So said Thoreau; I think he has a point.
So Magic Seaweed is predicting 9.5ft northerly swell, 9 second period, north-westerly wind of 19mph. That means there will be something on the beach, probably 3-4ft, best running up to high water. So I set my alarm for 06:30 in the vain hope of getting to the beach for 7 and first light. The plan was good but the execution wasn’t as I didn’t want to get out of bed.
So I set off for work at 07:30 and just stop to see what’s developed. I’d told Rich I might take a couple of hours off in the morning but would let him know. I take a look and the sun is putting a beautiful orange glow over the sea. There is one surfer there and he catches a nice wave in the 3-4ft range. It’s clean. I am fetching my RRRapido!
I drive home again, run in, unload the dishwasher politically, grab my wetsuit and boots and do a Clark Kent. I grab my wife’s PFD so I can stick my camera in the pocket and leave the house. I attach my ATC9K to the nose, attach seat and thigh straps, run in and change the shaft on my paddle to a 197cm, run back out and walk down to the beach.
It’s a beautiful morning, the sun is still not fully up and it’s bright. A bodyboarder is in the water too and a local photographer well-known in the local surfing community (he was one of the originals) is recording things. I bid him good morning and run down to the beach. I launch; something is wrong. I come back in and swap my blades onto the right ends of the shaft and go out again.
It’s an easy launch; I go out after a set, run up the side of the groyne, paddle around the boardies and wait a full couple of minutes. Here it comes!
It’s around 4ft when it reaches me, long and wide, nice and fast and steep too – an easy wave to catch. I paddle for it and I’m off, shoot down the face and pull into a bottom turn, run along the shoulder and pull myself into reverse for a good 4 or 5 seconds; I’ve perfected the spin! I run in backwards, leaning forwards to stop the tail digging in, and then slide out into a side surf on the foam to the beach. Great!
I check the camera…the red light is off. What? I switch on, play, fast forward. It’s gone off just before I’ve turned for my wave. I switch on again and it dies again. I try periodically but it comes up with ‘recharge your battery’. I am crestfallen – these are the best waves here since November 2010 and I can’t film myself on a better kayak, worse still the camera has been plugged in all week so should have a full charge. Well, that’s it. I can still have fun though and remember it!
Out again, run in beautifully again, down, turn, along, spin, backwards, side-on, in…out again, down, turn, along, cut back and over…out again, down, turn, cut back…out again, down, turn, along, cut back, spin, backwards, side-on, in… out again, down, turn, along and through a breaking wave, the closest to being tubed that I’m ever likely to get at Lowestoft, cut back…out again, down, turn, along, cut back, off, ICE CREAM HEAD…out again, down, cut back… try again, down, cut back… try again, down, cut back… out again, run in beautifully, down, turn, along, spin, backwards, side-on, off…
One last wave, a wave goodbye. It takes a good five or ten minutes to arrive and I blast off with a flurry of strokes, the Mystiks pulling the RRRapido through the water and I’m on again, run in beautifully, down the face, turn at the bottom, run long the shoulder, spin, surf backwards, go side-on, and come off just out from the beach. I walk out of the water, my hands cold now, both ears full of sea. I head home, change, leave the house and arrive at work just before ten, two hours of lieu time well-used!
So, a great start to the year – 3 launches, one in each boat; fantastic bumpy paddle in the Chatham, superb 4-cod session in the Scupper and blinding surf session in the RRRapido…I’m loving 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment