14:17 – It only takes twenty five minutes to reach the Needles, the far tip of our diamond shaped island, by which time Ross has realized he is totally stacked on his 9.6m and everyone in the boat is utterly drenched from head to toe. Short spaced standing waves over a metre tall make for a hellish rounding in the boat. Ross is clinging on to the 9.6m and scouring at me in the boat for stealing the 8.4m. We have been to the Needles a couple of times before but never ventured round the giant white cliffs down towards the western side of the island. Personally, I felt once round the daunting cliffs at this extremity of the island, the real excitement would begin.
No matter how many times I have ventured out to the Needles, it is impossible not to be dazzled by the stunning scenery of this iconic landmark. The jagged white rocks that rise up to the 120 metre tall cliffs are mother-nature’s offering, but throw in a 31 metre tall man made red and white lighthouse complete with helicopter landing pad on the roof, and the view from the water was jaw dropping.
Ross – “The equipment was already a bit of a handful, I wasn’t getting slammed but it was kind of close! Even from Colwell to the Needles was a fair old distance so I suddenly started realizing what I had let myself in for. Around the Needles the sea was brutal and I was way overpowered on the 9.6m. I could tell Carter wanted me to keep passing the lighthouse for more photos but I did it twice and that was enough, if he missed it; hard cheese!”
