WILL IT, WON’T IT?
The next day seemed even less promising at first light. It was my turn to run over to McDonalds to pick up breakfast and the trees outside stood limply in the still morning air, with barely a breath of wind to ruffle the branches. We started to concede that this whole trip and all our dreams of scoring were looking pretty doomed.
I was dreading that first email from Pritchard with the inevitable attachment of double-mast-high Ali Baba or butter-smooth Punta Preta. Down at the Bluff, the swell was booming and the clued-up early session local surfers were scoring glassy waves before the tide once again started to surge out. As for the wind, it didn’t look or feel the right sort of day for it to kick in. After chatting to a local surfer, we decided to head to Porthmeor to at least score a surf – there was no way we were leaving without a taster of some decent waves to cheer up the gloomy drive home. After filling up with fuel in Hayle we started to drive out of town but, right on cue, the sight of the trees starting to sway in the wind was enough to persuade us to drive back to the Bluff for one last check.
Sure enough, the wind was at last starting to play ball along with the surprise sight of Blacky in the car park dragging his kit out the back of his rusty old Peugeot. He spelled it out in black and white “We ‘ain’t got long Carter! Ross needs to get out there at-the-double before that tide hits the death sandbar!”
MAKE-OR-BREAK TIME
At last the weather Gods seemed to be favouring our mission. The wind was actually filling-in nicely, the swell was smoking and even the sun looked set to illuminate the landscape through the clouds. It was weird to think that over 2000 miles to the south of us Kevin Pritchard and Kai were probably dropping into perfect peeling waves groomed of the very same storm that had sent this huge swell northwards to Cornwall.
At our end of the equation there was no doubt it was going to be a challenging session. 5-Oceans sail designer and photographic talent, Matthew Burridge, was with Blacky in the car park and reckoned all we would see were big aerials and heavy wipe outs…fine by me!
Down on the water Ross and Blacky both made it out the back through the huge sets without too much drama and immediately set about selecting their waves. When dealing with a big, heavy beach break, selecting the right swell is vital as a massive close-out in shallow sand can be just as lethal as a grinding reef break. Ross was first to tack onto a big lump out the back and charged down-the-line at warp-speed, determined to smack the biggest section he could find.
It was a make-or-break move and this time round Ross managed to survive landing in the midst of an avalanche of white water as he came down to earth from a monster aerial.