FÁS Blog Surf Pre-assessment

Date: Fri 24th feb ’12

Weather: clear, Double overhead surf, F3-4 W Wind

AM Session: Surf Pre-assessment, Rossnowlagh

13 of us took on the surf assessment today, the conditions were not ideal but we got on with it.

I think most of us passed, we will find out on monday for certain.

The format was 5 man heats for 20 mins, we had to demonstrate:

Correct paddling out back making decent ground,

Surf right and left on green waves showing trimming etc.

Safe dismount/wipeout

It was grand we all had a bit of craic and worked as a team

Equipment: Surf/Wet gear

Signed: SBauvet

16th february 2012

Weather conditions: Miserable day today in bundoran, overcast skies with mist and showers. small West swell and onshore winds at Tullan.

AM session: Mock Surf lesson in the water at Tullan.

Group Exp: The surf was pretty bad thismorning so we all took turns being an instructor while the rest of the group pretended to be an unruly class (not very far from the truth ). Dickie was by far the worst.

Personal Exp: I had great fun acting as the disruptive student while the other guys were teaching, however I found that it wasnt so much fun when it was my turn to teach. It was a good experience I believe and I can only hope that I never end up in a class teaching Dickie

 PM session:  Zipline and absailing.

Group Exp: Despite the wind and bad weather we went out to the ‘Bone Yard’ thisafternoon to do some absailing and ziplining. We were in charge of setting it all up and running it as a class for the rest of the group.

Personal Exp: I really enjoyed thisafternoons highropes. I was more nervous running the class for other people than I was when doing it myself. It was good to get out doing the zipline too as it was one of the only thing that I hadn’t done in the ‘Bone Yard’.

Signed: Conor.

15th Februrary 2010

Weather conditions: Force 3-4 NW wind with a small North West swell. Showers in the morning but sunny spells also.

AM session: Creating NOP (normal opperating procedures) 

 Group Exp: We worked on creating a Normal Opperating Procedures and Emergency Action Plan for Strandhill and Lissadell beaches which we visited yesterday. We worked in the classroom with Ken going through how these procedures follow on from the risk assestments we carried out yesterday.

Personal Exp: I feel that creating this doccument was useful as it is the kind of task that every surf school or centre would need to have completed on a yearly basis and revised regularly. Gaining experience in creating documents such as this will be useful for us all.

PM session: Surfing, Tullan Strand

Group Exp: We went Surfing at Tullan Strand where the conditions were not great but we all caught at least a few waves we were Happy with.  We are all hoping for an mprovement in the conditions especially as our personal surf assestment is scheduled for Friday week.

Personal Exp: The highlight of the day for me was the sun which shone for a large preportion of the session; it made a massive difference and I really enjoyed the surf. I hope the practice on my ‘pop-up’ will pay off when we get a nice clean day- hopfully soon.

Signed: Catherine

surf, cliff jumps and fitness.

13 Feb 2012

This mornings session we had a drive to rosnowlagh for a surf but the conditions were apalling so we all decided to go to main beach in bundoran which wasn that much better but it did us like..ha.. Ehh when we arrived at main beach we decided to do a few cliff jumps before we went surfing was still as scary as the first time i did it anyway. After that we went surfing at main beach..

This afternoons session we had fitness which was very good to be honest. We went running to main beach then to the boxing club for a workout. The work out in the club was intense but good.. No one was complaining anyway.. Ehh we came back to DAC and did a few steches and that was our day fairly tough actually.

Kevin Shine trainne at DAC FAS

8/2/2012

Weather conditions: was a cold day with light rain throughout the day

AM session: Surfing in Rossnowlagh aiming to achieve the goals needed for the surfing test

PM session: Life-guard training consisting of timed swim, all the tows, swimming underneath the water

Personal Experience: was a good day. Achieved the goals needed for ther test but need to do it in twenty minutes for the test. knocked 40 seconds off my swim time doing 6.21 which is a big step from my 7.24 a few months ago

Group Experience. we all helped each other and encouraged each other to do well in our swim time.

Jason O Byrne

07 Feb 2012

Weather Condtions: South Easterly wind, high tide, 2 foot surf.

Morning Activity/Afteroon: Swimming in the outdoor pool, praticingm knots used for lifeguarding. Surfing in Streedagh.

Personal Experience. Swimming stamina improving now pain from arms has finally gone. Enjoyed the sufring conditions in Streedagh, easy to catch waves and the infamous “Party wave”.

Group Experience. Think everyone had a good funfilled surf and less people in the changing rooms mean’t for hot showers GREEEAAAT BOOOOSSSSHHT!!

Steven McGirr

06 Feb 2012 – Surfers in the Mist

Weather: Heavy Fog – visibility 30 metres ,W wind 4mph

Morning Activity: Surfing – Tullan – Swell SE 3ft – 10 sec period

The OITC gang joined us for some surfing today ( we have been split into two groups for our RNLI Beach Lifeguard assessment one group this week us the next) at Tullan. just as we got changed some heavy fog rolled in and covered Bundoran. We could barely see the waves from the cliff! We decided to heed Kyle and his professional advice which involved a 20 minute saunter down the beach. It was like walking in a cloud we couldn’t see the water or the dunes on either side of us. On down the beach we floated until we came to the break, cue some awesome surfing, we were there for a while until the conditions got too dangerous as we barely kept within eyesight of each other.

Afternoon Activity: Beach Lifeguard Training

Down we ran to the boat quay for some much-needed if not exactly welcome training. Standard 400m run on the sand followed by a 400m conscious tow and 200m unconscious tow. we all had a laugh while putting in some serious effort. Good Job Team!

Signed: Darragh Tyrrell

Thursday 2nd Feb 2012

Weather: Clear, Head high waves, F2-3 SSE winds, Good Visibility

Morning Activity: Surfing, Tullan Strand

Surf was a bit bigger and messier at Tullan then yesterday. Most of the group got out back but it was hard work there was a few waves and drops to be had. Some people were a bit frustrated with the size of the surf but they managed. Were all looking forward to our next session.

Afternoon Activity: First Aid Skills, DAC

We covered/revised choking, wounds and breaks then followed up with some mock surf lessons led by members of the group. The first aid revision never goes a miss and it was nice to see people’s take on their own little surf lesson techniques which is a great advantage to amplify your own sessions.

Equipment: Surf/wet gear, first aid gear/mannequins.

Signed: Serge Bauvet

Wednesday 1st Feb

Weather: Sunny and cold, with a moderately light south easterly wind (offshore)

Activity for the Day: Surfing at Tullan Strand

Got out relatively early today. The swell was pretty big, wedgey and clean on the sets and growing throughout the day. There were a few spicey wedges that were approximately double overhead and the strand definitely had a Waimea bay vibe going on…

Most people got in by the cliffs as the paddle out was pretty beastly, especially in the morning. In the afternoon a few of us tried a new cliff entry point which leaves you further out back which is good, but requires a bit of a jump (approximately 2 meters), which is a bit of fun and a wee bit scary.

Overall the waves were pretty heavy throughout the day and some pretty epic wipeouts happened. At one point I was being sucked over a solid 4-5 foot wave and had to throw my board away from me in case I landed on it. Conor also wiped out like this and then did land on his board. Overall the wave were probably a bit too big for most of the group but everyone seemed to have a bit of craic anyway and at the very least everyone was awed by the power of nature and all that stuff.

Ultimately I feel today was pretty good because people were generally pushed outside their comfort zones and also a few class waves were surfed. Personally, I got two very cool rides, which made the day well worth while.

Mike

31st Jan 2012 Tuesday

31st January 2012

Weather conditions: 

Bright sunny day but still quite cold. 3ft swell for Bundoran with a light offshore wind.

Morning Activity:

 Beach lifeguard training at Tullan Strand. Did some more practise at swimming out back and back in again. We then learned how to pick up casualties on a rescue board and get them back to shore safely.

Afternoon activity:

Fitness work for the afternoon which consisted of a session at the boxing club ( who knew skipping could be such a tough work out!!) Lots of core work which i found tough going. We then went to the pool for practise on our timed swims ( and a crafty dip in the hot tub!!).

Signed

Mark K