Ocean surf 55

THE SURF TRIP

It has to be about luck, doesn't it. A surf trip is all about luck and how she may or may not shine, or dispense fortune to those who embark on a journey around our coastline looking for adventure.

Well, there we were, all ready to go. All sufficent offerings had been made to Lady Luck and she answered favourably, because there we stood in summer gear, sun shining and a magnificent swell forecast predicted, on the 24th September. Of course you may think that this was more than just mere luck because September swell is normally good, or one of the better months anyway. But considering we had a dismal year so far, grey skies and lots of onshore winds, this was one of the best reports all year. With mild offshores predicted for the week ahead, we could only smile and get on the way before things had any chance to change.

Unless the crew of a surf trip own their own company and can delegate operations to the vice president and the manager and all the other staff for a couple of days, or you happen to live off an old trust fund and were wondering about bringing the ferrari along, or have won the lottery, then you can join the rest of us who have to plan in advance of going on a trip and this one was no exception. This is why the aforementioned swell and weather forecast tasted so sweet, and if we had gone a week in either side then things might have been completely different.

I double checked the quantity of boards in the back of the van and could not imagine how we may use eight boards between three of us. Then again, if we came across very different conditions we were definately well prepared. I should point out at this stage because I will not be coming back to this issue that we used just four of the boards on the trip and one of those for only a short while.

Our driver and indeed co-driver was filling up with bio diesel and was at the end of some chip shop jokes, but being thick skinned these just ran off. I said co-driver also because C.J. spent most of the year on the roads of Ireland and knew all the shortcuts, so myself and Rusty could just sit back and choose the tunes.

I guess at this early point my brain was a little deluded with excitement and had refused to acknowledge a problem that I was after overlooking and would not surface, even with the sight of all the gear in the back of the van and some of the equipment that was on board. We were heading north with no particular place in mind and therefore no place booked in advance.

These two things should have warned me from the start, but unknow to me, I had let the other two take control of an important peice of the journey and now it was too late to implement any serious change. The problem was that I HATE CAMPING and it now looked that we may not be planning a route that would take us to comfortable accomodation in the evenings. I hate the pain, and the hard ground, and the wet and I think its a daft thing to be doing in this little country of ours where there is a B & B or hostel around every corner and in behind every hedge. Anyway, if its a money problem, then knowing about a surf trip for a month in advance is enough time to put away some cash. Some have mentioned the fact of waking up next to a surf break being a major advantage. If this is necessary, then after a nice warm comfortable sleep in proper accommodation I will take over the transportation at 6am while everyone goes back to sleep, and drive directly to that surf break, getting there the same time as waking up sore and with just a little sleep from being in the tent all night. Makes much more sense to me.

With limited knowledge of surf condions North of the great river, it was this direction we planned to venture, stopping along the way at whatever surf spots we could find. I must not have had enough coffee yet in the system as I rang a friend in Sandy Bay to say that were on the way and that he had better have some waves ready for us on that Thursday morning. Of course the joke lasted almost all the way to our location that it was actually Wedensday morning, but this was quickly forgotten as we spotted a nice breaking wave about a mile off the road and we went to investigate. After a few farmyards had been crossed, some gates opened and closed, a few sheep scared out of their wolly p.j.s and a field or two crossed, we came across the place we had seen, and unfortunately it had seemed bigger from a distance. So we headed on to town for breakfast.

I have been to Sandy Bay a few times and had eaten at a nice place for lunch each time. It was there I suggested we go for breakfast, but after our orders came out different to what was actually written down, I was once again in the firing line. What was ordered hard came soft, no beans came instead of beans, tea instead of coffee, eggs running instead of hard, we could only swap things around and eat anyway because we were so hungry . As I suggested, surely the important point was that we were full when we left and empty when we went in. The menu did look good for lunch, but that was never going to happen.

After a quick look over the sea wall in town and seeing only small waves, we went and got advice from Tom in the surf shop. He said that it would normally be twice that size at Cruemore, which we had passed on our way a twenty minute drive. We jumped into the van and off at high speed back in the direction we had come to find this beach. Indeed it did not take us long to get there, at one point trying to get to it via the golfclub, a guy at a barrier asked us if we were heading golfing and we asked him if it would be better to take a 6'6'' board or a 7'6'' for the long fairway shots, he was not amused but we were. Just another few corners and we found a really good parking place near the beach and were delighted to see large sets coming in regular and clean. That of course ended all conversation for the rest of the day as we surfed wave after wave. A great start to a surf trip.