If I had just one tip for winter surf trips it would be this: wait until after Christmas. Give yourself the prospect of a nice hot trip in February to get you through the winter.
We went to California in October. Despite the warm water and balmy Californian climate I was actually looking forward to coming home to some nice cold-but-empty waves. I had a new board to ride and was feeling super paddle fit. Oh the surf, such a cruel mistress, it had other ideas. Howling winds and solid rain for nearly six weeks, all the while the days getting shorter and shorter and the water temperature plummetting. The trip quickly became a distant memory.
I always struggle in the winter, but with our winter trip already behind me I'm finding this winter particularly difficult. Nothing's really firing me up, I'm demotivated, and if procrastinating were an Olympic sport I'd get the gold. I started writing a post about the trip on the 4th of November, somehow it's taken me two months to sort out my film photos and get something together. But it's done, and if it's not too depressing to even look at some warm waves and blue skies you can see the full set here.
