Is that relentless wind finally settling down? Out of the Wavelength office window, I can see a couple of surfers in at Fistral for the first time this week.

At last the winds have dropped below gale force, and the waves have dipped below massive. It is a shame this last week has been so terrible for surfing because it is the time of year we all make solemn promises to ourselves to get fit, surf more and lose the gut.

But what are we expected to do if Mother Nature will not cooperate? In fact, last weekend, despite the poor conditions, I forced myself to jump in the sea for a couple of waves on New Year's Day just to see 2012 in right.

Within our surfing world, this is a fairly quiet time of year, so I thought I would take the opportunity to explain a little bit more about what is happening with the proposed Wavegarden in Bristol, as this week I have had the pleasure of chatting to one of the main guys behind the project, Nick Hounsfield.

Nick and his surfing friend Tobin Coles both live in Bristol, and dreamt up the idea of bringing the artificial wave to their city after seeing the original one in Spain last year. Bristol boasts a huge number of surfers (4,500 in the Bristol Surf Club alone) who drive at least an hour to get to waves.

The technology they will be using is not really like any surf simulators that have already been created. In essence it is a track underwater that has an inverted pair of "fly's wings" that are pulled along. This pushes the water up and out until it hits shallow water and breaks as a peeling wave.

The height and character of the wave can be varied from a fast barreling wave to a spilling beginners wave, with potential for a 30-50 second long ride on a shoulder high face.

In practice, the plan will be to split the surfing into two parts at the site. Firstly, there will be a pro-zone where intermediate to advanced surfers will be able to surf the wave in pairs (one going left, one going right) via a controlled queuing system; ten people in the queuing system for 45-minute sessions.

Once the wave propagates out of this area and into the beginners' section, it can handle up to 100 beginners around the lagoon.

Nick and Tobin's idea is to offer more than just surfing, with just as much emphasis going into the plans for the surrounding gardens and sustainable buildings.

It is hoped work on the site will begin this year, but they still need to get through the pre-planning application stage to secure their preferred location and new investment is crucial for the project to go ahead.

So realistically we are not likely to be surfing waves in Bristol until at least 2013, which means that until then, we will have to make do with the cold, windy conditions that are on offer at the moment.