In another life, many, many moons ago, I arrived at Chally with Roly and Baz in the pecker bus. I think it was onshore, brown with light drizzle.

We saw a man in the carpark. He had an earring and a funny accent, he was rolling a roll up with Golden Virginia and those liquorice papers.

‘Alright boys?’ he said, joining us by the wall to watch a couple of waves. ‘Makes your asshole twitch, doesn’t it?’

Not sure exactly what he was referring to, we looked sideways at him, he just carried on looking out to sea. He had a single minded clarity in his expression and a sense of purpose in his stare that was unsettling.

‘What’s moved, what hasn’t moved? Who’s put something in the water, who hasn’t?’ We still weren’t sure what he was talking about.

‘Makes your f***ing a**hole twitch, dunit?’

Sometimes, late at night before drifting off to sleep I think about that man. I wonder where he is now, I wonder what he’s doing, and who he’s with. I wonder about the things he knows and the things he’s seen. About his hopes, dreams, his triumphs and his sufferings.

* * * * * *

What’s moved? Around here the sand has moved. They have decided to ‘pump the sand like Coollangatta, Queensland’ here in Capbreton. The other morning I saw something unusual coming out of hole in the seawall onto the beach. It was several thousand tonnes of water and sand pumped from I dont know where onto la plage. If there are planning on building insane sand points next to the jetties here, then I am all for that. If they are planning on simply making the beach wider after the winter of our discontent so that more tourists can sunbathe on it in the summer (baps out, peut-etre) then I’m all for that too. It looks like the area of coast south of here by the bunkers is going to be starved of sand from the forseeable future and will continue falling into the sea at an ever increasing rate. Nobody is nourishing the sand at those beaches because there are no restaurants, shops, cafes, bars, etc to make them worth saving.

It’s spring, and funny things are happening. I spoke to Fergal Smith on the west coast of Ireland who reckoned he’d just had a great session out at a left slab there. He also said he’d been surfing in boardies. Boardies? In April, in Ireland? Holy Mackerel, that’s a good effort!

I just read ‘Dion Agius’ Interview: 5 Women I’ve Loved’ on Stabmag.com and started to feel all uneasy. I think I need to start going out again more.