I think my Rockpool Alaw Bach is the ultimate surf boat! Well, so long as you are surfing a tidal race that is. But surfing onto a beach in a force 8 gale with a receding tide; well it's just too long. Try turning 17 ft 20 of fibre glass through 180 degrees to paddle out for your next surf run. It can be done but it's exhausting. So the remit for Saturday was to find a short surf boat which felt to me like my Rockpool, but shorter! I thought this would be a tall order as Stu, Steve, Shane, Emma and Ian brought a variety of boats down to Peel Beach for some "boat swapping". Not so. All the boats were so different. Everyone has a boat which suites them and all the boats were great. But one stood out to me. The minute I took to the water in Steve's Mega Jester Trident I knew this was the one. It rolled, sculled and even edged just like my Rockpool but of course you could spin it on a sixpence. And there was that same seat of the pants feel that I get with my Alaw Bach whereby you can sense every ripple beneath you.Sunday, Ian and I headed out to the Sound tidal races. The flow was phenomenal and the middle picture above is of Ian inadvertently getting sucked into a tidal race at the "Drinking Dragon". I soon followed, distracted by the process of obtaining the above photograph. Don't be deceived by the small size of the waves, it was not easy to extricate ourselves. We finished up with some advanced tidal race kayaking in a somewhat larger race at Kitterland. It was gnarly, confused and BIG. No photographs as I've drowned yet another waterproof camera (Sanyo Xacti). Does anyone else manage to achieve my levels of camera homicide?
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1 comment:
Dedicated Surf Craft really are in their own class. Tidal flows and windy swell days in a Sea Kayak are great fun. But for days where the waves are steep at the beach. Nothing can beat carving greenwater in a surf kayak. There is a huge difference between a surf boat and a sea kayak in this environment. Pearling and then pitchpoling an 18 foot long sea kayak is definitely not as fun as a suicidally late drop in on a steep face where you actually make it!!
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