Surfyprus-Windsurfing.com - THE BEACH BLOGGER

Saturday June 5

Where did that come from Part Two? The wind came through the bay like an express train, taking us all by surprise. Twice. It suddenly hit the bay at 3 pm on Friday. Then this afternoon, it did it again, on the dot of 3 pm. It was so gentle in the morning I was able to teach, but by the afternoon when the luncheon crowd were busy snoozing on their sunbeds, and dreaming of dinner, it was WAR out on the water featuring Willie from Germany, Tony from Oz, Sam from the West Country and his brother Joe, who had plenty to think about before his junior champs next weekend in Rutland Water, and me (small walk-on role at the end of the day). When it came on to the big blow, 6m was way too big. Bikini sized sails were the order of the day. Miriam B, an Aussie princess, stepped out of the water 007 style complaining that she had hurt her foot. She feared the worst, saying in Oz, the sea monsters are lethal. I got out the First Aid kit, but reassured her that there are no killer monsters in the sea in Pissouri (apart from the Dlagon Fish, and I didn't tell her about those....you go purple, then your nipples drop off). So she was Fair Dinkum and looking forward to a couple of tinnies with the barbie. Good on yer sport!

Friday, June 4

Wow. The wind we call Hero was taking no prisoners and there was definitely NO SURRENDER (I wonder if Ian Paisley ever went windsurfing). It hit us about 3 pm, and there was no let up, high Force 5 until it was too dark to see. Tony, a long-board racing sailor over from Australia, went out on a 7m around lunchtime. Within half an hour, he was down to a 6m then a 5m, as the wind kept growing. Even Valentino was overpowered on his 12m kite. I went out on a 6.5m and it was miles too big. I find the 5.5m sails twitchy and not set up for me, so I took out the trusty 6m and had more than enough fun, flying around the bay. It was gusty, and in the gusts, it was arm-tearing-out-of-sockets time. The few who sailed in that wind will be going round Pissouri with longer arms today. It was so unexpected that it could happen again today, regardless of what our normally accurate forecast says. It is based at nearby Paphos airport, and is usually spot on. But it didn't pick up the rush-hour train that hit us yesterday. Maybe it was a thermal blast. Whatever its origins, it was the perfect sign-off to Martin who is off on the plane today back to teach art in Sheffield. Plenty of happy memories to keep until next year, Martin, and keep practising the flare gybe.

Wednesday June 2

A JP FUNSTER has been added to our racks of beginners boards and it lives up to its name. Expensive compared to the BIC Nova and about the same size, but lighter and quicker on the plane, so it should provide some good fun for our visitors. Strange weather though - the big wind promised in the forecast never materialised. But big rough seas did arrive in the bay. Yiannos reckons the swell will fade tomorrow. Let's hope the wind gets up. I'm off for the day. Going to Coral Bay to see a VIP friend of ours.

Friday 28 May

Popped into Pissouri Bay Divers who are running dive courses out of the bay. They reckon they can see octupuses out to the west side of the bay. I guess they can spike a few fried squid too. I'll have to put in my order for calamari. Also had an iced coffee at Michael's new coffee bar round the corner, a great place to relax and see the world go by. As you can guess, not much wind today but a nice teaching wind for beginners. And preparing for the Whitsun arrivals. The first seem to have landed - white skinned, politely putting a hotel towel down on their sunbeds...give them a couple of days and they will tanned, and sneaking out of their rooms before breakfast to bag their beds at dawn!

Monday 24 May

STOKED. More stoked than a stoker from Stoke in a stoke hole. Amazing wind blowing hard all day, F5 and then just when I thought it was calming down, it went up another notch. That was the point when Valentino went out on his kite surfboard and I went out on my board. I had a 6.5m up but it was way too much. Never mind. Hang on, dig in and goooooooooooooo! We just managed to avoid each other as I flew in and Valentino flew out. It would have been a bit embarrassing to crash in front of the full house (it's been a bank holiday Monday for Kataclysmos ...see below for what it means) but we planed into 7th heaven barely twenty feet from the beach. Great footage for Yiannos's YouTube site...except Yiannos didn't have his camera!!!!!! Try again tomorrow, but it can't be this good again....can it?

Friday, May 21

FIRE UP THE QUATRO! After a week of near gale force winds, it looks like we are back to normal with light winds in the morning and stronger winds in the afternoon. Force 4 forecast for 3 pm today. Fire up the Quatro (with apologies to Ashes to Ashes) or in my case the 7m Tushingham Thunderbird. Should also be a busy weekend - it's the Cypriot bank holiday, Kataklysmos, 50 days after Easter which celebrates Noah's Ark after the Flood. It reminds us all of the importance of the sea, and the boats (or boards) that use it. Now if Noah had had a Starboard wave board, he would have had an amazing wave to ride! According to Google: ''In Cyprus Kataklysmos is celebrated by fairs held on the water fronts. This celebration is said to have descended to us from the feasts in honour of Aphrodite which were also held on the water fronts. To this day people go to pay homage to the "holy water fronts" , where water sports are held and people go around in boats and even splash each other just for the fun of it.'' I'll post on any odd celebrations we get up to on the Oggy.

Thursday, May 20

The landing stage where Yiannos normally ties up the jet skis broke loose last night. We tracked it down to the white house - anyone who knows Pissouri knows it's well down the beach about a mile away down wind. So while he recovered the bits with Elias, I had the afternoon off down at Ladies Mile. Imagine our amazement when the first people we spotted were our journalist couple, Fran and Jake, who had asked the hotel staff for the best sandy beach and had been told Ladies Mile. We hired a couple of beds at the Ladies Mile Taverna, the last one before the barbed wire for the base, and I rigged up a 5.9m which is usually a bit too small. Not today! I measured the gusts on the beach on my wind meter and it easily ran up to 25-26 mph (Force Six on the beaufort scale). It was so windy, that the sand was flying into the sea. Some guys were making it look easy from the club in the base, but I suspect they were on 3ms. I was maxed out, but did a couple of good head plants, and a slow motion gybe. It was LIkE WAR out there. It's an amazing location though - hot, blasting, and overhead, the scream of the RAF jets flying in tight formation from the base. I was left wishing that Dave White had made it over - he'd love the speed possibilities with shallow water, and wind that is dead off shore, and a howling gale accelerating off the salt flats. If you read this Dave, pack your bags and your biggest speed sail and get over here quick! The forecast is for continuing high winds, and we've had five days of battering already.

Tuesday 18 May/Monday May 17

IT'S blowing a hooligan. It was forecast at 50 kms an hour, and it's a wild day in the bay. There's so much surf rolling in, Yiannos has to take the boats out of the water, so we have to close up the windsurfing for the day. Turns out the weather beats us Tuesday too. It's due to blow all week. I guess we will be back in action tomorrow...and in the harness with the smallest sails we've got!

Sunday May 16

TAKING journalists Jake and Fran for their first lesson in windsurfing. It's a bit tricky with the waves rolling in, but they do very well and I sense they have both a sense of achievement at learning how to turn the board around and get back safely to the beach. Let's hope they give us a good write-up in their papers!

May 13

I'm cream crackered. A print fell off the wall at 4 am in the morning. Sounded like an earthquake. I've been getting glass out of my hair ever since! But there's a wind blowing and it's forecast for Force 4. So pick up the harness. Off for the first run of the summer. It's great to be back, even red-eyed and slightly legless.

I'm doing the UK general election for the Independent until 6 May but if you fancy windsurfing with us in Pissouri before then, Yiannos will look after you on the beach. I'm getting a plane out the week after the elections. Already we are building up for a busy summer season:

Looking forward to seeing a couple of journos from England in mid-May and the editor/snapper from First Degree Magazine in June. Let's hope the wind blows for their arrival.

October 23 2009

Have the wind Gods turned against us? Forecast is for light winds, then easterlies which always upsets Yiannos who uses the shelter of the bay to hide from westerlies. Still, it being Pissouri, you can never really tell. Came out on the plane with a ton of kids celebrating half-term. Well done EasyJet! You coped magnificently with the noise on board. Met a family from Ilkley (yes, the place that gave rise to the Tykes' anthem, On Ilkley Moor baht'hat) on board who are staying at Pissouri: Glen, Alexander, Polly and Angela, and looking forward to checking us out on the beach. Yiannos is going to be busy teaching water skiing, and Glen is threatening a return to the water after a break of some years. My advice is go for it sooner rather than later - we get loads of guys waiting until their last day before having a go after a long lay-off, and then they say: "If only I'd tried at the start of the week...."

October 14

I added a new Neil Pryde 3m kids' rig to our quiver and it looks great. The NP 'One' sail - green and flashy like an exotic beetle wing - is aimed at good sailors who can sail in high winds, but are on the small side. Ideal for Julian, who is from Hamburg and sailing with his dad, Christien, who was out on the Fanatic 110ltr with a 6m sail and flashing around the horizon. Judging by the time Julian spent out at sea (like all day!) it shows he enjoyed it. And when the wind dropped a tad - down from Force 5 - so did his mum. She took over his board and the small sail and had a great time as the sun dropped behind the headland. Another glorious and very windy day in the bay. Gusty but great.

October 11

It's going to be windy tomorrow. Force 4 forecast. No time for reading on the beach in Pissouri....speaking of which, a lot of visitors have been asking me about my latest book - this is it!

"Whitehall - but where's the windsurfing?" Peter Hart.

"I zee Henry Vlll invented ze Carve Gybe with Anne Boleyn's head." Bjorn Dunkerbunk.

"A brilliant Christmas present." The author.

Paperback coming next year, but you can get the Stiff edition now from Amazon and all good bookshops!

October 10

Light winds forecast for Pissouri Bay this weekend, but Force 4 out of the bay for those who like the bumps and jumps. Come on guys - it's out there!

Meanwhile, one visitor from Israel "I haven't sailed in 20 years but I don't want a lesson..." wafted a mile downwind on the Whale, the big Starboard Start. He had to do the walk of shame from the whitehouse back to our store on the beach while I sailed the Whale back upwind. Only problem is the daggerboard has been 'trimmed' and it now sails like the Polycrest in the brilliant Jack Aubrey books by Patrick O'Brian, ie sideways. Has anyone out there got a replacement daggerboard for a Starboard Start I can have????

October 6

Blowing F6 out of the bay! And yet, one of our German visitors - improving from beginner level - was able to enjoy sailing on a 4.2m sail and getting into the harness for the first time. Only problem - she had the hook upside down! Still, she enjoyed it. When she gets the waist harness the right way up, she'll find it much easier. Meanwhile, I was teaching Josephine, who dropped in for the day to learn. Great session in a corner of the bay protected from the big winds. At around 3 pm, I went out just to see if I could improve on my carve gybes. No such luck. With thunder from black clouds looming in the background over Limassol, the wind picked up and it was a fight for survival on a 6m out in the deep sea. In the bay, by the beach, it was also full on power, gusting to F6 from nearly nothing, so it was hang on, hook in and go for it. Tourists lounging in front of the Captain's Bay taverna on the beach were able to see the Beach Blogger catapulted right in front of the restaurant! Still, it gave me plenty of time to practice my water starts. Bit of a battle, but feeling slightly bruised, I got back with more respect for the weather here. Result: Wind 5 Beach Blogger 1.

October 5

I think I'll have to invent a new board that combines sailing with fishing - a spinner off the fin would do. The reason is we've had an amazing spectacle of big black fish looking like salmon leaping out of the water right in the shallows. They are chasing sprats which sometimes fly out of the water too. All this is making Yiannos very frustrated because they are in the swimming area right outside our windsurfing store and he can't go fishing with a line off his boat. So maybe we can do it off a board....Sven at Starboard please note. You can have this idea for free.

As forecast, we had an F5 blowing from breakfast to dusk and Valentino was snapping off some amazing jumps on a kite board. But being in a sheltered bay, we still were able to offer nice light wind sailing for Judith and Patrick from Lucerne, Switzerland, while Kasper from Germany was out on a 5m and 131 Mistral Explosion and enjoyed the wind. I had to wait until the end of the day before I had the time to go out on the water, just as Valentino was packing in. Fantastic wind, flying all the way out, and still searching for the perfect carve gybe...still can't have everything. We've got F5 forecast again tomorrow!

October 4

Windy Sunday....By 11 am, it was already blowing across the horizon, big white seas...By 12 noon, it was coming into the Bay. I went out on my Carve - love that board, it planes early and covers up all my mistakes - and found plenty of air off the backs of waves rolling into the Bay. A turtle popped its head up to see what all the fuss was about as a big catamaran from Limassol arrived, with disco beat throbbing speakers blaring out across the Bay, but it was nothing so lively as the seas behind it. In the low sun, the waves looked like liquid gold. Tomorrow, it's forecast to be blowing FORCE FIVE AGAIN.

October 2

Light winds, but hey - it beats being in Brighton with the Labour Party annual conference (my old beat). Back in Fleet Street I'd be packing my bags for the Tory conference now in Manchester. Instead, I'm preparing for another weekend of fun in the sun....and keeping my fingers crossed that we'll get a planing wind now that the easterlies and the rain clouds have passed.

This was the view from my sunbed.....well, somebody's got to do it.

September 23

Where did that come from? One minute, there was a light zephyr (no, it's not an old car, it's a posh word for a breeze) and the next it was going balistic. There were huge breakers on the horizon so I went out to find out what was going on. I found green sea - breakers so big, you could see the light through them - and a force 4-5 blowing. Fantastic. Got back just as the sun was dropping down behind the headland. Perfect day.

August 18

I'm having to go back to the UK for family reasons for a few days (hopefully back next Monday) so I'm afraid no tuition for the next few days, unless I can get some cover. It's amazing that there are no windsurfing instructors in Cyprus who are available! Come on Cyprus - get training in windsurfing, create jobs, and give the kids a love of the sea that surrounds them.

August 17

The wind Gods came back to Pissouri - a solid F5 out of the bay making big seas look like the North Sea (only warmer). Great sailing. More please Hero!

August 16

After a few days in the grey, rainy UK, I'm back! Light winds forecast but hey, the water's warm and it's wall-to-wall sunshine. We had our water cut off before I left, but in Britain, they've got too much fresh water thanks to all that rain. So maybe in the future they will submerge Manchester in a massive reservoir and UnderWater UK could export fresh water to the world. It's just an idea...but it could catch on. It would also make Old Trafford an interesting windsurfing location!

July 4

Four helicoptors with twin rotor blades for maximum lift did formation flying over the bay today, giving a spectacular aerial show above the sails. The reason for their aerobatic performance was deadly serious though - they were lifting up tons of sea water to try to put out a fire on the hills at the back of the hotel. It seemed to work - on the way home to Pissouri village, I passed fire brigades damping down in the fields after we finally locked up for the night.

All that excitement overshadowed the launch of our new fleet of three Bic Nova beginners' boards. They are a great addition to our fleet and windsurfing is going from strength to strength in Pissouri. We're noticing far more people wanting to learn.

Question? Are we going through a windsurfing revival? Maybe after the surge for kitesurfing, people are getting back into flapping around the sea on a board.

Pissouri has shown once again it is a windy place. We've had strong winds running almost every day for a month now with no let up in sight. Tomorrow (Sun) it's forcast for 16 mph across the bay beyond the headland. The westerlies have a lot of south in them, pushing big swell right into the beach area. It makes teaching tricky, but it's an amazing sight seeing breaks dumping on our beach.

July 1

PISSOURI'S GOT TALENT!

Cyprus Night came back with a bang after a gap of a year and the star of the night turned out to be 12 year old Pissouri boy, Andreas, who played a magical set on a Bouzouki (Cyprus style Mandolin). There were all the ingredients of a classic night in the Village Square - colourful Cyprus dancing by two male dancers wearing traditional costumes of Vraka, black pants and black waistcoats, the astonishing balancing act with 9 glasses on the head, plus TWO vases, then a tray on top with NINE glasses, and a bottle in the middle of the tray, and finally, a glass on top of the bottle - no matter how many times you see it, it is eye-boggling. And for the finale, a local man who can pick up a table with only his teeth.... and his son sitting on the table! But the best thing about Cyprus Night is the way Pissouri Village lets its hair down. You see waiters flashing their style in the circle of Cypriot dancers - Jack who runs the Pizza place in the Bay was a star. And tourists joined in too, with a rousing version of Zorba's Dance. It's a night not to be missed, and all for the price of a buffet at one of the tavernas.

And by the way, the windsurfing was fantastic. I was teaching a boy from Limassol to fast tack - essential to stay up wind in the gusts in the bay. His family had come down to watch. Imagine the cheers when he got it. It was a great moment. Meanwhile, Aled and Shalina who hadn't sailed before they arrived on Monday were fast-tacking and even having a go at straight running and gybes. Meanwhile, Andy was way out of the sheltered bay jumping waves in a good steady Force 4-5. And it's forecast for higher winds tomorrow.

June 28

Sunday started like a normal day in Pissouri.... a light wind blowing cross-onshore, the tempting smell of the barbeque wafting from the upper deck outdoor restaurant of the Columbia Beach Hotel across the beach. But before you could say kebabs, everything changed. The wind started to get serious at about 1 pm and it kept growing until by 2.30 pm waves were whipped up across the swimming area, about twenty metres from the beach, and I went out on a 6m. Big mistake. Just holding on. You couldn't see it from the beach, but unusually for Pissouri, the wind was howling straight across the bay. Then Roman, Moscow's answer to Tarzan, took out his much-loved 20 year old long board with a sail the size of a Laiser main sail and NO HARNESS. Amazingly he got back, but for once, agreed it was 'pretty wild'. Then Paul turned up for his second day in Pissouri and couldn't believe his eyes. Normally he sails on the Huddersfield reservoir. The blue water appeared to be boiling. I gave him our smallest sail, the 4.2m, and in the gusts it was still too much! Yiannos reckoned it was a good Force 5, but for once I'd have to disagree with him. In the bay, it was more like Force 6 in the gusts. I went out on a 5.5m and it was OK, but we didn't tame the Tiger, no way. We stopped when the rescue boats were packed away for the night, but really we'd waved the white flag by then. It was stonking, and a memorable day. It's died down now, but you never know, that wind may be waiting out there again for us to play tomorrow. Let's hope so.

June 27

It's blowing hard beyond the headland at 11 am and by 1 pm it's blowing into the bay. It was starting to tail slightly when Paul from Huddersfield took the water with a 6.5m soon to be replaced by a 7m and he was flying. Two hours later, he's ready for a Keo and some R and R with a smile on his face. And you know what, Paul? You can do it all again tomorrow! Forecast is for F4 in the afternoon. That's nine days with F3 or more. Paul has been to Guy Cribb clinics in Dahab and says they are fantastic. But I think Paul is going to be joining the growing band of loyal Pissouri fans who like the buzz of practising all those Cribby techniques under no pressure in clean seas and warm water. He even saw one of our sea turtles! You don't get that in a Yorkshire reservoir!

June 21

One minute it was dead calm, the next it was Force Five going ballistic! It left us wondering where did that come from? The forecast was for 16 knots by 3 pm but after strong winds at noon, it died leaving local wave-board sailors Aris and Harris a bit deflated and Steve, a sailor from Kent, feeling a bit short-changed. Steve asked whether it would get up again. 'No,' I said. 'Once it dies, it dies...' How wrong can you be? At 4 pm, the waves started running right to left across the bay, the palm trees started rattling and then the wind got up. By 5 pm, it was howling across the swimming area. I went out with a 7m Tush, but it was miles too big. Overpowered in the gusts, knocked flat, I even had trouble hanging on to the water starts. But it was a good work out, like three rounds sparring with Mike Tyson! Who knows where it came from, but that is Pissouri - unpredictable, but always fun. I threw in the towel, and retired to my corner of the village, happy that tomorrow, we can do it all again (according to the forecast). See you guys on the water.

June 20

Days like this are made in heaven...or Pissouri. As promised the wind kicked in at 11 am and kept blowing all day. By 1pm, it was already force 4 and I went blasting out of the bay, where oddly the wind dropped slightly, showing once again that inside the Bay is often the windiest place when the thermal winds really blow. Then Barry showed up and had a play around at high wind sailing in the harness lines. And finally Choba, a Hungarian guy on holiday, took out the 6.5m Tushingham on the 120 Fanatatic. The sail has twin cams and loads of grunt - too much in the strengthening wind. By 4 pm, it had hit 16 knots (check out the wind report on our front page weather link to windfinder) and it stayed at Force 5 for the next two hours. So he changed down to a 6m Tushingham and 110 Fanatic and had a whale of a time, two hours planing and playing in the Bay, finishing as the shadows were lengthening on the sands. Perfect, and it's going to be even windier tomorrow! Choba couldn't believe that with the wind so good, the Bay was empty!! But that's Pissouri. So if you know how, get down to Pissouri Bay and windsurf till your skeg drops off (no - not that; the fin, dear).

June 18

WE'VE GOT OUR THERMALS ON - WINDS THAT IS....

The thermal wind, which I call Hero, kicked in after 4 pm tonight and gave us a glorious end to the day. Going out, I was met by a hot blast like someone had opened a furnace. It was gusty, but it gave great lift and acted like a turbo charger. Wow, it was great blast to end the day, and not at all forecast. Incidentally, there was not much wind out of the bay, so we were running on hot air from the headland at Cape Aspro.

Looks like there's going to be a bit of a blow on Saturday when Windfinder (see the weather logo on our front page) is predicting 16 knots, Force Five, so finger's crossed. At the moment, we are getting mostly light winds, but enjoyable sailing in the bay and enough to show Barry from the UK a light wind jibe and how to get into the harness for the first time. As Professor Higgins said, I think he's got it! Now for the foot straps, providing it blows on Saturday!

Valentino taking air by the beach.

June 10

Fantastic wind today. It wasn't forecast but we had a steady F5 out of the bay, offering jumps off ramps. In the bay, where it's sheltered, we had gusts but plenty of wind for planing. After playing around in the deep blue oggy, I practised my flarve jibes in and out of the sealane down wind from our hotel. And just as I was enjoying myself, who should come out to steal my thunder? Valentino, on his kite surfboard. He did a few runs, and then headed off downwind. Where's he going? I wondered. I should have known - next thing, Elias went haring off after him in the power boat. They went downwind two bays down the coast to Paramali, the big kite surfing beach. It's wild, and ideal for kitesurfing. They met up with Yiannos there, who's got the kitesurfing bug too! I'll hear all about it tomorrow. But I can crash out tonight, satisfied at a glorious day in Pissouri.

JUne 6

Sky News rang me up to see if I could do their newspaper review Saturday morning...sorry guys. We're on the beach... Well somebody's got to do it! Yesterday, there was a Force 5 blowing by 10 am and it just continued all day. Gusty but great. If anything, the wind was stronger nearer the beach. Graham from the UK and Jens from Germany were both out practising their carve jibes. Was that a Vulcan, Jens? It was a spectacular splash. Valentino took the opportunity of a thermal wind off the headland to put on a late show for the sun worshippers by the beach at the Columbia hotels in the Bay just as we were all packing up. Wind is forecast to shade down a bit now, but picking up in the afternoons.

COME ON IN GORDON, THE WATER'S LOVELY....

June 5

A year ago, Gordon Brown gave me a leaving present at Number Ten. I was retiring from full time work at the Independent, after 30 years as a lobby journalist in Westminster to take over the windsurfing with Yiannos.

As we walked through Downing Street to the front door for this pic to be taken, he said: 'How old are you?'

'58,' I said.

'I'm 57,' he said.

You could hear the cogs in Gordon's brain whirring, 'He's only a year older than me, and he's retiring.....What about me.'

Well, the time has come Gordon to let it go. They are turning against you. It's not worth hanging on. Get out of the Rat Race (of rats leaving a sinking ship). Take the plunge. We offer a discount (not a big one) to former Prime Ministers.

And there couldn't be a better time to book your get-away-from-it-all break in Pissouri. We've got winds of 13 mph this afternoon. It's 27C and there are plenty of ramps 'out the back' for jumps.

Yesterday, we were flying around the Bay, just three of us and a whole Bay to play with. Amazing.

Meanwhile, Gordon, you were in the Downing Street bunker with your head in your hands. Come on in Gordon, the water's lovely!

May 30

I'm on Sky News on the Adam Boulton Show tomorrow to promote my Whitehall book - then it's back to the beach. But I wonder whether I'm going to make it. I was filming for five hours yesterday for a BBC trial documentary on the book around Whitehall and I've lost my voice. Help! We were filming round the back of Downing Street - where the removal vans will come if GB loses the next election - and we triggered a terrorist alert. Two red special police cars and a van came up. They were curteous, and one of the police officers said he'd got photographs of the old Downing Street, but they were tooled up (pistols and machine guns) and issued us all with notices saying we'd been checked out under the Prevention of Terrorism Act... Have a nice day! I just hope they buy the book.

Wednesday 23 April

It's gone ballistic. But there's no sailing today or tomorrow Friday in Pissouri Bay. There is a Force Six blowing and it's causing huge dumpers on the beach in Pissouri, making it impossible to launch our rescue craft. And without rescue craft, we can't run our windsurfing centre. If you have your own kit, feel free...but do remember to turn back when you hit Africa! We'll probably be back in action at the weekend.

Tuesday 21 April

It was forecast for nil wind today but it just shows that Pissouri hardly ever fails! We got a nice sea breeze, not exactly cracking our flag, but enough to have a nice sail out into the bay, and see the turtles sticking their heads out of the water. There's something about sailing in warm sunshine - it was around 23C - and feeling warm clean water over your bare feet out beyond the headland here that somehow makes the Thames Estuary seem a bit of a sewer. (That's because it is - Ed.) And you don't have to be a full-on wave sailing tyro to enjoy it. All you need is a big sail and a nice board and you have the place to yourself....where are you all!!!???

By the way, this is a pic of yours truly getting back in the groove last week at Ladies Mile. Guess what happened next??? Two panes in the old sail split - they had gone crinkly thanks to the sun. I'll have to make another visit to our local store in Limassol. Marios - can you give me a good deal?

Easter Monday 20 April

Put away the barbeque and the sheftalia. After the Easter blow-out, we're back! It looks like light winds for the start of the week, but Thursday will bring strong westerlies, after days of easterlies. It's also getting hotter. It touched 30C on our patio yesterday, but that may have been more due to the souvlaki. The boards are lined up, and the sails are rigged. What are you waiting for?

Easter Sunday

19 April

Quiet day down at the beach, with early closing due to easterly winds/invitations to souvlaki parties for Easter Sunday lunch. Steaming hot day, and the arrival of a real taste of summer after a month of storms and rain. Watched the earlypart of the Everton v Manchester United FA Cup semi final at home until ITV1 began to break up (the Sat dish is like Jodrell Bank, but still too small apparently) and so we fled to the nearest big tv guaranteed to have the sport on - at the expat watering hole, the Pissouriana, which seemed to be occupied by the Pissouri branch of the Reds supporters club. Surrounded by United supporters, I was inwardly cheering as I watched the unbelievable sight of the Toffees winning on penalties. As a life-long Toffees fan, I have no doubt that we would have lost if Alex Ferguson had fielded his first team, instead of the Babes. With no sign of Ronaldo and Rooney, they had to resort to the centre-backs to take the penalties. Ferguson clearly decided he had other priorities than the FA Cup, but he screwed up. The sign of the young United fan in tears at the end was a reminder that others get hurt by their mistakes. Was it arrogance, or just being in power for too long? Sir Alex is best mates with Alastair Campbell and it's easy to see United's defeat as a metaphor for new Labour - out of touch with their own fans after being in power for too long.

Friday April 17

Big dumpers landing on the beach at Pissouri meant no sailing again, because Yiannos couldn't get his rescue boats in the water. So off to Ladies Mile for the day - and what a day! The wind was already touching F3 when we got there, but as the afternoon progressed, it became a knock-down F6, the sort of wind that makes it difficult to walk back to the car or throws your board over your head when you are rigging. It was forecast for 20 kms, but it was well over that. And what a place Ladies Mile is! I've bored you before about this (see a long way below this post) but it's so good I'll bore you again. Ladies Mile (more like three miles) is a spit of land with a golden sandy beach sticking out into the Med by Limassol deep water port, and ending in the Akrotiri RAF base. You can sail in one direction, close to the beach for the best part of 2kms. Anywhere else in the world, it would be full of sails and kites. But this is Ladies Mile, and it's within the Sovereign Base Area (not that you would know it, sipping coffee at the Ladies Mile Taverna near the wire fence for RAF Akrotiri). I once got a letter from Buff Hoon, when he was Defence Secretary, saying that no 'development' was permitted on SBA land, unless it was for a military purpose. And 'windsurfing serves no military purpose'. As a result, there are only those lucky enough to have their own boards - or the members of the armed forces who have their own club inside the barbed wire - who can sail this world class site. And that meant, there were just a handful of sails on the water today despite the sunshine and F6 wind. It's shallow water, the wind is offshore, which accelerates off salt flats, making it fantastic for flat water blasting. And being shallow, it's also brilliant for gybe clinics. If you blow a turn, you can simply step right back on board in knee high water, so no sweating over water starts. It was shortie weather, but the water was warm when it wasn't being whipped up by the wind and I blew away the cobwebs of winter from the UK. A few more days like that, and I'll be back in shape in no time. Secretly, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the dumpers keep dumping in Pissouri bay for another day, but don't tell Yiannos I said that! It was such a good day.

Ladies Mile News - they have even fixed up a proper road with a white line down the middle to take you from the road into the Akrotiri base (sharp left after Silvano's Restaurant) across the salt flats to the beach by the Ladies Miles Taverna, which is a brilliant base for sailing, with good clean facilities, and friendly staff, who will be happy to rustle up a kebab while you are checking out the water. So the rock and roll bumpy ride has gone. That may sadden a few people who get their thrills in weird ways, but there's no excuse now for not going to Ladies Mile when the wind blows. It's now much easier to reach, and you don't need a 4x4 on raised axles.

April 15

No sailing today in Pissouri! Great winds - 22 mph out of the bay - but sadly it has caused a big swell and breaking waves on the beach which means we can't put rescue boats in the water. Tomorrow looks the same, I'm afraid. Looks OK for Friday though....sadly the winds are expected to drop then too....Oh that's life.

April 12

Sensation! We've heard along the grapevine that Damian McBride, Gordon Brown's ex-spin-doctor-in-chief, who's just resigned over spreading alleged smears over the blogosphere, is planning to come out to Pissouri to lose weight and his spots at our famous stress busting windsurfing clinic. This might be just a rumour, but hey - these days who cares? Nice to see you again soon Damian, my old mate! Don't forget to pack your XXL beach baggies. When you arrive, you can expect amazing winds this week - check out our link to weather-forecast.com which is predicting 25kms high winds at the start of the week and plenty of sunshine. Only snag, they are due to blow from the east which piles up big breakers in the bay and makes it difficult to launch.

Sail with the Pirates of Pissouri!

Find us with the Pirate Flag on the beach in front of the store at the Columbia Beach and Resort hotels.

October 6

October 5

October 4

October 2

This was the view from my sunbed.....well, somebody's got to do it.

September 23

August 18

August 17

The wind Gods came back to Pissouri - a solid F5 out of the bay making big seas look like the North Sea (only warmer). Great sailing. More please Hero!

August 16

July 4

Question? Are we going through a windsurfing revival? Maybe after the surge for kitesurfing, people are getting back into flapping around the sea on a board.

July 1

PISSOURI'S GOT TALENT!

June 28

June 27

June 21

June 20

June 18

WE'VE GOT OUR THERMALS ON - WINDS THAT IS....

Valentino taking air by the beach.

June 10

JUne 6

COME ON IN GORDON, THE WATER'S LOVELY....

June 5

As we walked through Downing Street to the front door for this pic to be taken, he said: 'How old are you?'

'58,' I said.

'I'm 57,' he said.

You could hear the cogs in Gordon's brain whirring, 'He's only a year older than me, and he's retiring.....What about me.'

And there couldn't be a better time to book your get-away-from-it-all break in Pissouri. We've got winds of 13 mph this afternoon. It's 27C and there are plenty of ramps 'out the back' for jumps.

Yesterday, we were flying around the Bay, just three of us and a whole Bay to play with. Amazing.

Meanwhile, Gordon, you were in the Downing Street bunker with your head in your hands. Come on in Gordon, the water's lovely!

May 30

Wednesday 23 April

Tuesday 21 April

Easter Monday 20 April

Easter Sunday

19 April

Friday April 17

April 15

April 12

Stop press: Yiannos found a baby Quail flapping around half dead in the sea in the bay yesterday. It was being watched closely by a turtle which was clearly teaching it to do the backstroke and shouting encouragement, like a scene out of the animated movie Finding Nimo. Yiannos gave the Quail some fresh water, and it completely revived. I'll try and post a progress report, if it survives life back on land!

November 2 - our last full day of the 2008 season on the beach. Soon it will all be a happy memory, with the pictures to recall the great moments of the summer, and the amazing variety of people we have met from all over the world. The sun had dropped behind Cape Aspro, the tables in the coffee bar on the beach at the hotel were being put away for the season, and I was de-rigging our sails, when we were met by Simon and his family, who run a sail-making business in West Sussex. They have an apartment at Aphrodite Hills for the golf, but it turns out Simon has been a tester for Windsurf Magazine. So we hope to see him testing our kit in the bay next summer. We open up again next Easter when the water hasn't quite warmed up. You need a shortie. Now it's back to windsurfing UK style - in the neoprine helmet, gloves and 5-ply winter steamer. Goodbye Pissouri. Hello Whitstable!

A typical day out in the bay - that's Adam who works in Nicosia blasting towards the wonderful Agamemnon, the little lunch stop on the beach in the trees (far left). It's a real touch of old-style Pissouri, where you can each a pitta sandwich (or kebabs if you're really hungry) under the shade of a tree and feel the wind in your face.

This moggy is one of the beach locals.

It adopted our beach loft and rolled over as soon as I got the camera out, the poser.

Headless surfer pictured jumping in Pissouri!

(Shouldn't this be in news? Ed)

Wed 15 October

'I'm stoked!' said Richard from Munich after spending three hours bumping and jumping over big sets 'out the back'. We'd been expecting force three but it came on force five in the afternoon, producing mounting seas, and giving great ramps which Richard said gave him the best day out windsurfing for five years. 'It was perfect.'

Sorry for missing your head, Richard! You got too close to the boat.

But here's one with your head on, just for you. Cape Aspro (yes, white like the pills) in the background.

Tues 14 October

Aaghhh! Colin got mugged by the village barber last night. His wife, Mandy, likes the result - she says he's gone from Michael Gambon to David Beckham in ten minutes. You can judge for yourself.

Before:

The Michael Gambon look

After

David Beckham's grandad

As George Bush would say, Yo Baldy!

Zenon - top man with the scissors.

Colin is also in the throes of doing a piece for Windsurf mag about windsurfing in Cyprus, all the best places. Hopefully, it will come out in the Spring. August is definitely the windiest month, but April and May kick off the season with v strong westerlies, worth looking at as an alternative to the cold waters of Europe, especially the Thames estuary where he usually sails. All you need here is a shortie at Easter.

Night of thunderstorms heralds more high winds tomorrow according to the forecasts but they will be from the south east, pushing big waves into Pissouri Bay. We've had light winds for a few days - good for teaching, but frustrating for Richard who is staying in Nicosia and phones up every day to ask about the wind. We even had one Dutch sailor who take a no-wind day trip to the Troodos and got pelted with huge hail stones. He hurried back to the beach, where it is still sunny inspite of the storms over the mountains. We had two beginners out yesterday - Eleanor, Al's wife, and another Richard, this one from London, who has sailed a bit but took a lesson in windsurfing and after an hour was sailing out to the headland! Amazing progress. He'll be on the Rio and in the footstraps before the end of the week at this rate.

Thurs 10 October

What's going on? Roy Hattersley was once replaced by a tub of lard when he declined to go on Have I Got News for You. So when Elios - our mini version of Arnie Schwarzenegger - was trying out the parachute from the Columbia boat for the first time, we asked for volunteers. No-one stepped forward, so Elios decided to make a guinea-pig out of a container of diesel. It survived intact, but the tourists were left wondering whether this was some new way of transporting spare fuel for our boat!

Mon Oct 6

Force 6 this afternoon! BFBS 2 Inshore Forecast has just broadcast the weather and it looks like being ballistic in the Bay late on, after the usual light winds for beginners in the morning.

Forecast was for light winds yesterday, but it blew up around 1 pm with big gusts in the bay pushing well into Force 5 and white horses being whipped up out at sea. It didn't seem so windy 'out the back' in the deep oggy, thus showing me once again that it's sometimes windier in the bay than out of it. Howard who has done a few seasons abroad in the past has pitched up with a JP 104litre wave board and some well-used Neil Pride Search sails (they look like they could survive a hurricane) and is looking forward to the ramps out the back and stronger winds today. It's forecast for 12 knots but that usually translates into 15-20 knots gusts in the bay, and if it fills in like it did yesterday, we'll be flying.

Sea Fever

Radio Five Live were doing their 'Up All Night' Monday one-liners phone-in (no, we're not insomniacs; we're just two hours ahead here).

My one-liner of all time is from John Masefield's Sea Fever:

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by...

But the bit that will appeal to windsurfers is the second verse:

"I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying."

Perfect for today with the F6 forecast!

Thurs Oct 3

The wind Gods came out to play today. It was not forecast for high winds but at 3pm the sun went behind a sheet of cloud and the bay started filling with white horses. So I clamped on my harness, got down the trusty 6.5m and went off in search of wind....nothing near the beach, but then it hit me past the buoys. Fantastic! It had filled in from the buoys to the headland, and it was blowing a good force 5 (I had no trouble getting onto the plane which is a sure sign) and relatively flat water in the shelter of the bay. I was on my own out there in conditions that I know back home they'd give their eye teeth for. I ventured out of the bay, but it seemed windiest right in the middle of the bay suggesting that once again Pissouri had it when other places didn't. It's amazing that there was no wind forecast, but that's the wind Gods for you - one minute it's flat calm; the next hello it's howling.

Funny because earlier I said: "Crack out the big sails.

The weather's back to normal - sunny, air temps at 27C and 23C in the sea, westerlies and little or no swell in the bay after the storms and rain of the last week. Light winds at the moment, but there's a prospect of higher winds after the weekend (14 mph on Monday according to the BBC weather site which always tends to underestimate the wind strength) and there's always something in the bay thanks to the thermal downdraft from the cliffs around Cape Aspro. Our biggest sail is a 7.7 Neil Pride and it hasn't had much use...maybe it's time to boom it up Scotty."

Shows you how wrong you can be here! If it'd gone out on that, I'd have been blown flat.

Tues Sept 30

Wierd weather - a southern swell turned the bay into a surf beach last Friday but we couldn't get the boats in the water, so it was no-go day. Then Sunday blew like mad from the west. Sunny and blustery, and F5 in the bay. Plenty of planing wind, but gusty. Then yesterday was flat calm, thick cloud, and rain. Now we've woken to bright warm sunshine again, and a howling westerly. The BBC forces radio, BFBS 2, is forecasting Force 4 to start with, followed by Force 5 late morning, and then Force 6 in the afternoon gusting to 35 mph!!!! The bay is sheltered, but anyone going out beyond the headland should alert air traffic control at RAF Akrotiri that they'll be coming into land on the main runway....By the way, took the camera down to Ladies Mile last Saturday when it was blowing a good F5 and took some brilliant pix of the RAF boys (and girl) formation windsurfing. Thanks for the show!

Mon Sept 22

Crikey. Pissouri was turned into a wave beach at the weekend with westerlies pushing a big swell into the bay, and rollers crashing on the pebbles. We also got a shower of rain! This week, it's more or less back to normal - westerlies, but I've seen one forecast (check out the link on our front page) that says on Saturday we can expect 30 kms from west which means ballistic sailing 'out of the back' beyond the headland, playing among the big sets in the deep oggy. I'll keep you posted.

Friday Sept 19

All swell, and no wind!

Yesterday turned out to be a disappointment after the forecast for 20 knots. The wind appeared to be building from the west at 10 am, a sure sign of a windy day ahead, but when I went out in the afternoon, fooled by loads of white horses in the bay, I couldn't get on the plane with a 6m Tushingham. Thinking the wind must have been hiding around Cape Aspro (like the old headache tabs - the White Cape), I went 'out the back' in the big seas, expecting to be knocked flat by a gale. There were huge waves, in long sets, marching west, but no wind. Weird. But the boat guys have taken a banana out of the water and it looks like they are expecting stormy weather this weekend. It's forecast for 15 knots and F4-5. I put up the forecast on a blackboard by our loft on the beach, but the thing that will really get the tourists is the forecast for... rain! There has been rain on the Troodos in recent days, but it's now forecast for the coast at Limassol. We're only 20kms away but I'm sure it won't rain on our beach parade. With any luck, the storm on the mountain will suck up wind off the sea, and we'll be flying...I'll let you know later.

For the first time in 30 years I'm not packing my bags for the party political conference season. This weekend it's Labour and having retired from The Independent where I was a political correspondent from its launch in 1986, I can finally fulfill an ambition to sail during conference week. I never really fancied windsurfing off Blackpool pier (funny - you never see anyone jumping the waves in Blackpool, which are brown). I'll be in the blue waters in Pissouri Bay while the brothers unpack tomorrow for the week ahead. I hope my former colleagues will be asking Gordon Brown the pressing questions of the day such as - do you think Startboard were right to replace the fabled Carve board with the Futura? And is the Fanatic Hawk as good as the Skate? Come on boys - we need answers from the Big Yin running Britain.

Thurs Sept 18

Yesterday - Wed - was a great day in the bay - steady Force 4-5 in the afternoon. It was glassy calm in the morning, but suddenly kicked in at 2.30 pm while the guests were still at lunch. Maybe that is why I was on my own. Easy planing in the bay, but late on, the wind got up 'out at the back' in the sea beyond the headland and I could hear the 6.5m Tushingham exhaust rattling. Kept looking for turtles in the surf but no sign. Saw a flash in the water as I tried to master a carve jibe, and wondered what it was - turned out to be white plastic bag under the water which can prove lethal to inquisitive turtles who gobble them up thinking they are jelly fish. Please care for our seas! Chris, a regular in the bay now in his 60s, came out but cranked his hamstring so retired injured leaving me to finish off with a few spectacular wipe-outs.

Thursday is forecast for Force 5 and more for the next few days...Yiannos is even thinking about putting his prize wake board boat onto the beach, so it must be windy!

Wed Sept 17

The forecast was right. At 3pm, the wind suddenly got up and within ten minutes, the bay was full of white horses. I went out on a 6m (OK I'm a heavyweight) and got overpowered in gusts that were certainly as forecast - F6. Then Valentino came down to the beach to show us how to do it. We had two hours of blasting before the wind dropped, and V went wake-boarding. Fantastic and only the two of us in the bay! Anywhere else, the bay would have been full of sails but this is Cyprus and it's September. You're all at your desks. The photos in the picture gallery can't do justice to it; but there's more on the way according to the forecast today and tomorrow it's officially forecast for 'strong' winds of over 20 knots from the west....We'll see and let you know.

TUE SEPT 16

Don't want to get our hopes up too much but for the windsurfers on the island, it's forecast for a windy week, and acccording to the inshore forecast today it's going to touch F6 in 'isolated' places. What does that mean? Where are these isolated places?

Ladies Mile - 3km of flat water with off-shore wind accelerating from salt flats - is likely to be ballistic this week. High wind day is set for Thursday.

Here in Pissouri, it's very difficult to predict. At the weekend, the forecast was light winds and it blew a hooligan in the bay from about 4 pm; it just kept coming, largely driven by the thunder storms over Troodos that sucked up wind off the sea. Weird - we were in full sunshine, blasting in brilliant wind and they were in rain at the top of the mountain.

couragement, like a scene out of the animated movie Finding Nimo. Yiannos gave the Quail some fresh water, and it completely revived. I'll try and post a progress report, if it survives life back on land!