JAMES COX
The perfect road trip has to include friends, a travel mission and an element of reward. To go with someone who knows the area you are visiting is an incredible opportunity. Without question, Timo filled that department when we were looking at the west coast of Ireland. To go with buddies is a beautiful thing. To go with old buddies is golden. What motivates me to hit the road is ultimately the desire for adventure, freedom, fun and also doing a trip that is going to make me step out of my comfort zone. If you can combine those things, that’s about as good as it’s going to get.
This was my first ever trip to the northwest of Ireland and it was an incredible experience. There was magic to the place. In the two days we were there we travelled between incredible surf and windsurf spots, saw whales, traversed mountains, enjoyed good hospitality and of course had some outstanding windsurf sessions. The relationship between the weather and the conditions is quite complex. There were local variations that would significantly affect forecasted wind strength and direction, which was really interesting to see. It was also exciting seeing Bigsalty Weather make the right call on certain spots with its wave/wind rating system. A photo of Finn Mullen riding a triple mast high wave at Magheroarty on the wall of the hotel we stayed at illustrated how monstrous mother-nature can be in this part of the world. Seeing that reinforced the feeling that shit gets real out there!