Christmas Period
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Christmas Period
It's been a busy few days, in every sense of the word.
It's hard to string together such big and powerful sessions (2m tubes hitting a shallow reed) and such crazy evenings!
I spent my nights from the 22nd to the 24th in the Easkey's pub with the bar people but also with some surfers who came here for the Christmas holidays.
I really think the waves here rival the “world class” criteria of the WSL.
If I can give you an advice: don't lose yourself too much in the pub with all those drinks Kindly being offered by the locals and all those cheap cigarettes, because tomorrow, you will think about your breathing!
I spent Christmas with Tash's family. The welcome was very warm despite the fact that I was stressed as fuck!
With several glasses of red wine and even more beers I ended up relaxing and had a great evening surrounded by her brothers and parents.
Her brothers are about 19 years old and love to put on the boxing gloves after a few drinks. Those who know me know very well how much I love to challenge my friends to a boxing match whenever I drink. We must have spent 2 hours taking big baths while smoking joints and drinking beer, just the men, while the women chatted in the living room taking care of the kids. It was very cool.
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December 26
I will never drink so much again. At 11am my eyes were still glued to my latte, chatting with Tash's mother.
I thanked them wholeheartedly for their spontaneous welcome.
I had heard about a spot only 2 minutes from their house. Usually, in Brittany, when you go to check out the local reef on December 26th, with a massive hangover and a 30 knot wind, you don't even really plan on surfing, you go check it out to make sure it's not worth going in the water.
Except that you are in Ireland and when you arrive on the spot, the waves are 2m and send perfect lefts on powerful reef! People in the water? Yes, 4 of them! Haha.
After periods of drinking so much and putting yourself in such powerful conditions, you develop a kind of new sense that makes you feel incredibly serene on dizzying drops with a stomach that is still acidic from your whiskey the night before.
A perfect session that lasted 3 hours - Christmas after hours!
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December 28th and 29th
A few days without waves. If it was summer I would have jumped in the water without hesitation but with this cold, the wind and these not so magic waves, I spent two days off surfing.
After my daily jog and my rides in the truck to see some waterfalls, I settled in the truck at nightfall.
I cooked myself great dinners based on red meat (Ireland is known for the quality of its meat), mushrooms and several bottles of red wine brought from France.
I stayed out late into the night, in the dark, listening to music and still drinking that good wine. Solitude is a luxury with all the trimmings.
I read a lot and enjoyed this quiet life, away from home and all its vices.
Being able to spend so much time without surfing and without seeing my loved ones is proof that I feel pretty damn good in Ireland, waiting for the waves, Slanché!
It's been over two months since I left France! I don't want to go back at all, I feel good in Ireland. I spent my last days surfing and drinking beers in the evening with friends.
I had the best tube of my life today. It was two meters, right hander, breaking over a good reef.
I felt like I was going into a cave, the wave was sending its way out in front of me, and I came out gasping. I was so deep that I didn't think I would come out of it... it was incredible.
I guess you could say it was a great session for January 1st!
My resolution for the year? To keep it up!
But I'm quitting smoking.
Tomorrow I'm going to ring the doorbell of a farmer I met in the pub. He'll probably have some work for me in the next few days.
Life is good. And it's freezing!
Cheers
