Surfdome - Heaven or Hell? - Surfcore: Surf Forecasting and Community

Surfcore»blogs»Beach Bum's blog»Surfdome - Heaven or Hell?

“This is heaven, this is hell, who cares, who can tell?” Christy Moore may have been singing about Lisdoonvarna but these words kept recycling round in the black hole that is my head as I caught up on news about the new “Surfdome” that’s being built way up in London town.

“Imagine a place where you could surf quality waves anytime of the day, 365 days a year. The waves of your choice with rides over 200ft long and up to 8ft high – left breaking, right breaking, barrelling or peeling – all available at the push of a button.”.

Surfdome

That seductive first sentence would have any wave rider sit up & take notice but the promise of surfing nirvana is quickly followed by the offer of...

“...a place where the water is warm, lifestyle is relaxed and the shopping, restaurants and bars will supply non-stop entertainment alongside unbelievable surf sessions…”

Somebody’s reflection that hell is just ceaseless pleasure endlessly “enjoyed” has some resonance here, me thinks. That heady mix of chlorinated water, thumping overdubbed muzack, retail outlets at every turn and having to pay £20 - £30 for the “experience” is not for this Beach Bum – but each to their own.

The Kiwi company, ASR Ltd (the very necessary abbreviation for Amalgamates, Solutions & Research) in cahoots with Surfdome are leading proponents of artificial surfing reefs. Now that’s another story! There’s an eloquent discussion of the pros and cons of artificial reefs here. Disneyland by the sea, here we come! Anyone for the last few choc ices, now?

Cheers,
Beach Bum

(Posted earlier at www.s-e-x-wax.com)

I'd pay £30 at the moment...

Good post Beach Bum - I got to say that any barrel would be heaven to me at the moment. There's some good footage here of the waves that would be produced in a scaled down test pool.

I've got an engineers crossed with and artistic fascination of being able watch a full size barrelling wave break down a pool in front of me. It's the ultimate kinetic sculpture...all that water moving perfectly. Wow. But I do agree the end result is more likley to be a bit Butlins rather than Tate Modern.
--
sam@surfcore

Welcome Back

It's your house but welcome back anyways ... was the Eiffel tower still erect after you left Paris? Fnarr, fnarr.Sorry that was rather juvenile wasn't it? Hope you both had a great time & congrats again.

Cheers

Life's A Beach...
http://www.s-e-x-wax.com

Not pretty....

Bit of a funny story really - So there we were in a fantastic hotel in a beautiful part of Paris, nice little cafes outside, places to stroll - but stuck in the hotel with the bloody flu! So we had to fly back early. It's not very romantic when you can't breath through your nose with a bangin' headache... I've never in my life been that snotty and horny at the same time!

yeah think you could be right...

When I first heard about it I was like - "bring it on - wave practice in my own Big Smoke!", but then I remembered a youth spent lifeguarding in a pool in Bedford (they had a wave machine too - gnarly) and memories of screaming kids, the heady aroma of chlorinated water, happy hardcore, sloppy ice-creams, obese buttcracks and occassional shouts of "FLOOOAAATTTEERRRRRRRRR!!!!!!" came rushing back and made me curl up and weep.

There is a small chance this could turn out to be an awesome creation, mainly if they decide to build it in the mountains of the lake district, or even the alps - barrells surrounded by snowy mountains - that would be worth a trip for!!!

However, at the end of the day, if it comes, I will try it, and if I get barrelled, I will be stoked, and I will try it again...

I reckon that this should be

I reckon that this should be treated as what it is...an opportunity to practice and not a replacement for a real coastal surf. Since most of the time i am stuck in London or Oxford its a four hour drive to the coast most of the time which means i can normally get down about once a month. If this place was built I could get the practice I desperately crave before I head down to the coast to put it into practise.

So no, it doesn't have the lifestyle attached, the sleeping in the front seat of the car or tent, the morning drive to find the quietest and best break and the friendly people you meet in the lineup, but i reckon i could put up with the music and the shops if i get a perfect wave once a week...plus watching some of the sharkbait that will get crunched by the wave will be funny enough to get me through i reckon.