deAction Beach House

This is my lifestyle, beach culture where everything revolves around the sea. After travelling the world on the Professional Windsurfing Association tour and my beach culture tour for the past 25 years to some of the best windsurfing, kiting, SUPing and surfing location in the world, I realized that Barbados is the place for my lifestyle.

Barbados has a great combination of conditions for surfing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, SUPing and bodysurfing for beginner to experts. This blending with night life, music, culture and a dynamic mixture of locals and visitors makes it perfect for me.

I live in a beach front neighbourhood on the South Coast called Long Beach, next to my brother Kevin's house. This beach is a long open and unobstructed beach, with on-shore winds and outer waves. It's good for beginner to expert kitesurfers but occasionally the shore break is too big and the wind too on-shore so it becomes difficult for beginners. It's only good for expert windsurfers because of the constant roll of waves with the side on shore winds.

I just finished my deAction Beach House which is nested in a cluster of casaurina and coconut trees on the beach. It's either a two bedroom one bathroom apartment, with living room, kitchen and a studio apartment with kitchen and balcony or, if you put them together it's a three bedroom house. This colourful rental unit enables me to entertain visitors and allow then to experience my Bajan beach culture.

I look out of my home, towards Long Beach, and I have to make a decision of what deAction is for the day. If the wind is cranking, it is windsurfing. If it's just not good enough for windsurfing, I pull out my kite gear. When there isn't any wind, it's either surfing or SUP down the coast checking out the different breaks. Or I'll take a walk down to the beach and play with my children, who love to play in the waves. I am spoilt because Naish has given a range of action sport equipment to choose from...... life is singing!!

The wind is blowing, it's windsurfing. I pull out my 87 Naish global wave board and rig up my 5.7 force sail. I rest my equipment into the water and the wind fills my sail. I explode across the water, rushing to the incoming waves. I am launched into the air by the thrust of the wave. I land and hit another wave, I am back up into the air flipping. I am sliding down wind and in front of Sticky Rock on a rolling mast high wave, any mistake and I am on the rocks. I curve up the wave and kick out. I am at the point, a surf break called Surfers Point. There are a few surfers out but they are getting blown off the water. I make a B line to the outer deAction reef (about 300 yards out) and launch off these waves. I make a few rides and return to deAction beach, home of my shop....... "I am ready for work", to expose visitors to my world.

deAction Surf Shop exposing Matthias & Caty my beach culture.

Life Upon Earth....Matthias & Caty are in Barbados, they are staying next door my Shop at Silver Point Hotel. Matthias is a friend of many years who organizes the biggest windsurfing, kiting and events in the world.

There is a nice breeze blowing across the beach and a small wave on deAction Beach outer reef. It 8:30 in the morning, as we know the wind is always better in the mornings and evenings in Barbados.

I am painting some of my poetry and art onto my shop. This is my beach culture, telling the story from my perspective, living the life. .....it's is beach culture art!!

Matthias drifts over from his hotel, he is relaxed and in bajan mode. We organize our gear from my rentals, he is on Naish global 95 freeride & 5.7 force sail and I use my thrusters Naish 87 global wave and force 5.7. I love my beach. It's my play ground or better said, amusement park. Yes, I am a happy man...enjoying life. The waves are very forgiving and perfect for someone starting to venture into waves. If you don't wish to go into the waves you can stay in the inner lagoon. Just remember there is a strong current, so it's always advisable to use a bigger fin, board or sail then you normally ride. We return back to the beach quenched from the conditions............

It's time to relax, by now there is a peaceful but festive atmosphere. My shop is in full swing. There are surfers milling around either getting organized for a session or just finished.

It's lunch time. We move from the lower deck of the shop, which does all the windsurfing, kitesurfing, surfing, stand up paddling (SUPing) lessons and rentals to the upper deck. We have a panoramic view of all deAction, Tony "Sweet Corn" is on the beach giving a kitesurfing lessons. There are kites and windsurfers scatted across the sea. By this time Katy, Mahttias's girlfriend has joined us, and we settle into the corner table. Maxine grills us up the house favourites, grilled marlin & chips and some flying fish cutters. We relax and absorb the atmosphere, fully content after the session, but, this an all day action plan.

The wind has dropped in and I offer to give Matthias one of our adventurous SUP tours, from my shop to Oistins, it's about two miles. We push off from deAction Beach, staying in the safety of the inner lagoon.

The next beach down wind is Silver Sands beach which is the location of Silver Sands Hotel and Inchcape Villas owned by my friends Wolfgang & Rose. This is a beautiful cluster of villas on the seaside which have a spectacular view of Silver Sand beach. This German couple were the first people to discover Silver Sands as a windsurfing location. Back then I was a teenager surfing South Point and Freights, and I saw these European visitors passing these breaks with their long boards...I wasn't interested I was a surfer.

If you are kiting or windsurfing and have problems off deAction Beach, this is the next beach to rescue yourself to safety. Just after this beach, there is a small rolling wave off the rocks called Gran Bay. Matthias drops in on a small wave. He steps back on the board, bends his knees and slides down the wave. Wow wasn't that easy, considering wasn't a surfer. The next beach called "rescue beach" it is the last spot to self rescue if you have problems, the rest are cliffs and rocks.

We glide past it keeping to the channel between the inner and outer waves on the reef. I decide not to go into South Point (might be too difficult of a surf break for Matthias) Looking inland, we see many elegant houses perched on the cliff and in the next minute we dip into Frieghts surf break.

I spot Richard, a surfing instructor from deAction Beach Shop, giving lessons with a group of visitors. He was one of the first local windsurfers in Barbados and part of the old South Point clan that surfed these breaks back in the day. This location is the best place in Barbados to learn to surf. The bay is protected from the wind and currents, which make it safe and easy to catch waves. Matthias can relax and catch whatever he wishes.

We continue our adventure, across the huge bay to Oistins. We navigate through the fishing boats to the peer. This is where all the fishing boats moor and off load their catch. This attracts turtles and with some scraps of fish from the fish market, you can swim and feed them. We pull into the Oistins beach next to "Lexies Restaurant and Bar." We slip inside, Lexie, a mature attractive lady, greets us with her usual smile. We need some drinks. This is my favourite lunch spot for real Bajan local food, my normal dish is ½ Salt fish & rice and pouding & souse..........................