CRUNCH TIME
Back at Highcliffe the tide should have been rapidly dropping but the water still seemed to be lapping up to the cliffs and causing a ferocious backwash. The waves were solid though, with the wind still enough for a 4m, Hunty decided to go it alone before the rest of the crowd arrived. He looked very sceptical on launching as he had to punch through some nasty inside barrels before hitting the strongest wind line about 20 metres offshore. It was slightly similar to the launch at Jaws but with far less consequences aside from the humiliation factor, which can be just as bad especially with my prying camera ready to capture the drama. Hunty somehow just made it out despite crashing head on into a breaking wave which almost crushed him, a split second later and he would have been toast. Once out the back he hit plenty of wind and looked comfortable sailing in the logo to mast high swells. On his second wave he went for the lip and went down hard. The next thing I saw was Hunty swimming after his gear, which was heading down the coast towards Barton on Sea. This must have been similar to the situation with the guy up at Avon first thing in the morning but Hunty was determined not to lose his beloved Fanatic Stubby and Severne Blade. After recouping his kit, the next battle was to punch back through the gnarly inside section where there was less wind due to the high cliffs! Finally after fifteen tiring minutes of being punished he made it out again to continue with his soul session in the waves. By 1.15pm more troops were arriving at the beach just as Hunty had finished his first battle with Mother Nature.
