The COAST team ventured deep into the land of the Dragon and hit the Pembrokeshire shoreline, an area of designated outstanding natural beauty with a reputation for heavy-duty wave sailing action.
Photos John Carter Words Jamie Hancock, Timo Mullen & John Carter
(Some of the images in this feature are unseen from the story that originally appeared in the November/December 2012 issue of Windsurf Magazine. Print and digital subscriptions for readers worldwide are available HERE.)
With the chill of winter setting in many of the European wave sailing fraternity think of migrating to warmer climes like birds. But before the icy air’s too severe, perseverance at home can reap dividends and we had been patiently waiting for a south-east wind flow to line-up at Newgale and for a few other spots on the Welsh West Coast to turn it on. With Timo’s wife expecting their second baby, Jamie’s girlfriend busy packing for Cape Town and my other half running around manically after our two boys, we made the call for a rapid-fire hit-and-run mission – with just a day trip on-the-cards. As a deep low pressure brewed in the Bay of Biscay an enormous dilemma presented itself. The first day of the front offering 35-knots and 11ft of swell and the second calling for 20-knots and longer period waves, building to 14 feet. Timo made the call for the windier option using the premise that, for a guaranteed session, you should follow strong winds rather than bigger waves. With pledges to our loved ones that we’d all be back in time for a late supper, the strike was on.
One thing I’m finally starting to learn in life is that if you make a promise to the wife about what time you’ll be back it’s usually best to offer a worst case scenario and hopefully make it back earlier, rather than the other way round. You’d think after all these years I would’ve learned my lesson by now?