2009
January:
2009 started of pretty good with a night on the town, (nothing too heavy I had to start work at 0600 the next morning). I did my usual dressing up thing, (in Newquay if you dont dress up you look stupid) my theme this year was Zombie!! 
The good news was we had about 2 weeks of good clean swell, sun and light winds. The bad new was some b******d took it apon them selves to steal my Hurley winter suit. As if that was'nt bad enough they came back the next day and stole my booties!! After Matt at Hurley sorted me out with a new one I hit our normal winter surf, big and mostly out of control, still it
was nice to get back in the surf.
February:
This month too was to have mixed fortunes. I was all geared up to spend two weeks in the Dominican Rep with my girlfriend Hannah. The trip did'nt start off so good. As we took the over night bus to Heathrow we were in high hopes, a quick bus change to Gatwick and we were 4 hours from fly time. 5 hours later and we were still on the M25, 2ft deep in snow and not moving. We arrived at Gatwick 1 hour after are flight should of took off only to find the the plane was missing 120 passengers and 7 of the crew. Happy days, they opened the check in again and before you knew it we were on board ready to go. The real good news was they checked us in so quick I did'nt have to pay for my boards, result. And so the trip begins. The first 2 days held perfect weather and a small but clean ground swell. Day 3, rain and wind. Day 4, rain and wind. day 5,rain and wind.........you might see a pattern forming here. Day 10, Yes the sun comes out, the wind dies and the good times continue. I get a couple of surfs in, even though I have a little niggle in my shoulder (nothing to worry about). Sun, surf and free food......sweet. 
Day 11, wake up at 0430. I cant sleep because of the pain in my shoulder, this is not good. The thing is, when it rains for days on end and your on holiday, what do you do? We played monopoly......for hours at a time. I think I incured the first ever monopoly related injury in history! I took some pain killers the first day and got away with a surf. I was'nt so lucky after that. I could'nt paddle, I could'nt even pick up a cup of tea. Back in Newquay and I would find out I had a rotator cuff injury. These can take months to sort out. So I started osteopath treatments, ice packs and no exercise. After 3 weeks I can do light exercise but still can't surf. Roll on March!
March:
Unfortunatly so far this month its been bad news as far as my shoulder goes. I had to see an occupational health physician, he was'nt too happy with my progress, so he insisted on no upper body exercise for at least a month and got me to see a physiotherapist. So at the moment I can't surf, play basketball, do boxing training, go swimming. All I can do is run. So I've been running. I try to mix it up a bit, one day will be hills which is quite short but high intensity, then the next will be a longer flatter run. The gym work has changed aswell. More squats, crunches, back extentions nothing too mad, i'm just trying to keep my general fitness up. Fingers crossed I'll be back in the surf just as the water starts to warm up.
(I would like to thank my girlfriend Hannah for being my spell check.x)
April:
At last I can get back into the surf. We've had a couple of good small clean days with not too much paddling, which has been great to start me back. I still cant believe how quick you lose your surfing fitness...mind you that could be my age! Also I managed to take an Indo-board training session, so I can now instruct Indo-board classes. Many thanks to Adriano for the opportunity to get on the Indo-board team and also thanks to Kevin, my very patient instructor, who also advised me on shoulder rehabilitation.
May:
May has started sunny for a change. We've had some solid days of surf so far, its been as big a 4-6ft and clean. The good news is my shoulder is pain free, the bad news is that after 2 months of no activity the Subscapularis muscle has withered and almost disapeared. So I have a lot of work to do to get the muscle anywhere near normal. Still I can surf and play basketball and even do some light pad work in the gym, it's all good.
I have just returned from an amazing trip to Ireland, I have'nt been there for 2 years. As always I stayed with my good friends Richy and Briohny Fitzgerald. Richy is embarking on a very exciting coaching future at Surf Coach Ireland. I was lucky enough to get perfect waves at Bundoran...............
Thank you Richy And Bri.xxxxxxxxxxxx
June:
June started off with amazing surf and even better weather. Down here in Newquay we were treated to a week long sunny spell reaching at least 25deg everyday. SE winds kept the swell clean and fun, low and high tide banks were the go. I had more news on my shoulder as well. After 2 1/2 months of physio there was no change in the missing muscle department so my physio advised me to stop seeing them as no progress had been made and referred me to a specialist to get an MRI scan. Good news for me was that the BPSA Champion of Champion's event is back on in Sri Lanka, its been 4 years since the last event in which I came 2nd. The event will be held at the end of this month and the first week in July.
Well I've just finished packing for Sri Lanka, got a couple of new Spider boards to put through their paces. The hire car crew is me Stokesy, Feasty, Mike Young and Aarron Evans, we got a late flight out but should have 3-4 days of free surfing before the contest kicks off.
July:
What a trip that was!! We had a problem free drive to Heathrow and checked in with no trouble. The flight was 11hrs to Columbo, where we stayed the night in a 5* hotel. Next morning it was all aboard the bus driven by Basil. 12hrs later we got to the surf. We had head high or bigger waves everyday and I had forgot just how hot it gets over there. The water and air was 30degs. We had 4 days of free surfing then the contest ran for 3 days. I was happy to reach the semi's and finish 5th over all, not bad for an old dude with a bum shoulder. Richy Sills of SA won the event with solid backhand attack.
I really wish we could of stayed a bit longer, I think next year the contest will be set in stone so everyone can get them selves ready in time. Also I heard a bit of sight seeing will be planned for next year after the event.
Good news.........after 5 months of waiting I finally get to see someone about my shoulder who can tell me if surgery will be a possibility to get me back to %100.
August:
Well we have had waves most of the summer, the Boardmasters went of in pumping surf and a couple of the boys put in a good show to clear a few rounds. The sun has been playing hide n seek alot of the time but when you got good banks who cares!! I've been surfing a new board "quiver" from Luke Heart, its a parabolic railed 5'11" super low volume but because its epoxy it floats me fine. Its so quick and responsive I feel like I'm surfing like a 30 year old again! LOL. I have a possible trip to Jersey the end of Sept for the Europeans. I will be the Coach/senior surfer, just trying to sort out travel plans.
September:
This was a month full of surf. It was as if the weather was trying to make up for something. For the most part i surfed my 5'11" quiver board which is flying in all kinds of surf. Good news on the shoulder, I saw a surgeon who told me I had "Parsonage-Turner sydrome" which is treatable by an operation. Recovery time is anywhere between 2-5 years! not so good but he did say that I should be able to surf again after about 2 months. the down side is thats going to be the middle of winter! but hay, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Late September and it was off to the europeans in Jersey. We were over there for 10 days, and it was pretty much flat for 8 of them. We had good results in the Open with Stokesy getting to the semi's but was surfing good enough for a final spot. Tyson got a 3rd in the seniors and Sarah was skunked in the women final. Some strange/bad calls at the event but shit happens.
October:
The water is starting to chill a little bit but we have had some of the best surfing conditions ever. Not big swells but clean, fun swells with no wind and sunny skys. Matt at Hurley rolled out my new winter suit and a pair of boots that look like ninja shoes!! I also have an operation for my shoulder 16th Oct. I'm kind of looking forward to it just so I can get on with getting fit again. Finally after 7 1/2 months of waiting I have had my shoulder op. It was a day thing, the op was at 0930 and I was aloud home at 1700. The first instructions were to keep the sling on for 2 weeks, though I was given some exercises to do by my physio, just to keep the shoulder from freezing. I'm not aloud to lift anything at all for 6 weeks, after that we start strength training. The nerve they freed was under several inches of muscle (trapezius) which had to be cut open. The main thing I can do is not to rush things. So for now its no upper body exercises! I have started to stretch my legs more and do a few sets of crunches and squats a day just to burn some cals.
November:
Well Ive been bored out of my tree but slowly I'm starting to use my arm more and more. I see the guy who performed the op this Wed (25th Nov) I think he wants to see his handy work. I'm hoping he will be happy enough for me to start swimming to try and build the muscles back in the shoulder. The bicep and tricep have shrunk a little from lack of use but that was expected. The main thing is I can raise my hand above my head with little or no pain. I have physio 2 days after the meeting with the surgeon and I'm hoping we start on the strength training. I can see the light and the end of the tunnel.
The meeting with the surgeon was short and sweet. He was happy with my progress but did say it might take upto 6 months for the nerve that was trapped to be fully fuctional. My physio was also happy and has aloud me to start exercising again, I just have to take it slow and steady. Happy days!
December:
Seems to be all good from all angles. The physio says that the muscle is reacting to the exercises I'm doing. It's about 1/3 of the size it should be but now I'm putting the work the light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer. So as long as I take it easy I can start surfing and playing basketball again. Fingers crossed I'll hit the surf in the morning (just hope its not too cold!)
Over the last few days I managed to get a couple of surfs in. The waves were small and clean.....and cold! It was a bit of a struggle to be honest, the last time I surfed it was in my summer suit, then 2 months go by and its winter suit and boots! The first day I only lasted 40 mins then I was knackered, the next day it was an hour and I managed to get some turns down. The worst thing was how sore my ribs were! The surf has gone crap again so its back to the gym.
2010
January:
Well the newyear got off to a bang, was a a little bit fresh but a good night was had by all. On the surfing front its slowed up a bit, not because of my shoulder but because its been so dam cold! Physically I'm getting much stronger, way stronger than I was for most of last year. My fitness is slowly returning and everything is possitive when it comes to my rehab. Myself and Hannah have booked a week in Lanzerote which should be fun, a bit of sun and some warm surf will help alot. My physio is happy with my recovery and has said that as long I keep up the exercises there is no reason to see them again. The only thing I have to think about now is should I take 2 or 3 boards away?!
February
Lanzerote Diary: 3rd-10th
Day 1. Surfed fun size Famara beach break, shoulder to head high no wind just me. Second surf in the evening, picked up a bit still fun n clean.
Day 2. Bit more swell went to La Santa and surfed the right, 4-5ft 8-10 guys out . First wave someone in the way, over the falls face first, local not happy with my effort, second wave blew the back out of it.
Day 3. Too big
Day 4. Too big , San Juan crowded. Saw Joff Owen he said to try playa blanka tmrw.
Day 5. Went down to playa blanca took for ever to find the wave, Joff said to look for a castle but it's not really a castle. Found the Castle left looked abit cross shore and a pain to get out. Found a right hander near the light house, was lookin ok but the end was dry. Also saw a nice peak in Puerto Del Carmen but had 5 guys out, found a little left peak in Matagorda with 1 Irish guy out it's was nice to get wet. There was a good peak right at the end of the runway of the airport but it was full of spongers.
Day 6. Too big on the west coast not big enough on the east.
Day 7. Went for an early to San Juan, got there just before dawn 3 guys out, all Germans, surfed with them for 30 mins then they got out, just me for 40 mins. 4ft light onshore, was a good end to a nice little winter break. 
After 2 weeks of being back in sub zero temps I faced my demons and went for a surf, apart from feeling sick cos the water was so cold on my hands it was'nt that bad. South Fistral had a couple of good days and I got a solo surf at small Little Fistral, looks like there's a good back there at low. The real good news is Spring is just around the corner.