Danny's blog

I've been a bit quiet recently. Apologies! Hoping to get some kind of update before then end of the month, be it new gallery pics or video.

(WARNING THE BELOW CONTENT MAY BE EXTREMEEEELYYY BORING FOR THOSE NOT INTERESTED IN THE SITE WORKINGS!!)

I have been looking into a new gallery/video system to replace our current one which is getting really dusty now on the features front. First off, it's not good enough to provide the low resolution pics anymore.. Expect the new gallery to have most of the current images with their full resolution counterpart available to download. This we are expecting will require more hosting space. We currently use nearly 3GB of space on our package. This will need to be tripled/quadrupled at least!

All the WMV videos shall be converted to flash format to be friendly across all platforms, be it Windows, Mac and Linux. As well as most of the newer ones will be available in HD.

Once this is done. I plan to update the website with a complete new look! A large amount of the website is unnecessarily complicated and messy.

(END OF EXXTREEEMLYYY BORING BIT)

So hopefully that will give you guys and gals an idea of whats gonna happen over the next year - Hopefully sooner than later!

I have taken the time to train myself the art of Wakeboarding. A few days ago it was a calm day, glassy flat sea, no wind, perfect conditions and with the help of my brother Nick's board I was able to try for the second time (first time I was mastering getting up). Once I am up on the board I can only describe it as a surreal feeling of gliding across the water, the slightest movement of balance to heel or toe will move the board where you want to go. I am looking forward to improving and catching air, but I need to learn to walk before I can run and I will certainly be buying my own board!

Well as many of you have probably noticed, Paignton Beach parking is open again. With no surprise of a parking meter every 15 metres. (luckily they are not active just yet). I shall remind any new visitors that Torbay Surfing petitioned against these along with 2000+ other angry people and as usual the council did not listen! - In future there is not much point petitioning as its getting clearer and clearer that they will do what they want regardless of what the people say. The council has recently been building up a nice little list of local mess up's including Rock Walk, that big Balloon thing and now Parking meters!

As many of you probably know. The council, despite having over 2000 people against the idea of parking meters on Eastern Esplanade road on Paignton beach are going ahead with the idea. This really frustrates me that they didnt even consider the people that use the current free parking as a means to enjoy their local watersport of windsurfing, surfing, kayaking etc. It is quite possible that Paignton Beach will be ignored when coming to these sports. The people that need to carry a large amount of equipment from car to sea may find themselves finding it easier to go somewhere else to enjoy their hobby. We dont just sail, surf, skim or kayak for 30 mins at a time, we may sometimes be there for hours, it will cost us all a fortune in parking costs!

Torbay Council mayor Nick Bye and whoever else is responsible for these meters will definately NOT be getting my vote or my family and friends vote come the next election.  The council have potentially destroyed one of the best locations for watersports in the bay.

Nick, a couple of mates and myself took the boat for a blast today. Much easier to take it out with the mooring, however as expected we found 1 minor issue..... bird poo! within 2 days, darn seagulls have managed to excrete at least 30 or so well landed shots on our bow and stern covers.

Also Nick's wakeboarding skills have progressed alot within the last few sessions. He is able to endure a vast distance without letting go, he made it from Paignton Beach all the way over to Elberry Cove in fairly choppy conditions. He is also starting to pull off some well executed jumps and shows far greater control. I'm sure fairly soon he will be attempting backflips!

Managed to secure a Torquay inner harbour mooring. This is gonna be great as this summer it will be far easier to get out and enjoy the boat.

The only concerns I have with is fouling and cleaning the boat.  Nick and I must have a strict schedule for cleaning it.  Otherwise we will start growing our own underwater garden!

I'm not sure if you guys and gals know, but we are working on a blog system. What does that mean, you say?

First we can start with: What is a Blog? Blog, is derived from weblog. "an online diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page".

How will this benefit you? - you can post your own news, stories or experiences directly on the Torbay Surfing website. We will be collecting everyone's thoughts into one place which will be heavily advertised on the front page.

I am in the testing phase, so you are welcome to try the system out for yourself.