After the contest we travelled north to get out of the madness and find somewhere quieter to stay. We got on a campsite for the night (luxury) to get proper showers, get things charged up, and to do a desperately needed load of washing. We were looking forward to a chilled out night, and as most campsites are closing for the season now it might be one of our last chances. Those sites that are still open are pretty quiet (or so we thought). We remembered from last time that it’s a huge site so when checking in at reception the girl started off by saying that it’s pretty empty so we could park where we like, then her colleague interrupted her to remind her that 150 students had checked in earlier today! She advised us where to go so that we were at the other end of the site and as it’s so big we thought we wouldn’t even notice they were there. It really felt like we were the only ones there, it was like a wild life experience; we saw red squirrels, rabbits hopping around and even a woodpecker. At 9pm a concert started coming from the student’s area, it was great! We cracked open a bottle of wine or 2 and enjoyed the entertainment! At 11 o’clock the band must have been given a cut off time as they stopped but in a volume to match was ‘old school’ dance music which was fine to start with but wasn’t still as enjoyable at 6 the next morning.
We got up really looking forward to getting some quieter waves, we went down to check it first and it was quiet and looking surprisingly mellow considering the 9ft forecast. We ran back for our boards excited to get in but only 30 minutes later when we had our boards and were suited it seemed to look twice the size and twice as heavy, oh no! We gave it a go anyway, it was a really hard paddle out and after getting a few of the heavier ones on the head I (Ruth) started to feel really heavy and cold, I recognised this feeling; for the second time this week in heavier surf my wetsuit zip had forced its way down. Each arm was carrying a litre or 2 of water which felt like lead weights, so was each leg and the belly part of the suit was just like a giant water balloon. Whilst awkwardly trying to sit on my board in the worst possible place trying to zip up my suit whilst having wave upon wave dumped on my head I notice john catching the white water onto the beach pointing frantically towards the shore. There was no way we were making it through that wall of white water and with my struggle with the wetsuit I hadn’t noticed we had also been in a lateral rip which had dragged us at least 200m down the beach towards the biggest and heaviest area. That was enough to tell me someone was telling me today wasn’t a day for me to surf, a warm shower and a cuppa was calling. John however would not be so easily beaten.
John: Moliets day 1 – arrived to find huge 9ft waves and as often when the waves are big, no one was out surfing. Showing the true Scarborough surfer spirit I headed out. There followed 3 attempts and over an hour of paddling attempting to get out passed the breakers in order to surf. Fuelled on a free energy drink I had picked up I was determined. Paddle duck dive (duck your board under the waves like a duck does), paddle, duck dive, paddle duck dive... Sadly I failed and I headed in a sad man!!
John: Moliets day 2 – slightly smaller surf and fed up of old school dance music I was twice as determined, again after 3 attempts I eventually made it out back. It is amazing how noise and turbulence soon changes to calm and piece as you stroke over the incoming swells when you make it out back when the surf is big. Exhausted I managed 5 big waves before heading in slightly less frustrated and ready for a beer.
We got up really looking forward to getting some quieter waves, we went down to check it first and it was quiet and looking surprisingly mellow considering the 9ft forecast. We ran back for our boards excited to get in but only 30 minutes later when we had our boards and were suited it seemed to look twice the size and twice as heavy, oh no! We gave it a go anyway, it was a really hard paddle out and after getting a few of the heavier ones on the head I (Ruth) started to feel really heavy and cold, I recognised this feeling; for the second time this week in heavier surf my wetsuit zip had forced its way down. Each arm was carrying a litre or 2 of water which felt like lead weights, so was each leg and the belly part of the suit was just like a giant water balloon. Whilst awkwardly trying to sit on my board in the worst possible place trying to zip up my suit whilst having wave upon wave dumped on my head I notice john catching the white water onto the beach pointing frantically towards the shore. There was no way we were making it through that wall of white water and with my struggle with the wetsuit I hadn’t noticed we had also been in a lateral rip which had dragged us at least 200m down the beach towards the biggest and heaviest area. That was enough to tell me someone was telling me today wasn’t a day for me to surf, a warm shower and a cuppa was calling. John however would not be so easily beaten.
John: Moliets day 1 – arrived to find huge 9ft waves and as often when the waves are big, no one was out surfing. Showing the true Scarborough surfer spirit I headed out. There followed 3 attempts and over an hour of paddling attempting to get out passed the breakers in order to surf. Fuelled on a free energy drink I had picked up I was determined. Paddle duck dive (duck your board under the waves like a duck does), paddle, duck dive, paddle duck dive... Sadly I failed and I headed in a sad man!!
John: Moliets day 2 – slightly smaller surf and fed up of old school dance music I was twice as determined, again after 3 attempts I eventually made it out back. It is amazing how noise and turbulence soon changes to calm and piece as you stroke over the incoming swells when you make it out back when the surf is big. Exhausted I managed 5 big waves before heading in slightly less frustrated and ready for a beer.
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