The end of an era – new Paignton harbour fishing ban

I bumped into a local fisherman at the end of the quay the other day. Mike has been fishing out of Paignton harbour many years and his family have been part of the local community for many generations. He was scratching his head whilst looking at the new high wire fence on both sides of the harbour entrance and said, "Here boy what do they think they're doing? My granddad fished from the end of the quay, as did my dad and my children! How much did that cost and why could the harbour staff just patrol the area?"

We seem to live in a time of not do rather than can do. With one hand we are encouraging folk to use the coastline and with the other we are telling them not to.

Of course the few have once again ruined a good thing for the majority by carelessly flicking fishing weights at passing boats. But did it need this high fence on both sides of the harbour?

The question is whether the English Riviera Tourist Board and Mayor Oliver's Torbay Development Board tourist marketing section will want to use this picture for their new hugely expensive advertising campaigns?

Markus - a man on a chocolate mission!

Bastian Mayer has returned to Germany after two weeks as a business intern at Harbour Sports Paignton. His place has been taken by Markus Bremer (20) from Oschersleben in Germany who will be working on the harbour for the next four weeks. Markus arrived with a big bag of German chocolate which he claims to be perhaps the best in the world. There were no arguments about that from the Harbour Sports staff as they tucked into bars of creamy milk chocolate!

Markus’s placement has been arranged by The Training Partnership in Torquay who constantly seek new employers to offer work experience places to young people from the European Community. It is also possible for young adults from South Devon to be placed on funded work experience programmes in Europe and Ian Smith at The Training Partnership has the information.

This sort of funded programme is a great way of bringing communities together in these troubled times.

The Bilingual Bastian Meyer!

My trip to Torquay

Written by Bastian Meyer

After a very good breakfast on Sunday morning (05.02.2012) I left my home village and drove to the Hannover airport. The ride lasted on hour. Arrived at the airport, my first task was to get my tickets “Air France; Hannover – Paris – London” stamped on them, so we had a short stop in Paris. Both flights were very good; comfortable, quiet and very acceptable. But before we left Germany, we drank a last cold beer, and that was very delicious!

Kevin, the small one with a bald head, was waiting for us (me and my room member) to bring us to our host families. After a five hour trip we arrived in Torquay and he brought us to our host family. A small woman was waiting for us and she welcomed us warmly.

Without enough energy we simply fell into bed and slept till 9 o clock next morning.

My weekly schedule looks like this:

Monday: work at Harbour Sports
Tuesday: work at Harbour Sports
Wednesday: work at Harbour Sports
Thursday: English conversation at the partnership school (The Training Partnership)
Friday: work at Harbour Sports

Last weekend we visited a karaoke bar and the “Mambo”, the Torquay disco.
It was very funny and we had a lot of fun! Most off the English people are very friendly!
On Sunday, we visited the Dartmoor and it was amazing. One has a fantastic outlook over the moor.
In my opinion the next two weeks were just as good as the last. Hopefully!

My work placement, Harbour Sports, is a water sports store with three locations; Plymouth, Paignton and Exeter.
I am very happy to work here, because in my free time I like sports; football and tennis. The first day was very interesting; Kerrie and Chris made me feel very welcome. They gave me an introduction in the store and how the business works. They showed me all the things that will be important for the next two weeks. I had an interesting walk with Frank Sobey , a director of Harbour Sports, around Roundham Head and he told me some facts about Brixham, Paignton and Torquay.
I think I'm going to spend very good few weeks at Harbour Sports.

Meine Tage im Torquay

Geschrieben von Bastian Meyer

Es ist Sonntag 13:00 Uhr und mein Auto, zum Hannover Flughafen, erwartet mich in meiner Heimatstadt Holzminden. Die Fahrt dauerte eine Stunde. Angekommen am Flughafen mussten wir unsere Flugtickets holen. “Air France; Hannover- Paris- London Heathrow” war auf dem Ticket geschrieben. Kurz vor der Abreise haben wir uns noch ein kuehles deutsches Bier gegoennt, wechles fantastisch geschmeckt hat.
Die Fluege ( Hannover – Paris / Paris – London ) waren sehr angenehm und es gab keine groesseren Probleme.
Kevin, ein kleiner Mann mit einer Glatze, erwartete uns (mich und meinen Zimmernachbarn) schon, um uns zu unseren Gasteltern zu bringen. Nach einer 5 stuendigen Fahrt, von London nach Torquay, waren wir endlich angekommen und unsere Gastmutter begruesste uns sehr freundlich. Voellig geschafftt von dem langen Trip bin ich nur ins Bett gefallen und hatte eine hervorragende Nacht auf englischem Boden.
Der Wochenplan in England sieht wie folgt aus:
Montag: Arbeiten bei Harbour Sports
Dienstag: Arbeiten bei Harbour Sports
Mittwoch: Arbeiten bei Harbour Sports
Donnerstag: Englischunterricht, danach eine Gruppenaktion
Freitag: Arbeiten bei Harbour Sports
Samstag und Sonntag frei

Am Wochenende haben wir eine Karaokebar besucht und das Mambo, eine Disco in Torquay unsicher gemacht. Sonntag ging es in das Dartmoor, um eine 2 stuendige Wanderung zu machen. Sehr anstrengend, aber hat sich gelohnt, da man einen fantastischen Blick ueber das Moor hatte! Ich denke die naechsten 2 Wochen werdem genauso so gut wie die letzte Woche und ich werde auf alle Faelle meinen Aufenthalt hier in Torquay noch geniessen!

Harbour Sports, ein Wassersportladen, der seit 1977 besteht und von Frank Sobey und Julian Smith gegruendet wurde. 3 Geschaefte bestehen : Plymouth , Paignton und Exeter.
Ich bin sehr froh, dass ich bei Harbour Sports arbeiten darf, da ich auch in der Freizeit eine Menge mit Sport zu tun habe ( Fussball und Tennis). Der erste Tag war grossartig: ich wurde so aufgenommen, als ob ich nicht den ersten Arbeitstag hatte, sondern so, als ob ich schon 10 Jahre Angestellter war. Ein gute Einleitung bekommen und mir wurde gleich alles gezeigt, was fuer 2 Wochen wichtig ist. Kerrie und Chris, zwei Angestellte haben mir den Tag ueber die Aufgaben von HS erklaert. Frank Sobey, der Chef, ging mit mir in der Mittagspause eine kleine Runde, um etwas ueber die Gegend zu erzaehlen. Sehr interessant!
Ich bin gespannt, wie die naechsten Tage warden, doch ich glaube es warden sehr gute Tage in Torquay bei Harbour Sports!

Bastian Meyer

Shiver me timbers!

East wind brings surf into Torbay and the coast is dotted with surfers paddling out against the rolling sea. But the water is cold and the wind even colder having started life in the frozen winter heartland of Europe.

BUT the technology today takes the sting out of splashing through the waves. Winter wetsuits offer protection, flexibility and style. A decent hood is a guard against the shocking ice cream head, gloves save icicle shaped fingers and toes remain toasty in split toe boots.

Get out there and live the life……oh-ahrrrrrr

Coralie. The Hotel and English Riviera TV

Sometimes those moments of silliness can produce outstanding results. Take the other morning for example. Coralie Blanc (19) started a three week work placement, via The Training Partnership, at Harbour Sports Paignton.

At the same time John Reynolds of English Riviera TV happened to be filming around the harbour. If you have not logged on to http://www.englishriviera.tv/ then I suggest you do since they have been tracking the stars of the Channel 4 Sunday evening series called The Hotel.

The Hotel is a reality TV series of eight programmes based at Torquay’s Grosvenor Hotel in Belgrave Road. It’s very funny and very over the top. Mr Tickle tickled me! What a free publicity boost for Torbay and the English Riviera!

So John happened past the shop and stopped for a chat. He had a camera and I had Coralie! Suddenly Coralie was answering my silly questions about Harbour Sports in a sort of slapstick few minutes of madness in front of the camera.

The video that resulted is listed ended up all over the place and made people laugh. Sometimes the most amusing things pop up unexpectedly and bring a smile. I guess it is all about living the life!

You can see the video on English Riviera tv!

frank

Channel 4 Fat Fighters Episode One....

You have to laugh! No sooner had went sent out our last blog saying how much fun sit on kayaks cans be and what a great way to keep fit when CHANNEL 4 broadcast the first episode FAT FIGHTERS last night.

This hour long programme featured local Torquay girl Sharon and the day she came kayaking at Harbour Sports with personal trainer Dan 'Action Man' Corbett!

Great shots of our shop and excellent on the water stuff which really shows how much fun it all is. Harbour Sports kayaker Ali Glenning provided safety cover although we don't get to see him because Channel 4 kept him out of camera! Moment of glory lost for Ali!

One thing that is very clear in the programme is how easy it is to put on weight by simply stuffing junk food and taking too little exercise.

Come on, get out there and paddle!

You can watch the episode on 4oD........

2012...get up and do something for goodness sake

Well here we are in 2012 scratching and sucking after the Christmas and New Year festivities! As the world bumps from wall to wall you have to wonder what the future holds for all of us. But pointlessly staring into space isn't the answer at all.

Our little Harbour Sports strap line is LIVE THE LIFE! Like so many these days that isn't quite so easy as it used to be, but we can all make a difference. It really is simply a question as to whether we really want to make the effort or just sit in a hopeless heap letting image after image pass before us as we surf the web in a sort of voyeuristic stupor.

How about starting the year on a kayak? Take the little Bic Ouassou for example. This fun boat will let you drift around the coast, ride waves on the beach or keep you company as you belt down river white water. 2012 and a super way to keep fit. If you can walk in a straight line then you can use one of these fun kayaks. Our prices are good and the Harbour Sports folk will help you to get the very best out for your craft with a mass of local knowledge. Yes that's right local knowledge! Free local delivery also! How good is that? If you are worried about whether this is the kayak for you then come to Paignton and try one. But you will need your wetsuit at this time of year.

By the way, talking about wetuits we now have a stack of really cheap Gul sample suits in all three shops (Plymouth, Paignton and Exeter). Come on, make the effort and LIVE THE LIFE WITH HARBOUR SPORTS IN 2012!!f