JC – “Easterly and north east winds on the south coast of England provide an equation that in theory does not add up for most wavesailors. This predominantly offshore direction pushes the swell away from the coast at the majority of beaches apart from one or two nooks and crannies that can accommodate these weather patterns. Personally I had endured a busy year on the road in 2016 and had earmarked November and December to track down UK storms. For some reason my payback was a big freeze right through the majority of the prime autumn season. Instead of southerly gales and chunky groundswells the weather was stuck in an easterly pattern of frosty mornings and chilly high pressure generated winds.
Hungry to score any possible action, it seemed there was no alternative but to grind out whatever pickings these easterlies had to offer. After researching the possibilities with chief Motley Crew scouts Timo Mullen, Paul Hunt and Jamie Hancock, I came to the conclusion that there were actually a few hidden gems that light up when the wind clocks round to the east. In fact a few of them are pretty much within walking distance from my front door, namely Sandown Bay and Ventnor on the Isle of Wight.
SANDOWN SUNDOWNER
With a solid high pressure locked over the UK causing east winds to rattle up the channel for several days, Jamie Hancock and Paul Hunt decided to bite the bullet and head over to the Isle of Wight. Spurred on by local Scott ‘I never exaggerate!’ Gardener promising down the line conditions at Bonchurch, which is about half a mile before Ventnor, the crew headed over on the morning Wightlink Ferry. I was slightly sceptical about the forecast, but being so close to home it would have been rude not to let the boys come over to my side of the water for once. Arriving at the spot the conditions were not quite there for some reason. An outgoing tide had exposed plenty of rocks in the line-up, the wind was fickle and there was no real swell worth smacking. I heard last year that Guy Cribb was on one of his clinics in Brandon Bay with a complete windless forecast. Once again east winds were the culprit. In desperation they loaded up the vans, drove across Ireland, drove all the way across the UK and then over to Bonchurch on the Isle of Wight, the only possible location with promising conditions. Rumour has it they scored an amazing session so fair play to them for attempting that crazy mission!
After a quick cappuccino break at the Mill Bay Inn on Ventnor Sea Front while we waited for the tide to turn, we headed back to Bonchurch only to see absolutely no improvement in the conditions. I could tell by the looks on Hunty and Jamie’s faces that they were already counting the cost of the ferry ticket and a wasted day! The only option was to head back into Sandown Bay, which is my local spot and more known as a summer time bucket and spade style beach, normally only offering completely flat water. Not today though as back in Sandown bay, which is about four miles round the coast from Bonchurch, the east winds had kicked up a far better swell which did not seem so affected by the tides. I was quite astonished when we pulled up next to Sandown Pier on how decent the conditions were looking. Perfect light and perfect waves, Sandown was pumping! All of a sudden the mood changed and we were on! The boys charged for one and a half hours in side off conditions in the last golden hour of sunshine. I could not believe how we had pulled this session out of the bag. From a point where we had pretty much written off the day completely we had turned it around to score some pretty solid conditions!”