It's been a while...

After spluttering volcanos, piles of ash and stumbling though Egyptian planning laws we are now in full swing... We have a bustling  centre, with both first time visitors, and a number of guests returning to our new look spot on the beach...

The last week has, I am reliably informed been a cracker. With force 4-5 winds everyday, everyone has been out on 5.5 - 8.0 sails, with some of the larger freeride boards getting a good airing. It’s been the perfect week for lessons, with everything from beginners to those working on cracking their carve gybes advancing well.

This of course is all happening in joyous 40˚C heat... sitting here in the UK with rain falling outside, it’s hard not to be jealous! To top it all off, the dolphins have been frequent visitors, and the new kayaks have become the new firm favorite when following them around.

Activities off the water include Kat’s birthday, with Dress Up Night being the theme, never will there be a more formal staff pic... much revelry was had by all! 

Smart Staff (L-to-R) Greg, Aimee, Grace, Kat, Rich & Jane

Other nights have included Beach BBQ’s, Grace’s inaugural cocktail night, and movie night at the world’s best cinema...

Well, I think that’s about it for now, stay tuned for more news, pics and other stuff... and in the meantime check out our Facebook page (click here)... Undoubtably Greg will be on top of the info over there...

We are open!

Yup, we are I promise! It may seem that things have slowed down here at the beach (what with a lack of change in our temporary website), but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

We are open, and have been officially for a couple of weeks or so now, with guests arriving both from the UK and the ever faithful Cairo contingent returning after their winter break.

The new centre is gaining character by the day, and hopefully once it has time to bed in, it will be as characterful as the old place, but with an improved take on things, in the meantime, it is all shiny and has that new wood smell...

The New Deck

I have attached a selection of photos, and more will follow... this should you give you an idea of the changes we have made, hopefully everyone will like it. As you can see it’s a little different to the old place...

 The Centre

 Out From The Bar

 X-Rack - New Toys!

 Sail Racks

 Oh... and of course, the bar

Moonbeach Wind

Another real plus has been the wind... we have had some storming winds to kick start our season, with 4 days of 30 knots plus... the ramps out the back even had a chance to start appearing, and Really-Tiny-Wave-Bay saw the first action of the season.

Current kit of choice has to be the RRD TwinFin 82 and my Ninja Green (very important!) Ezzy 4.7m Wave Panther II... an awesome combination that saw 4 straight days of abuse... Fantastic kit. Greg has been breaking in one of our new Starboard Wood Carbon Kode 86’s... and cannot stop talking about it... having been landing back loops out the back on it, it’s fair measure of the kit that it’s still going strong!! 

Dolphins

It seems like everything happens at once... with an absence almost as long ago as our last blog update, the dolphins have returned with avengence... of late they have been spending a great deal of time hanging around in the bay... including one particular afternoon when they and about 25 hotel guests spent 3 hours quite literally hanging around in the bay... everyone was totally stoked...

Big Do...

Life here has been very hectic... and it’s easy to almost forget events that have happened even recently... Our first official weekend saw Henry and Debbie having their leaving do here with us at the beach... Good Luck Guys!! They proved to be a couple of entertaining nights, with the centre’s construction being truly tested... With a notable bunch of our regular folk (you know who you are Richard and Alan!!!) deciding to pogo the night away on the new deck... thankfully it held... the new dance floor is now on the beach guys! 

I think thats about it for now... there is a whole list of folks to thank, but that needs its own entry... in the meantime, we are open, I promise... and wherever you are... here comes summer...!

Schlep

Propositions and fences...

Today has been interesting, it started well for Codge with a proposition outside the metal work shop in Ras Sudr. It would seem that a local gentlemen took a shine to our aged colleague, using the renowned technique of wanting to improve his English vocab... Poor old John had to spend an hour rebuffing the advances of this galabiyya clad gent whilst collecting our metal work...! Needless to say, Codge declined the offer of his number and lie down!!

The rest of the day has been spent preparing for the electricians arrival tomorrow, and the building of our first bit of the centre. Myself, Codge, Ossama and Saed having been putting the finishing touches to our fence around the decking. It is certainly nice to be adding our own touches to the centre, and even better when it sort of goes to plan, something of a first with this build... 

With only a week until we are open for beers and the odd lesson we have an increasingly long list of chores to get done.

Those of you who can make it for next Friday, it will be great to see you.. hopefully we might even get some wind too...

Schlep

Back home... Centre happiness, storm damage and trashed kit...

After being away for a week or so in the UK and Cairo, I finally arrived back at the beach yesterday.

It’s fair to say that until you leave somewhere, you have often little true appreciation of it. I feel like this every time I leave Moonbeach, but getting back this time was extra special. To be greeted by a solid Force 5 is not uncommon, but today I also got to see the centre for the first time with fresh eyes. Having been here from the outset with only the odd day in Cairo I had become accustomed to the gradual development of the centre, but today it really dawned on me what we are building. I really do think it’s going to be cool... 

Work has been progressing really well, with Strawberry John (aka Codge) and Greg cracking the whip!  The old ‘club’ rack has been almost completely leveled, with only the last few posts remaining, if it had only been 10 days earlier it might have saved some of the kit...

I’m not sure if you’ve seen the pics on Facebook, but we were hit by one of the highest tides on record. This coupled with an onshore storm saw the water head right up the beach and into the normally very dry kit areas... It also had the cheek to remove more than it’s fair share of sand from around and under the centre...

Unfortunately, some of the equipment took some serious punishment. Greg was out there doing his very best to save all the kit (See previous blog entry). wading around up to his waist in water, where normally you’d be lucky to get your feet wet! There are rumors of Codge out there in his pants... those are best left, don’t even begin to let your imagination work.... arrrrgghhh, damn it!

We are in the process of compiling a list of the broken gear, and we shall be in touch with those affected... we’re sorry to keep you waiting, but we’ve got to get this bit right!

It’s been quite the winter so far... huge storms, flooded wadis and now epic onshore storms... a bit of a hurdle when you’re trying to build something, but hopefully all good signs of a windy summer...

In the meantime, we continue to build stuff, and we look forward to seeing those that can make it on the 19th Feb for a look around, a windsurf and a maybe a couple of cheeky beers...

All for now.

Schlep

Another Storm...

Just had another storm a few days ago! No rain this time, but massive waves and seriously high tides, I have never seen the water come up so high! I spent hours trying to stop everything being washed away! The video tower has been knocked flat. The surge was so strong it was moving concrete blocks around! The centre is still standing even though about three feet of sand were lost from the beach! Hopefully this is the end of the storms!


Greg

Big steps

I guess it happens like this sometimes... one minute you can’t get a thing built square, or straight for that matter, everything is wonky and you’re tearing your hair out... and the next thing you know, you have a set of steps that really should qualify as a building in their own right.

Thanks to Adel, our latest addition to the carpentry team down here at the beach we now have a very solid, very nice (it should be noted) set of steps. They wouldn’t look out of place on a more substantial building, and once the hand rail is in even Codge will be able to get up them!

Things are moving on very nicely now, and we are really beginning to feel that out self-imposed deadline of the 19th Feb is achievable. This week the kit storage areas for the sails and boards, the workshop, and the staff kit rack (most important!!) should all be built.

Now that the fall out from the storm has abated, and the guys are all on site again we should have rapid progress. Check back for more pics, as hopefully the plan takes shape.

Schlep

New Toys.... New Toys.... New Toys....

As part of our X-Rack - All Carbon Kit Hire Experiment, some of our stuff has started to arrive. Our first batch of new Ezzy Wave Panther II’s have arrived, along with a new 2010 Twin Tip 100 and a whole stack of RDM’s...

With all these glowing reports raving about the new Panthers we are gagging to get out and try them. If only there wasn't a centre, a web site and a whole heap of other stuff to finish first... Oh, and the Ninja Green ones look epic....

Wadis run through it.... all of it!

Crazy times here at the beach... two days ago we were stuck in the middle of one of the most epic storms that Sinai has seen in many a year. Gale force winds, mm’s of rain fell an hour, and even sleet and hail stones... but without doubt the most impressive bit was the thunder and lightening... simply awesome... although outside was certainly not the best place to be the sky was constantly illuminated with the mountains at the back being lit up by huge forks of lightening... Meanwhile inside, we all battled to stem the flood waters, with staff accommodation, the office and even the main hotel building succumbing to the constant rain. 

                  Hail!

With all this rain, the desert reverted to normal service, with Wadi’s that have remained dry for years suddenly being called into service... whilst what seemed like an endless down pour of rain which lasted around 12 hours has really changed the scenery. Everything from the Wadi behind Moonbeach right down to the beach in front of the centre has been transformed, with huge amounts of silt, sand and even rocks being shifted. So much so in fact that the road has been closed and we are unable to return home, after escaping yesterday we are now holed up in Cairo waiting for the army engineers to clear the roads and allow us home, back to the centre build...

                       All the way along the coast... the roads are covered...

Surprisingly, even with the cliff falling on a few of the posts, most of our new building survive unscathed, a hopeful sign for the longevity of centre, and a true testament to the carpenters and their skills. Although it did get slightly damp!

Normal service will resume once we can get back to the beach, but in the meantime hopefully some of these pics will give you an idea of the last few days, and the last one shows just how far we’ve got... role on March 15th...

 Waiting for the next front..

Leaving Ras Sudr

Just before the rain...

Day Fifteen - A great day

Today was a great day... one of those days when you realize just how cool things can be...

What a day, with wind pushing 30 knots, air temp in the mid 20˚C’s, stacked on a 5.3m, and uncrowded water to play on, and that’s not even the best part.

The best part was today we somehow found our way to almost being back on schedule. Our contingent of carpenters from Cairo have worked exceptionally hard, and as of today we have the makings of a roof. Oh, and the last of the decking on the path has been laid. All is looking good.

Elsewhere, I’ve almost finished the brochure, a few pics aside that should finally be available early next week to download. Onsite, some of the lads have headed back home for Coptic Christmas, and whilst they’re away we’ll start planning the next bit. Oh, and my Skype video chat is finally working, happy days.

That’s it for now, hang in there with the winter weather guys, doesn’t sound like much fun.

Schlep

# HAPPY NEW YEAR! #

Okay, so it's a day late, and festooned with a giant hangover, but I would like to wish everyone a happy, prosperous, windy and generally all round great year... Happy two thousand and ten one and all...!