Catching Daymer firing, is all about knowing how this place works, with tides, wind and swell directions absolutely critical. The Motley Crew are not normally ones to shy away from the brunt of any big storm but once in a while, when every other beach is off the hook, the natural amphitheatre of wind and waves at Daymer becomes an serious option.
Storm Chasing
MISSION ONE
Rewind way back to early January when the weather was at its wildest with the latest in a rapid series of sub 950 low pressures unleashing its fury on the UK. Myself, Timo Mullen, Ross Williams, Chris Murray and Andy King had all pretty much overdosed on Christmas and were gagging to get out there and challenge the elements. With wild winds and massive swell set to pound the Cornish coast, we decided it was time to hit Daymer Bay, hoping for a nice wrapping swell with groomed lines held up by the storm force winds. ‘Hoping’ was the key word here; when the weather is off the scale like this with unprecedented conditions, the illusion that you can just waltz around to the nearest sheltered headland and score wave sailing utopia is exactly that. After driving four hours down to the West Country our convoy of wagons finally rolled into the car park at Daymer with high expectations but on arrival high tide with a massive surge made it unsailable for the time being. A quick walk around the headland in the blustery 40 knot plus winds to check the waves rolling into Polzeath was enough to keep us hanging on. Huge sets were smashing into the headland, feathered by the cross off winds. Strangely enough, it was almost flat on the inside at Daymer, so we waited for the tide to race out and that it did. With such a huge surge racing into the Estuary all that water at some point had to go back out on the ebbing tide and sure enough within an hour or so as the water dropped out, the swells started to jack up right across the bay. Huge sets were breaking across the notorious Doom Bar while the inside beach break was forming up nicely. But the massive surge heading out combined with all the chop, swell and churned up water was making for a horrific sea state which was far from the image we had been hoping for.
“ When every other beach is off the hook, the natural amphitheatre of wind and waves at Daymer becomes a serious option ’’ JC