And once again, Friday has arrived and although it has been classed as Black by many, I don’t think it’s been too bad.. we’ve had usable wind! Anyhow, what follows is what matters..  it’s the weekend.  

Yes, today is the day, or perhaps one of many days when your phone pings continually, offering massive reductions on everything you’ve recently searched on Google or Bing for or perhaps spoken about, in front of cuddly Alexa or Bixby. It’s quite amazing, perhaps even worrying, how we are ‘hunted’ by technology nowadays. But you have no worries of that with us, as we quite often forget to respond to emails, let alone listen to what people say! 

The ‘Budget from Hell’  has been and although it did pack a few punches (most of which will be phased in over the next 3 years) it could have been a lot worse, as the press had informed us it would be. I did notice that the ‘no duty’ on imported goods up to £135 in value has now been removed, which they attributed to helping British sellers but in reality it will also be another Tax to pay, as it appears there will now be no duty-free amount, which seems odd. That comes in from 2029, so I hope the UK sellers can hang on until then!    

And whilst on the subject of things not quite right… Southern Water. I’ve just received another increase on my water bill. It had already been upped 47% this year, which like most of us I would accept, IF they  improve their record regarding potable water leakage and the releasing of sewage (along with ‘particles’ from the sewage treatment systems..)  into our waterways and seas. Well, now they’ve asked for another 12%, without any figures to back that statement up with but just saying that my payments aren’t enough. When they installed a meter I thought I’d be charged on what I’d used, so I am guessing that SW must have employed clairvoyants to handle their billing system. So, I was not shocked to read that the CEO (who was ‘possibly’ paid £1.4 million this year) had been paced under Citizens arrest by a group of protesters earlier this week. I am not in total agreement with this sort of action but in this particular case..  https://www.facebook.com/reel/1150024327311918

Duotone launched their Electric powered Foil system on Wednesday. This system alters from others by having the rider carry the battery pack rather than it being part of the foil. Reason for this is..  that to mount the battery pack as part of the foil really requires the board to have a ‘trench’ cut into the fin box track area, to allow the batteries to be in line with the planing underside of the board, rather than being a ‘water disturbing’ lump between the foil mast head and the boards track box. There are of course concerns about wearing Lithium batteries but I am 99.9% sure Duotone will not market a product that could be the cause  of harming the rider (actually, everything we do and use does have the possibility of harming the rider!). The beauty of the Duotone system is that it should be good to go on any current wingboard / foil fuselage (via an adaptor to suit your make of foil) and with a price tag of £3999.00, for either their AL (alloy) Foil Assist, which helps you onto the plane and then relies on foil pumping etc. or their Foil Cruise, which the prop is mounted at the fuselage end of the mast, near the foil wings so it can be used to propel the board, even when up on the foil, well, it’s ‘almost affordable’.  You can upgrade to the DLAB Carbon Foil version for £5999.00 or buy a complete AL system with a Glide foil and Mid Fish board for £5960.00. So, if that's all sounding good to you, just be prepared for a bit of a wait, as stock is still on its way to Duotone in Austria and they will update Dealers shortly on ‘when’. If you are really keen, then get your order in ASAP as supply will be ‘slow’, just for a short while. More info has now been added to the product video..  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj6xwO_FDqU

Ok, think I’ve probably overstayed my welcome, so here’s the weekends weather and tide times..

Saturday.. wet and windy! The ‘Current’ forecast says wind from the Sou’Sou’ West 17-28kt in the morning, backing West’ Sou’ West in the afternoon but dropping to 14-25kt by 1pm and only 10-20kt by 5pm. Typically the mornings wind has rain with it but by 1pm we should have broken cloud with sunny periods. Top temp is an OK’ish 11°C. Tide hits High at 05.11hrs on a 5.0m,  so Low will be around mid-day but it’s verging on Neap, so there won’t be much sand showing, if any.

Sunday, back to brighter weather but the price for that is ‘chilly’. Wind is Nor’West 9-18kt (could be West’Nor’West) backing West by 2pm 7–12kt, so not looking good for Shoreham, unless you are happy to perhaps go foiling on a cross off. No rain given and a top temp of 7°C.  High Tide is at 06.23hrs on a 5.3m, so a better tide as the sea will recede a little more than on Saturday. Sea temp is now given as 11.4°C , so the water will feel warm, should you venture out.. or in!

And that’s a rap for the last weekend of November 2025, for from Monday tis December. Good news is the 21^st will be the shortest day (fed up with dark already!) and then there’s something else going on, on the 25^th.  J  Remind me to mention Gareth Agars Christmas gathering on the 20th, as he may have room for more??

Have fun!

PS. No further news regarding the shops fate.. will do an update next weekend.