12 months ago we set out to raise £50K for The Childrens Trust by
cycling from Biarritz to Barcelona across the Pyrenees, we are currently
over £60K and this figure is still rising.

In all we climbed 8 mountains, including the infamous Col d’Aubisque,
Tourmalet in a single day, and over the course of 7 days totalled a
distance of 430 miles and a climb of 27,000ft [almost the same as
Everest].

We experienced driving rain from the offset in Biarritz, to snow and
freezing cold conditions on the Aubisque and glorious sunshine as we
crossed the border from France to Spain and on to Barcelona.

Although warm at the base of the mountains, once past 1500m the
temperature would drop and the base layers became essential wear for the
impending descent on the other side.

Please feel free to use any of the attached, or above on your web page.
I look forward to ordering more from you in the future,

Regards,
Colin Macgadie

No sponsorship deals or overpaid athletes, just a customer looking to do a little good in the name of the Children’s Trust. Super stoked to be a part of it Colin - boys at Finisterre.

About a month ago, a small crew of guys at Good Nature got in contact with us, they said they were going on a Chilean Tour and putting together a film for Surfers for Cetaceans - so we listened.

- In 1946, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) was set up to promote and maintain whale and fishery stocks, as well as maintain prices for whale derived products. Over 60 years later, there’s been some research that cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) are not simply ‘oversized fish’, but warm-blooded, sentient mammals, with large brains, sophisticated social structures and an elaborate language.

Every year the IWC meets and allots certain countries, mainly Japan, Iceland and Norway, the opportunity to kill over 1500 cetaceans, every year, in the name of ’scientific research’.

We’ve read the facts, we’ve seen the video and Surfers for Cetaceans, are one of a few groups out there, trying to change this archaic thinking and bring some attention to a sad situation. Good Nature asked us if we could provide them with some kit to protect them from the Chilean winter, help document this trip and kick up some stink at this years IWC.

- Dave Rastovich

To read more about the Visual Petiton, click here: http://www.visualpetition.com/slippages/about.php

Hi Guys,

Iceland was incredible, we found four or five new waves, all pretty good. We camped the whole time, even though a couple of nights were spent in a blizzard. The gear worked incredibly, despite the conditions cold was never an issue, we just need to find somewhere even colder to go surfing now to push it even more! We were lucky enough to see the northern lights as well, which is pretty rare in may, thanks again and see you all soon,
Tim Nunn and Ian Battrick (on a Wavelength trip)

Now in its third year, the Surfer Path Green Wave Awards have never been just a showroom for the coolest green products or the latest greenest marketing campaign. Its aim has always been to discover those with the sincerest of environmental and social agendas that carry them through, year on year. We’ve been nominated for a second year running and it’s humbling and heartening to be recognised for something we’ve been doing since day 1. Thanks for the recognition guys.

Martin, the guy who organised this beach clean, had been in touch for some while - an awesome example of somebody motivating the nearby community to make a massive tangible impact on a local problem. Sadly we could not make the day, but there was a great turnout and the day was a total success – read for yourself below.

On the back of this, there have been quite a few other coastal communities keen to organise similar events in different locations. Anybody interested should stay in touch and/or join up to Martin’s Facebook group (‘Ten thousand plastic bottles’).

This took three hours to collect…

Community Spirit Transforms Local Beach

On 25th April the pupils at Parkham Primary School, along with members of the local community, local surfers and beach lovers, took to the beach at Peppercombe, near Horn’s Cross, North Devon to give it a spring clean, tidy it up after the recent storms and enjoy a great day out. As well as clearing the flotsam and jetsam which littered the beach, the children noted down what they had found as part of the Marine Conservation Society’s Adopt a Beach scheme.

But it wasn’t all work, work, work. Organiser, surfer and parent Martin Dorey, wanted it to be more than just hard graft; “The idea behind the project was to encourage the kids to take ownership of their local beach and be proud of where they live. So I felt it was important to make sure that the message of beach litter and recycling was intertwined with having a great time. I got together a team of experts who I felt could give a really fun and educational day out. Thanks to their knowledge and hard work we were able to turn the beach into a fabulous outdoor classroom for a day. They also came to the school the week before to talk about what they were going to do. That really helped to get us all excited and ready to go.”

And fun it was! Whilst local volunteers helped to clean the beach, the pupils of the junior school enjoyed rockpool rambles with Joe Hutchinson, a ranger from the Biosphere Reserve, made paint from the rocks with geologist Dr Ranald Kelly from the Hallsannery Field Centre and chose the most brightly coloured bits of rubbish to make into a ‘rubbish rainbow’ with Mrs Recycle. The National Trust, who own the beach and usually take care of it, organised the beach cleaning. Local volunteers also made hotdogs, lent their land for parking and picked up rubbish. Devon County Council got involved too, donating recycled pens, rulers and goodies as a thank you for the children. Westcountry TV even came down and filmed the event.

Martin Dorey continued: “Everybody got involved right from the very beginning. We were lucky enough to have a couple of Land Rovers from the Clovelly Estate to drive the kids up and down the hill to the beach. Without them the kids would have had to trudge up the hill – this way they had a real adventure. And once the kids went home we were able to say thanks to everyone for helping by building a bar on the beach and celebrating in style - thanks to Lee Robertson, landlord of the Smithy Inn at Welcombe, and Sharp’s Brewery. So we all had a ball and the beach got cleaned up. Hopefully we’ll all be able to come together and do it again the next time it gets too bad.”

And thanks to the power of the internet martin has been in touch with a group in Newcastle who want to put on a similar event. He also hopes to use social networking sites to build a network of people who are interested in taking part in beach cleans in their area. He says; ”I’d like to think that this is just the beginning. We’ll definitely be doing this again and we hope that the kids of Parkham Primary School will inspire other schools to get out there and make a difference to their beach. With good friends, a few volunteers and the support of the community we can get things done and have a brilliant time in the process!”

The guys across the way at SAS just sent us this - after months of campaigning, permission has been refused for raw sewage dumping at Tintagel. Keep charging boys…

‘SURFING LEGENDS’ CELEBRATE TINTAGEL SEWAGE VICTORY

Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) campaigners have today welcomed Hilary Benn, Secretary Of State for the Environment decision to refuse South West Water permission to carry on dumping raw sewage at Tintagel and Bossiney.

South West Water had plans to continue to discharge poorly treated sewage at Tintagel and Bossiney, a system unimproved since King Arthur’s days!

SAS campaigners worked closely with local resident group TAIST (Tintagel Against Inferior Sewage Treatment) and helped them prepare evidence for the Public Inquiry. SAS campaigners were also called to give expert witness testimony during the Inquiry and went even further by inviting King Arthur, Merlin and Sir Campaignalot along to its opening day. See the short campaign film at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NF4tN0PtzY

The Planning Inspector and the Secretary of State, Hilary Benn agreed with SAS and TAIST, that Tintagel and Bossiney should be considered a single community and therefore it required secondary level sewage treatment as a minimum level under the EU Urban Waste Water Directive. South West Water’s proposal had attempted to split the communities in half, which would have reduced the population size of each below the 2000 population threshold and in doing so ruling them both out of having to apply secondary level treatment.

Richard Hardy, SAS Campaign Director says: “We are delighted that the Secretary of State and the Planning Inspector have come to this decision. It seemed a no-brainer really, but we needed the legendary campaigning skills of King Arthur and the magic of Merlin to see this proposal rejected. The biggest thumbs up though has to go to local campaign group TAIST, who have done a fantastic job in showing just what a local grassroots community group can do if there is an environmental challenge to be overcome.”

Looking like a beauty South swell on the way for both the North and South Coast this weekend. Should start to show on Saturday pm and reach 3ft by Saturday evening. Winds set to be light SE, so hopefully get everywhere firing.

Clear the decks and get in the water - hoping this is the sign for the summer ahead - long evenings and groomed swell lines…

Check the full Finisterre forecast below

http://www.finisterreuk.com/surfforecast/