose of very good ice cream and then headed back to the quiet of El Tur. It was a really good night and a good call for our sanity!

The forecast now has some wind coming through at the end of the week i'm really hopeful it comes through! Until then I think I will have to learn to fish! Wish me luck :)

My new board!!

2009-09-30T00:35:00.000-07:00

Finally I managed 20mins of (painful) freestyle on my board yesterday, I was on a 3.7 stacked it was howling, and I am so happy with my board, it likes strong winds a lot more than the other boards i have been using! With Phi's 15.5cm fin too its sweet!

Ribs feeling a bit better today so hopefully get some more playtime, 3.7 weather again :) !!!

2009-09-27T07:27:00.001-07:00

So I have still got sore ribs, but thats ok for me because the curse of the wind is still taking place. Its windy but a gentle force 3-(bottom of)4 most of the time.

We have however had a very funny week, with some awesome guests, 4 in particular were away from the families for a week and armed with Rum and the all important Elvis suits. The first Elvis night involved warm up drinks followed by beach olympics in elvis suits and snorkelling gear, followed by board lobbing competitions, to say the least. We were then treated to a second Elvis night, involving plenty of egyptian Rum, everybody having a turn in the suits dancing Elvis- style and then plenty more dancing. It was one of the best nights we have had in the hotel in the whole year I have been here.

I have put up some more pictures, from this week, wavebeach trip, a good advert for Severne sails, and also a little elvis in action.

New board = worst wind since July!!

2009-09-24T23:50:00.000-07:00

So I got my new board, an RRD Twintip 88, and I am really happy with it. Its a little different to the one I'm used to, but I have managed do everything i normally can do on it. Now to some new moves!! Sadly it bought with it a curse on the wind, we've had the most lightwind days since July this week.

I haven't yet got any photos but its on the list of things to do definitely.

The windiest day this week bought winds of 35knots or more. The guests all wanted to check out the wavebeach so we headed up there and spent 3 hours jumping and riding, it was some of the best conditions i have ever seen there. I spent a while at my tripod photographing the guests, who thankfully kept me entertained with some great aerials, sneaking in a few runs in between with a few nice jumps for myself.

Later we decided to do the downwinder back to the centre, great fun, except the wind out in the middle of the channel wasnt so good, being on a 3.3m sail I spent most of the time bobbing back, when I finally got planning I stacked a gybe down some massive swell and had to finish the trip with really bruised ribs.

I managed a few freestyle sessions yesterday on my day off, making sure my new board can spock. We went back to the wavebeach which was great, very mellow and chilled out compared to the day before. Even in the swell and small waves I managed a couple of vulcans and a spock before the wind died which i am very pleased with. I need to take a couple of days off to get my ribs better and chill now.

2009-09-16T06:56:00.000-07:00

We had a couple of nights where it seemed to be windy and so the boys went on the water and I got the camera out. Sadly the first night it turned out to be a tempting gust and no more, the second night was better although still not amazingly windy. Phil and Dan managed to pull off a few moves and we got a couple of great shots. I'm really looking forward to some more windy nights so we can improve on these pictures, maybe even get one of me :) .

2009-09-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

I was disappointed that my last photos were unable to be enlarged so I have reloaded the same shot in a different size so I hope you can click and zoom now, I have also posterized it in photoshop for a bit of difference, I think its pretty cool.

More jumping at the wave beach :)

2009-09-09T03:08:00.000-07:00

So we had another great session at the wavebeach, plenty of wind although not so many ramps or rides this time. Towards the end of the day the tide went out and the ramps increased, luckily Phil took the camera during this time and got the shots of me above.

We have also had plenty of wind in the bay and freestyle action continues. Phil has got his new 2010 board today (and some funky new sail stickers from Bray Lake) so i'm sure we'll have some more pics of him up here very soon.

The internet has been a bit dodgy here lately, as has my stomach, hence the lack of updates, and also we have got quite a lot of guests here now too. Its great to have a good crowd, we have some Irish guys here who have invited us to go check out their local spots anytime we're in the UK which would be very cool. We also have a lot of mates here at the moment (Rick in the photo above is one of them), they are beginners to advanced which is really fun helping them improve and also showing them what a cool place we have been living in for the past 11 months.

2009-09-02T04:52:00.000-07:00

We have had so much wind, the biggest sail I have been using is a 3.7, spending a lot of time on a 3.3!! Tiny!! Its great, although i could happily have a day of 4.2 weather now for a rest!

These photos are from two days ago at the wave beach, it was an awesome day, i did the biggest jumps i have ever done, really high i was very happy but extremely scared! When you are in the air, looking down realising you are so high you have no idea what will happen when you land as you've never been so high it was scary!

We have had lots of mates out last week and this next week will bring even more, as well as some guests here for the September wind in Egypt. August hasn't dropped below a force 4, mostly being force 5-8 every day. September is renowned for its wind here so it should be another great month.

I managed to get my first Flaka the other day too, I was really happy with that even if it was a complete fluke and it may well be another 2 months or more till the next! Just got to keep on trying....

2009-08-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

We hired a car at the weekend and went over to Dahab for a proper weekend off! Working in the leisure industry weekends off are pretty much non-existant so we made the most of it, booking a hotel room with pool, and enjoying the freedom a hire car could offer, costing the same as a taxi.

We had a great weekend windsurfed loads, partied it up in the evenings with some friends (dahab has a much more alive nightlife than EL Tur, we had to make the most) and also eating yummy food and enjoying no work!

Now back in El Tur, the wind is up and we have got 5 friends here this week as our guests, going to be a great week!! Tonight we will be breaking out the duty free and making punch, needed for me as I managed to find the sharpest rock in the water and jump in it, so have a lovely slice in my foot throbbing far too much for my liking, windsuerfing may be off the menu the next few days, but at least I've got my camera :)

Here are a couple of shots Phil took or me last week before Dahab :) need to sort out my smile when i spock though!

2009-08-20T06:04:00.000-07:00

Its still windy out here and now Phil has got his new sails I have been trying to get some new pics of him with them. We went for a water session earlier today and I am very happy with the results. The above are unedited, we will have fun in photoshop later. The first picture is my favourite, I'm really pleased with it. The last one apparently I nearly lost my camera and maybe my head, he was that close! Looking through the view finder I couldn't tell but the look on Phil's face tells all!!

Loving this windy August

2009-08-16T22:41:00.000-07:00

We have had loads of wind this august, after a lighter July its welcome and we have been making the most of it as much as possible. We have just had a great week with a really nice crowd, visiting the wave beach two days in a row and also making many trips to the point. I got requested to take photos for a large percentage of the group and luckily for me they were definitely not a boring group of windsurfers, everyone trying to get the biggest jumps, attempting their first forward loops, going for the footstraps and planning for the first time or simply crashing in style! I really enjoyed working with them, and also luckily Phil took a couple of me at the wavebeach too, as you see from one of these pics (sadly the wind and waves had dropped so i took to trying to vulcan in the waves instead).

The last few days have seen me sort out my spocks and i have been getting a couple a session now which i am super happy about. Its taken a while and i was always so close and suddenly it seems to have clicked (fingers crossed)!! On to 540's now and also i am still trying grubbies and flakas coming in. To those of you who don't have a clue what these moves are, they are very cool and not many girls can do them so i am very happy, even if Phil is worlds ahead landing spock 900's now!! He has been on form, landing more burners, ponch's, air funnels and also sorting out his Kono's getting some awesome height!

This week will be a quiet one, so more time to blog, and also we are thinking of taking a car up the coast and trying to find this lagoon we'd hope to check out before. If we get turned back by the tourist police so-be-it, we can but try hey!

El Tornament went off!

2009-08-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

The tornament was great, the sailing standard was really high and the crowd was big. Check out the write up on www.oceansource.net and the photos on the El Tornament blog. As soon as things have quietened down here I will be putting up the pictures and believe me there is a lot of great pics to be seen. For now i'l leave you with a taster plus an awesome shot from today.

LIttle bit of action!

2009-08-02T09:57:00.000-07:00

So its been windy and as well as playtime and obviously working hard, I have been taking photos a fair bit and also Phil got out in the boat and took some of me. The wind was rubbish at the time so not much action was possible, but he got a few good/funny ones.

More good news though is I have started trying another new move called a grubby, unsuccessful at the moment but its looking better than I thought, and then today I managed to pull off a spock 540..(the next move on from the spock for the non windsurfers around here)! I am very happy although on completion of the move excitement made me fall in, so I can't quite claim it but near enough!!

Finally...

2009-07-30T23:35:00.000-07:00

Just thought i'd mention i finally sailed out of a spock yesterday, no water-starting mid way needed! Took a while but got there in the end :) Happy Days.

2009-07-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

So its not a great picture but i thought I'd put it on as it did look quite cool, kinda lit up like you'd imagine an alien space ship.

2009-07-26T23:59:00.000-07:00

We went to Dahab for the day yesterday to spread the word about the event we are hosting, it was great to see a lot of interest and quite a few instructors including the Egyptian guys say they really would like to come and will be trying very hard to make it possible.

It was an interesting trip, having the life scared out of me in the taxi there, as Phil described it, it seemed like real life Wacky Races. Our driver met a friend so they thought it'd be fun to constantly overtake one another at approximately 150kph on a road regularly featuring huge HGV's and petrol tankers.

Also during the journey at one point we drove past a huge lorry, pulled over on the dual carriageway with the driver and companion, under the middle of the lorry sat on a blanket having a picnic as if on the beach or in the countryside.

On the way home we had a laugh as we saw one of the resident geep laid out on the bonnet of a (rather nice) car sunbathing as if its a completely normal thing for it to be doing!

Upon arrival back at the hotel, we were surprised to see our local oil rig (you may have seen it in my pictures) was being brought into the bay, apparently its annual trip to be serviced. It will not affect us in any way as its right at the bottom of the bay where nobody goes, about a km away or more. It was lit up quite impressively and whilst taking photos of it the Quiksilver surf schools photographer came and gave me some pointers! Unfortunately for me I'm not as advanced as he thought and so a lot of what he said seemed very foreign to me, even though he was speaking in very good english! Still, every little helps!

Around the town

2009-07-24T04:19:00.000-07:00

We are unfortunately having some slight delays in confirming and publicizing the 'El Tornament', which means I'm gonna take this time to put up some more pictures I've been shooting round the town. These are not amazing shots, but give you an idea of the place Phil and I have been living this year. Make sure you check out the Geep, this photo was taken in the middle of the 'high street' of El Tur, like I told you they are everywhere, although this was the first time we saw a 'shepard' with them! If you look at the picture with a mosque, there is also some Geep bottom left munching on a car.

The place with the cola signs on the walls looks fantastic, its so worn but so popular, you can go past each night and its full of men with tea, shisha and backgammon. Tea shops are like English pub gardens on a summer evening, the place to be for the local men, they drink tea, coffee and cola, smoke shisha and play games like dominoes. (Its incredibly rare to see women in the tea shops in town, not unless its myself or another foreigner.)

This mosque I have photographed, also on the 'high street', is our closest wake up call although there are many many more in the town, singing (as we put it) 5 times a day to call the locals to prayer.

The last photo is of the sun going down behind all the new buildings being built nearer the hotel. They will be lovely apartment blocks when finished but a lot of them seem to have been the same since we got here 9 months ago.

2009-07-23T08:29:00.000-07:00

I found this picture from a photoshoot at the point a while back, and I really like it. Soon I will be putting more news up on the El Tornament but until then I hope you enjoy this picture.

El Tornament 2009

2009-07-22T01:34:00.000-07:00

We have been hatching a plan and hope to make the ideas into reality. We will be confirming dates in the next 2 days. Cant wait its really exciting ideas. Check out http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=105525892450&ref=nf

Action in El Tur

2009-07-20T01:51:00.000-07:00

We have been having some lighter days in the wind department, I have spent a lot of time on a 5.3 but i have been really enjoying it. The water is flatter and it feels easier to learn certain things. However it has been pretty exhausting too trying to keep planing in such light winds.

For the next 3 weeks there will be a lot of windsurfers in El Tur, as the Slovenian Quiksilver Surf School has arrived for its Summer session here. This means that wind or no wind the water will not be flat as there are so many people out, making waves. Its really nice to have so many people here though, makes for a completely different atmosphere in the hotel and on the water.

We will also all be happy when it's finished though as we have been spoilt having the water pretty much to ourselves!

2009-07-16T07:43:00.000-07:00

So we got the wind back a few days ago, everyone went for it really hard and now we are all exhausted and in need of a lot of r&r!

Phil managed to land his first burners, a move he's been trying for a while, I am still working hard and being rather frustrated trying to get spocks happening, but I did nearly get my first carving 360 yesterday, which although its a move I never really liked or tried it was a surprise that I got so close and made me happy, will have to keep trying it, get it under my belt.

I have been out with my camera, although nothing to shout about and we have been quite busy having had windy days and guests arriving so I haven't had much time to sort them and put up some new ones...watch this space though they will come.

Lightwinds= photoshop playtime :)

2009-07-12T03:10:00.000-07:00

El Tur

2009-07-11T02:09:00.000-07:00

I took my camera to town last night, in the hope for some decent lifestyle shots. We have the biggest church in the Sinai at the end of the road, and so i hoped to get this in the pictures as its quite beautiful to look at. Unfortunately trying to be discreet meant i didn't want to use a tripod, resulting in some disappointing shots as the light was low. I liked this one though, and will definitely take my camera again one night as there are some really nice shots to be had.

Light wind fun

2009-07-11T00:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a fairly light wind day, so unfortunately i thought it was a good idea to make use of my time and change some lightbulbs around the centre. I carelessly dropped a rather heavy chair on my foot and now have a very purple big toe. Besides from feeling incredibly stupid and a lot of immediate pain, it meant I then couldn't take advantage of being the lightest person when the wind filled in enough for some planning action! D'oh! I did however get into the water with my camera and for the few moments where people were powered up to pull some moves I got a few decent and amusing shots.

Most of the pictures are of Dan, who is a guaranteed source of entertainment in photos..thanks Dan!

The last shot here is of Adam Sims, an Oceansource rider who has used some of my shots on his website www.k669.co.uk check it out.

Oops its a long one...

2009-07-08T06:39:00.000-07:00

Its still windy here in El Tur, and so we have all been working hard on the water. Progress for me is slow and frustrating right now, but i am lucky to be sailing with people who can help me both by encouragement but also through coaching, as they are all more advanced than me.

We have got a couple of days off and we were hoping to hire some pickups and take some kit up the coast, seek out a new beach to sail off for the day and then maybe camp overnight in the desert somewhere, Surfari! Plan sounds great but sadly we were informed its likely to be impossible due to tourism laws in Egypt :(

We will probably stay around El Tur, windsurf if its windy and chill out if not. El Tur is a large (large for Egypt) town about 1 hour north of Sharm El Sheik. It has little to offer for tourists, its an Egyptian town which is slowly becoming more modern but compared to the UK its very different. There are a few roads and buildings which look great, all new and well built, and then the main road like most others has building sites and rubble and rubbish all the way up it. Sadly Egyptians don't have the same view on rubbish as the more western countries, bins are hard to find and the street is usually the bin for most people. This is sad but also adds character to the place, as there are plenty of local goats and sheep (a.k.a. geep) and cats and birds who feed very well off this lack of cleanliness. They parade around the town and regularly on our bikes we have to slow down and wait for the geep to cross the road. Putting our rubbish into the bins by our flat results in about 8 cats jumping out in all directions, before they quickly return to see what goodies we have given them! I really enjoy living here, its very different and although you haven't got your Tesco or Sainsbury's round the corner to pick up your choice of dinner from, we have take away pasta or felafels for 40p, cans of coke for 25p and a meal in the fish restaurant for £4. As well as the entertainment of the local animals we have the kids who are out to play until the early hours of the morning, and say hello every time they see us, repeatedly asking the same question "whats your name" no matter how many times you have met them before. There is little to do other than windsurf, i find the heat at the moment is very discouraging to go for a walk or be outside in general, but fortunately for us its windy most of the time, and if not we have a couple of good snorkeling sites to keep us amused, and about 300GB of movies for the evenings to keep us entertained.

This evening, the wind is dying so its time for a beer, maybe a shisha and off to town later to find some food to fuel us for tomorrows wind.

2009-07-06T07:22:00.000-07:00

Cant believe how close i got! but hey, nearly looking cool!

and there's more....

2009-07-05T02:30:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more pics i forgot to add, one from our morning in the water session, some from an evening shoot, and a couple of photoshopped pics too. I'm really enjoying playing with photoshop, the first of these pics i have edited (the guys with the red shorts) was out of focus, and i think the effect i added has made it look great, saving an awesome picture, whereas normally i'd discard the shot.

2009-07-04T07:11:00.000-07:00

July certainly hasn't disappointed us for wind yet, and i have been taking plenty of photos that show just how good its been.

Funny faces

2009-07-01T06:50:00.000-07:00

I have been looking at emotions and facial expressions, its quite amusing and when you take windsurfing pics a lot of people look at the move and can miss the other parts of the pictures.

June is almost over....

2009-06-30T03:05:00.000-07:00

On the water this month we have all been giving it everything, trying to nail new moves. Dan Simpson who works here very nearly knocked himself out trying to One-handed Eslider and had the fun experience of the new hospital we are lucky to have in El Tur. He has managed to get his first Flakas this month though, I have been trying but am yet to succeed in being able to Spock and Phil is working on Flakas on his bad side and has fine-tuned his Shakas in the other direction. We are putting together a staff video in July and so I intend to put it on my blog when its ready.

June has been really windy, 100% days have delivered force 4 or more. A few of them were big sails days but majority have been fully windy (3.7 has been a regular choice of sail for me). Sadly today and yesterday have been lighter, still allowing me to get on a 5.3 for short sessions but really the break is needed and appreciated.

Lately as well as Spock training I have been beavering away in the workshop, having decided i quite enjoy doing board repairs 3 more boards got damaged, I think I tempted fate! Its good to have time to do a repair and finish it really well and not rush it, also its good to have something to keep me busy when its really quiet!

Next month our bookings are looking fairly quiet, so we will have a lot of freestyle time and I intend to do many more water sessions with my camera. I also keep meaning to get up for the sunrise one day to catch some nice shots....bed is just too good though! We have the idea of going to Cairo too, wind, guests and temperature dependant so there maybe some news from there! Until July tho I'm back off to the workshop.....

Working hard....

2009-06-27T22:55:00.000-07:00

Since learning to windsurf I have been really lucky to have had jobs in Egypt, renowned for its wind. This meant I was forced to learn fast or not sail, and when being the only girl working with 15 blokes on a beach I needed to fit in. Now, because of that, my windsurfing is at a very good standard, and we are back working in Egypt so we are in the perfect location to improve more and more. June has been so windy, the forecast at the moment is incredible, everyday for a week we have wind forecast about 20knots, (24mph or more). This means small sails and fast moves. It's an addictive sport so its hard when its blowing and you're tired not to go out. Days consist of helping guests (we have few at the moment), windsurfing, helping guests, windsurfing and then some more windsurfing. We are spending 2 hours or more a day on the water, eating dinner and sleeping, perfect.

Obviously we do have work to do too, don't get me wrong, but we slip it in between sessions. Board repairing is sometimes a welcome break, and i am really enjoying that at the moment. I also obviously get my camera out a fair bit and we are trying to make a staff video which is fun, need to nail some more moves for it :) Watch this space...

LIttle bit of photoshop fun

2009-06-26T05:06:00.000-07:00

Been playing on photoshop and liked the results....

2009-06-26T03:37:00.000-07:00

Its been windy for the whole month here, especially so this last week. Today we have got a good force 5 and this morning I got out in the water for a photo session with some guests and staff. Its always funny when people start trying to show off for the camera, and along with some comedy shots i got some great action shots for everyone.

Sequence shots....

2009-06-26T00:40:00.000-07:00

Occasionally I put together sequences of photos, the top one here is a recent sequence of a guest doing one of his first backloops (and yes i do know he's from the darkside i.e Kitesurfers but its cool hey?) the next was phil looping at Sunset beach, Cape Town, the other was one of the first sequences I had a play at doing, back in the days when we lived at Bray Lake, in Maidenhead, UK.

More of Phil in action...

2009-06-25T06:52:00.000-07:00

Cape Town

2009-06-25T04:37:00.000-07:00

I have been looking through my old photos and have found some of my favourites to put up.

Since i was 18 i have been traveling around a lot, and while searching through pictures I found some of my trip to South Africa with phil nearly two years ago. It was primarily a windsurf trip but when the wind didn't blow there is so much to do in Cape Town, its an amazing place i highly recommend it. We're hoping to return at the end of the year, for some more wave action. I will definitely get some good photos and footage out there, i can't wait.

Just a few more pics..

2009-06-22T02:57:00.001-07:00

The beginning...

2009-06-22T01:59:00.000-07:00

I currently am living in Egypt, co managing a windsurfing centre. It has really made me get into Photography in a big way, i love it. I have now invested in a shiny new lens and really want to get my pictures seen. Most of my pictures are of windsurfing but i have been getting some other lifestyle and travel shots which i am really happy with. I hope to update this blog at least twice a week adding some of my best shots, and some stories of my travels and lifestyle. I have included two pics to start, one of myself taken by my boyfriend Phil, and one of him from a recent water shot photo session.