Lewis. Extra chilli sauce. No onions.

Our little shop mascot Lewis Stritch (now a fully-fledged member of the Gul team) came in for a new wetsuit today. As with all sponsored riders, a brand expects a certain amount of return from riders it invests in. This is often in the form of massive media exposure wherever possible.
However, here at Gul Bude, we expect a little more.
Here, we expect our sponsored riders to don the suit when they're given it, and do a circuit of the block, no matter the weather or conditions. It's also stipulated that they round off the circuit by buying a kebab that we can all share.
Sadly, KJ's was shut.
But we don't forget Lewis... When there's a free donner involved, we never forget....

Cam vibes

Even though I do a surf report every day (or almost every day, hangover/sleep/general lethargy pending) I'm usually able to convince myself that, once 9am comes and I've started work, that the surf must just turn rubbish. The wind gets on it. The crowds turn up. The swell dies.
It doesn't matter how many people come in and tell me it's on, I basically just assume each and every one of them are shameless liars. It's how I deal with running a surf shop when the surf is on.
Unfortunately, some time ago, Bude council decided to install webcams that give you a regularly updated shot of the surf. From about 3 different angles. And it's like an itch that you're not supposed to scratch.. I tell myself it'll only be bad news for me if I look at it. But look at it I must. And so often I regret it. Today is one of those exact examples of a day where burying my proverbial head in the proverbial sand would have benefitted me more. Where ignorance truly would have been bliss. Instead I chose to flagellate myself by bringing up the picture below....IDIOT. C

70% Sale continues...

STILL rocking our 70% Sale and there are STILL bargains of all sizes to be had. Be sure not to miss out. Even the staff have been stocking up on Christmas presents for next year.
New product is but a stroke of Tom's quiff away. In fact, we're already receiving new pieces: Picnic anyone?

Do drop by!

Optimism

Sorry we haven't been so forthcoming on blogs of late. We've had a stock take that demanded our full attention. We're feeling a little brain fried..!
It's been a long Winter. From the depths of snow and ice to the heavy rains and floods. There have been sunny skies, moody skies, wild skies and occasionally it's been so dark that some days there seemed to be no sky at all.
I was walking along my local break last night, just before it got dark. It was pouring down with rain, a really low tide and bizarrely (as is often not the case) my dog, The Jeepster, seemed to be enjoying himself in the downpour. I kept him keen with blackened sticks that were sporadically littered across the tide marks. I snapped this quick shot with my phone. It's not a cheap phone, so it was a bit of a gamble... but it was so inspiring that I couldn't resist. I was on an empty beach, wandering a deserted shore. There was not a car in the car park, not a wandering soul on the cliff tops, nobody in the sea, and for miles in front and behind me the only signs of life were swooping Guls, taking advantage of the residual daylight to feed their young.
Nobody. Only me and the dog, approaching twilight in a rain storm by a disorderly sea.
Know what I did?
I shouted. All various kind of shouts. Noises, names. It didn't really matter, it was the shouting that was important. Shouting is so often the preserve of anger or attention, or to be heard over noise or other people. Rarely can you get away with just shouting for the sake of shouting, especially in public. Were I spotted, no doubt it would have looked (and certainly sounded) a little odd. But it felt great, my racket resonating off the cliff faces, bouncing back out into the Atlantic. I've had a rubbish couple of weeks, so it was nice to audibly unleash with no preserve. It instantly put me in a better mood. The dog, to be fair, was left confused - no-one else there, I guess he figured he was the target of my outburst. I did my best to reassure him, with the aid of half a chew stick, that he certainly wasn't. With the dying day to my back, I picked up my step to the car, feeling a little less blue. I highly recommend it, just find somewhere empty and be careful not to get spotted - there are people in coats with big nets who are paid to catch people who shout in public. You've been warned.

BUSTED!!!

Imagine my surprise when, on a night out, I glanced into a darkened corner of Rogue night club and saw a familiar figure! It stirred, it cackled, it appeared to be 'enjoying' itself... until it saw me!!!

I've never seen such a kerfuffle! There were glasses flying in every direction, screams from scantily clad women as this scared being realised there was no escape... I had cornered it, it looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a steam train! It snuffled and begged me to let it go quietly!

I'm sorry, I owe it to society to warn of it's presence in an environment it purports to NEVER inhabit.

Luckily I had my camera to PROVE beyond a shadow of a doubt that this creature DOES dwell in such places.

Cai... you're BUSTED, we knew you were into your cheesy pop music!!!!

E x

Guest Blog

One of our favourite photographers here at Gul Bude is the very talented Morgan Maassen, who we've mentioned before. We like him because he appears to spend his life travelling and taking photographs. It's a life we quite like the sound of so it's nice to 'virtually' follow him round. In that respect, we're like a raggedy little orphaned mongrel, being fed visual treats which make us smile and inclined to keep sleeping on his rug...

He's only just updated his website with lots of delicious, new shots.

www.morganmaassen.com

Pictastic

I got a new camera for Christmas. It was a present to myself, as Santa apparently didn't get my little note.
The sun finally came back out yesterday, so I took it out for a bit of a flex. Here's one of the results... I'm happy! C

Saturday Night Fever

You will hear many tales of Burlesque dancers and fire juggling in Bude today after the Rock and Roll Circus and Cabaret Show came to town last night... but not from me!

No... I stayed in, acting my age, and watched a movie...

This movie was AMAZING...

You have to watch it!!!!

"The Book of Eli"

Denzel Washington at his finest, in my opinion (but then I don't think he would ever be at his worst in my eyes)

Buy it, Hire it, Sky it... but for Lord's sake Watch it!!!

R x

Miss Emma's Masterpiece

Our Emma is quite right to be proud of this.


She is "officially" head of all things blackboard related....

Cai with his new camera on his holiday

Have fun Cai and get lots of great snaps! x

Phantom rubbish drivers

The weirdest thing happened on our street yesterday.
I'm not that superstitious (as previously mentioned - I've seen ghosts, a UFO and a 'black cat', but I remain sceptical) but there was something, if not supernatural then very eery about the events yesterday.
At lunchtime, a car parked outside the chemists up the hill from our shop decided that it didn't want to be restricted by the nasty handbrake, so rolled itself back down the hill, which is a one way street heading uphill. Narrowly missing other cars and pedestrians, it finally crashed into a wall between two very big glass windows to the front of shops opposite us. The car suffered serious damage, the wall barely a scratch. As is the tenacity of walls.
In itself, eventful, but not too off-the-wall.
However.
A couple of hours later it happened again. From exactly the same spot up the hill, opposite the chemist. This time it was a little more damaging - this one rolled down and hit someone who was driving up the street, seriously damaging both cars.
What are the odds? Tom got very excited and was eager to purchase a lottery card on the way home.
Me? I'm a little miffed that someone up by the chemists thinks it's ok to throw cars at us.
Emma - well, when she hears about this, no doubt it'll be blamed on the same ghost she thinks resides somewhere in this shop.
Rachel will be miffed that both rogue cars were parked on double yellows before they rolled south.

I'm afraid I don't have photos of either incident. Seemed a little inappropriate to start snapping, both times.
All makes for a great story in the pub tonight though.

It's not so far away....

I've noticed a very slight but significant lengthening in the days of late. I tend to get up and walk in the dark, and I'm also always home after dark. But now those inky book ends to my day are showing delicate signs of twilight. It's not much, but enough to remind me we're on our merry way back to Summer. A little pre-emptive possibly, but it's good to get excited about stuff.
Can't wait. C

Done for another year

Our little friend is really sad Xmas is over ..... So are we, boo hoo *sobs unashamedly*

VAT of the land

Yeah. VAT's got us spinning.
The good news is, our 70% SALE hasn't been affected... what was 70% off a few days ago is still 70% off today.
Some deals are just too good to mess with.

Take Notice

A while back, this little ad appeared on our shop notice board. We have no idea who put it there or whether or not Alan has since found a surf buddy. We sure hope he has. We certainly admire his regard to personal safety and his commitment to getting in the water.

Alan, best of luck.