Metal maltesers

If you ever find yourself chasing a stray robot with bunny ears through your shop, it's probably best just to call the police or your local android warden. Poor Rachel tried to chase the thing down but it must have had some sort of turbo function. It outclassed her mortal sprint skills by miles. Shame, really. We'd have liked to have had a cuppa with the little fella and gauged it's opinions on current affairs.

Hey ho.

3 for 2: It's bargain time!

What's the best way to welcome in the forthcoming sunny month of May?

Granted, there probably is something fun about dancing around a pole until you're sick on the bunting, but I daresay our little contribution is as fun if not funner: the return of the fantabulous '3 for 2 deal'! Buy 3 items of Gul clothing or accessories (including some technical jackets and wetsuits) and we'll give you the cheapest item completely free. No strings attached.

Yes, yes we are kind, thankyou for saying so.

Exile On Main Street

A bit of a rainy day here in Bude. That said, we're having a very productive day cleaning, tidying, refreshing and plumping. However, none of this would really make for an exciting blog. So instead we've decided that today's the day on which Tom's well-kept secret should finally be revealed to the world.... that he enjoys hanging about on street corners wearing slightly-less-than-tasteful jogging pants. But don't just take our word for it, take that of a mighty search-engines wandering eye...

Busted Thomas.

So, May bank holiday is once again upon us and the weather is looking more than passable! Pop by and say hello to Team Gul Bude: Myself (Cai), Rachel, Emma and Tom the lonely streetwalker.

It got good.

Dear Tom,

How are you?

I hope you're having a great time up North. I hear it's raining.

Just to let you know, the surf did show up as expected. It was pretty much epic: long, peachy barrelling lefts and rights, an offshore breeze and an unseasonably warm sun lighting up the smiles on every surfers face.

One of those days that you just don't want to miss, frankly.

I'm going to keep this brief as my arms are noodle-tired from all the paddling back out after 50 yard rides. I'm sure you remember how that feels. Maybe.

Well, enjoy the rest of your stay. Hope you don't miss us all too much.

Lots of Love,

Cai

Barnett-free surf, this morning.

Gul-p...

Cai has a personal folder on this computer.
No-one is allowed to look in it, for fear of the severest punishment.

We looked.

God knows, we've regretted it ever since.

Emma xx

Bye Tom. Hello Surf.

Tom has just left, off for a week on a little break up North.
So, as he regularly reads this blog when he's off, it'd be really unfair of me to remind him that the surf is forecast to be 4ft and clean in the middle of this week.

That'd just be nasty.

So I won't.

(In the above picture, our model Tom is wearing this top, and these trousers.... all available in store right now!)

Hair Rock

The afore-mentioned large affro, in its glory year, 1998.

Reef

Reef.

This was a band that I really dug in my formative years as a junior rocker. Tunes like 'Naked', 'Mellow', 'Choose To Live' - they were Summer anthems for us. And not just one Summer.

Long years, a really big affro and several dodgy tattoos later, I was stoked to hear they were getting back together for a reunion tour. Saw them play at Shepherds Bush Empire on Friday night, and they were as good as I always remember them, as was the crowd - one slightly merry guy was walking around trying to Hi-5 the entire audience. No mean feat, but it says all you need to know about the feel good factor that runs through Reef and their followers.

Much respect, always.

Fingers and toes all crossed....

Bude Surf Report and Forecast

See.... Might be good might not?! Don't know........

Good luck with that then

Bude ......... Ahhh it's nice

Check out how nice Bude is with all it's lovely beaches and nice things to do...... It's got nice bits all over!

Everyone loves Bude. If you live here or are just visiting why not pop in to our friendly neighbourhood GUL store?

We have surfboards, wetsuits, flippers, snorkel and mask sets, outdoor wear and fashion, all this and more!

So whatever your doing in and around Bude you'll be well equipped and look cool doing it!

Book swaps and socks

Don't foget we have a fantastic book swap here in store, the books are ready and waiting. Long ones, short ones, medium ones, fat ones and skinny ones, there is something here for all!

And the best part is the more you all visit the better it will get..... A loverly liquid library of lilliputian language leaflets

Come and see... It's next to the socks

Gul Bude Competition Winner

A big thankyou to everyone who entered our Gul photo competition. It was tough. Sweat-inducing, sleepless pondering plagued not just us but also our colleagues in Gul shops across the UK as we tried to deduce a clear winner. But we love them all, and in their honour, we'll print the top 3. However, we had to decide upon a winner, and by a narrow but concrete margin, the winner is the dapper Mr Chris Hartop from Bude, seen above.

Well done Chris, the free t-shirt is yours!!

Below are the 2 runners up, submissions from Lucy and Martin, both in equal 2nd place. With the bottom picture, we also received a very elaborate story from the submitter, MrMartin Dorey, who runs the Beach Clean Network. We've edited the language slightly for family consumption, but we think it's hilarious, so we had to add it.

Thanks all.

"Our first (rather glamorous and waif-like) appearance takes place at Fistral (or is it Aggie?) in Summer 1986. Check out the Zuma with the deep, deep channels and the Madchester hairdo. Next, we take a trip to North Wales, where you’ll see the hair has grown and so has the board, an old Chapter popout from the early eighties. It later graced the album cover of Factory Record’s last signing, Manchester band, The Adventure Babies, before being consigned to Spout’s patio for ever. Four of us paid £10 for the 10’ beast, which was half filled with concrete.

Finally we go exotica. The same suit, this time with the arms chopped off for a trip to Tenerife winter 1988. We got attacked by locals at Spanish Left so spent the whole time surfing up at K16. This wave was the left in the middle of the bay. We looked at it (thinking it was unmakeable) for a few days then finally got the courage to surf it. On that trip we hung out with Mike Raven, who was on a shoot with Pete Cade for another surf brand (Alder I think it was) for Surf Scene. Mike Raven’s immortal words: “He’s got a f*****’ bob!”

Incidentally, Pete Cade’s shot of K16 that appeared in the first Stormrider Guide to Tenerife included a picture of the Renault 5 hire car we used for that trip. On the roof, the old Zuma Jay board. If you look clearly you can just about make out Nick’s ‘D*** Fin’ a centre fin he shaped (a little too carefully) into the shape of a b*** end and painted bright red.

A little history in the making."

Martin Dorey

Tings n' tings

The swell has not been great the last few days and I know everyone is getting a bit twitchy from lack of surf.

But if you have or can borrow a big ol' log like our little friend here

Towards the end of wed and thurs it might be worth a look?

Bude Surf Report and Forecast

Also check it out.... I know we covered this already but these are cool so look again!

We have got these snazzy Breo watches in. (Along with a few other pretty sweet products from them).

Water proof wrist mounted time pieces.

Get up for your dawny and never worry about staying in too long and being late for work ever again! Get home get showered maybe you can arrive at work early a few days on the trot and get a promotion for being keen and reliable? Or home early, get the kids brecky ready and some toast and tea in bead for the other half? Major brownie points......

All thanks to us here a Gul Bude!

What can we do for you today?

The Green Room

It was my girlfriends birthday on Friday, so I decided to treat her to a day out at the Eden Project. I'd been there before but she hadn't so I was quite amped to be able to introduce her to what's been dubbed the '8th Wonder of the World'. Spoil her with a nice lunch there too. I know, I know. I'm one of a kind. (I'll admit it helped that a certain Sunday newspaper had been running a BOGOF ticket deal... I spent the difference on presents! Honest!)

But what a place. I'm blown away every time and always have that burning desire to jump the fence and disappear into the jungle. Maybe grow a beard, maybe eat some frogs, maybe build a little kampong. Maybe never come out. But I resisted as we were having a barbecue that evening and I'd already bought some nice sausages.

Anyway, my point is, Gul has worked with Eden with it's own Green Room Project. A product of this project is the fantastic Recore wetsuit. A top spec suit with environmental credentials. We have them in store now. Drop by and we'll tell you more about them.

Last Chances

It's a day of last chances today. But in a good way, not a bad way. Today is the last day you can make the most of the 3 for 2 offer we have running in store, where buying 3 pieces of clothing means we'll generously allow you to walk out of the store without having paid for the cheapest item in the bunch!

It's also the last day of our Gul photo competition, in which you can win a free t-shirt. We've had some great submissions, and it's not too late to enter - any shot of yourself in Gul gear, new or old, will be considered by our panel of judges. Send your picture(s) to: gul.bude@btconnect.com

Here's a shot submitted by our very own Assistant Manager Tom, wearing Gul gear out at a local break. This is a classic example of the sort of picture that won't make the cut... Not because he works here and therefore knows full well that he is unable to enter the comp, but because we can't even see a Gul logo unless we squint and risk getting a headache from having our faces to close to the screen.

But all the same, nice try Tom.

BREO and grapes. And volcanoes.

In these strange days of hot eruptions and quiet airports, while we've got all these people from abroad stuck here with little to do but head to Bude, we thought it the perfect time to introduce our range of BREO watches, flip-flops and headphones!! Our range of Breo 'Skin' and 'Roam' watches are the tardy surfers best friend, as they can be worn into the sea. No more missing that important dinner date, doctors appointment or, dare I say it, flight....

The flip-flops are soft and squishy and your feet will instantly want you to walk on them more. And more. And more.

Pop down today and have a peruse, we're here until 5.

Oh and I put grapes in the title for absolutely no reason at all. Just in case you were wondering.

Sunny weekend!! Is that a BBQ I smell warming up?

Yes folks it's BBQ day! Get the sausages out now to defrost and avoid disappointment. The beer in the fridge and the many condiments at the ready.

I for one am heading straight home tonight after work to burn my whole family's food to ashes while my wife prepares "back up" dinner for the kids in-doors.

You better run to the local convenience store quickly before all the white finger buns get snapped up and all your left with is a small brown loaf.

Onions!!! Don't forget onions...

Then call friends and family and hope they didn't already get invited to a better sausage sizzle by someone who's much cooler than you.

Oh, might be an idea to keep the wet weather gear handy too?

Plastic water bottles

If your a switched on surfer dude (or dudet).... then you'll already know that our new Recore wetsuit is made up from a percentage of recycled PET plastics.

We need some bottle!

We want to do a snazzy window display involving some of the things that help make up one of these fantastic eco friendly suits, so we are asking you to drop by with a H20 container or two for us...... (maybe one or two per person, we don't need hundreds!)

We are just not healthy enough to get through that much of the wet stuff on our own.

While your in here check out the store and maybe squeeze yourself into one of said suits?! We are always on hand to help push.

Sign of the Times

This is our swing sign. We put it up today. We think it's possibly the best swing sign on earth. We know that there are many other Gul stores in the South West who are mildly jealous of our swing sign. So we've attached all manner of security devices to our swing sign:

- If half-inched, our swing sign triggers an alarm at MI5.

- Our swing sign screams if it goes more than 10 yards from the store front.

- Our swing sign is loaded with security paint. If it is lowered to within 6 feet of the ground it will combust in a whirl of luminous rainbow coloured paints.

- Our swing sign has a sophisticated GPS tracking device. We would know exactly which Gul store front it is hanging from by the tracking device that the manager keeps in his pocket at all times. The pocket has a zip and a lock, to which no-one but the manager has a key.

- It may look like simple galvanised brackets holding our swing sign up, but they are actually custom-made carbon fibre, diamond lined and forged in a secret underground metalworks (the very same that produce Uri Gellers cutlery.)

Our swing sign has more swing than Frank Sinatra.

We love our swing sign.

The High Lens

Deep in the Scottish boondocks, a team from Gul are busy documenting a wild trip that we're bound to be able to tell you more about in the future (because to be frank it's all a bit mysterious to us still).

Check out the latest just here

Our Bude photo competition is still open! We've had some interesting submissions. Old, new, tatty, embarassing - any photos of yourself in a bit of Gul product is fair game. Get it to us at : gul.bude@btconnect.com

Everyone is at the beach today

The weather is good, very good indeed. So as a result everybody has gone to sit, play and generally frolick on the beach.

If you get a chance in between pastys and sand covered ice-creams why not pop in to the shop and check out our top line in beach wear for men and women?

King Kong, Action Man and the gang did!

Oh and theres the small matter of the...

photo comp! Photo Comp! PHOTO COMP!!!!

Don't forget it........ All submissions sent to gul.bude@btconnect.com

Come on people we need those snaps, you can be wearing fabric, rubber, maybe just a leash?!? New or old we don't mind as long as it's GUL..ish. Send um in and WIN WIN WIN

Happy tanning

PHOTO CONTEST!!!

If Ned Kelly had taken off his big metal hat, picked up a surfboard and ridden a well-documented North Cornish point break, we'd wager he'd look something quite similar to our hairy adopted Australian friend Julian Gardner, seen here being shaka'd on by Bude local Ben Jarvis.
Unfortunately, Jules isn't wearing a Gul wetsuit, but we love the photo. But this leads us nicely on to our first little blog competition!
We'd like to see any photos, new or old, of people in Gul gear. This can be wetsuits, t-shirts, boardies - anything, so long as we can see the Gul logo. The shots can be faded 70's polaroids (scanned and sent over) to day-old digital snaps. Anything. The best shot, as judged by ourselves, will win a GUL T-SHIRT of their choice!

All submissions must be sent to gul.bude@btconnect.com

Get raiding those dusty albums!

Licence to thrill?

James Bond picked up the Jaguar XK8 from Q branch after receiving a brief comms from Major Boothroyd concerning a couple of new features he had added since Bond had used the car last. One of these was a supercharger, an Eaton M112 which normally delivered 370 bhp and 387 lb ft torque. Bond had insisted on a modification to increase the boost to give 500 bhp, which Boothroyd had reluctantly made.

Well......... James Bond clearly knows his Hardware and Tech, as do we here in the Gul store Bude!

Come along as ask us about our Wetsuits, range of surf hardware and Outdoor fashion range. Oh..... and jet skis with missile launchers. Were fully trained in covert service and assistance.

Were on a mission . . . . . Secret agent 00 TOM

NoCo blog wars

Below is a shot from Bude, last night.

This one's for our friends in Padstow.

We blatantly win, Padders.

Plumped.

The shop is looking, frankly, delicious this morning. Just like the banana bread (with walnuts) that my good and very pregnant friend Sarah baked for me. So as I write this, wistfully staring out into a blue sky, chomping on Banana bread, loving the state of Kernowfornia, I just need to remind everyone that the 3 for 2 deal is currently still on (buy any 3 items of clothing, and get the cheapest one absolutely...free)

Our book swap is up, running and swappage is underway.

The sofa cushions are looking Saturday plump.

Yeah.

Cool.

Feeling Friday

Yawn.
It's a lovely, warm and mellow Friday morning. The surf is looking clean and gentle for the whole weekend. We've got fresh coffee on the go and some of the most environmentally friendly wetsuits on the planet to sell.

It's going to be a great weekend.

Bude Surf Report and Forecast

Air-kissing

A pilot up there loves me.

So I was doing my daily rounds on the cliffs this morning, looked up, shuffled my feet and blushed. There's a pilot, 32,000 feet over my head who, it would appear, is trying to send me very undiscreet messages. No less than TWO kisses in the sky for me. I think the whole of North Cornwall may have seen.

PDA to the max.

Reportage

I walk my dog on the North Cornwall cliffs every morning. His name is The Jeepster. We've been doing the same walk pretty much every morning for the 6 years since he was but a little ball of hair. Some mornings it's dark and wet. Some mornings it's warm and sunny. Sometimes it's a bit of both.

Another reason I do this walk so often is to check and write my surf report, which appears on a popular forecast site.

So just to let you know, if you ever need a bit of info on the conditions up this way, give us a call here in the shop, or drop by, and we'll do our best to point you in the right direction.

A Tuesday that feels a bit like a Monday......

Unusual I know, but you have to admit that it does!

Did it make getting out of bed any easier? No......

Did it make the much needed swell arrive a day sooner? No......

Did the bin men turn up? ........ Well yes, actually they were very efficient and well ahead of time.

But unlike the confused and tardy week that lays ahead, Gul Bude is here and steady as a rock and a constant reminder of quality and reliability.

Tom ...... I think?

Tyler, Baffa and Yellow

As we concentrate on shop floor business this grey but increasingly brighter BH Monday, here's a little flick that came about from the sublime 16mm treat that was Singlefin: Yellow by Jason Baffa. He's since made One California Day, another top movie that captures the essence of the great State.
And even better: we stock it here.

All Yew- Tyler Hatzikian from john smith on Vimeo.

You're smiling now, bunny...

It's Easter.

And if you happen to be a ginger bread bunny with smarties for coat buttons and your face is made of chocolate - then your days are probably numbered. I'd hide well away from me and my shop staff. We have a voracious appetite for bunnies just like you.

Just saying.

And what would Clapton know anyway?

We get some many financial offers for our cherished guitar. It's value? Who knows. But to us it's simply priceless. How can you sell something so beautiful anyway? And, from time to time, I take it down for a good pluck. I'll be honest, I'm no Slash. Never had a lesson in my life. And the sound that comes from it is comparable to that of a squirrel with it's hazlenuts caught in a waffle iron. But my word I look cool holding it. And that's my Mums opinion, not mine.

So it stays.

The Sun: She back!

Compare and contrast:

This Afternoon

This Morning

Afternoon gets our vote.

3 for 2 deal very much underway. It Rocks, frankly.

3 For 2 Deal starts today!

It IS a Good Friday after all! Despite the rubbish weather; all these cats and dogs falling from the sky (literally - I personally dodged a plummeting dachshund) and the not-exactly-sports-man-like Spring temperatures, there is some fantastic news in the offing this morning - we've started our 3 For 2 deal. Buy any 3 items in the shop, and get the cheapest item ABSOLUTELY FREE! And being a seasoned resident of this town, I know how we do love a bargain. So drop down, make the most of it. And why not bring a book to swap?

Llama Drama

It's not everyday that you see a beautiful, majestic llama.

And it's certainly not everyday that one bounds out in front of your car on the way to work.

And, as with the multitude of pheasants I encounter every single morning - nothing, but nothing makes me late for work.

So, unfortunately, this beautiful llama got clipped. Unlucky.

After single-handedly loading its fluffy, limp frame into the back of my station wagon, it's a short trip to Cleaver & Sons, the quality butchers, on my way home from work tonight, whereafter I should be feasting on large (but tender) loins of llama for a while.

That's the barbecue season sorted! Yeah!