Brox rang as I reached Ings Lane approaching Sandilands to say he was just south of Grantham. With the time then around 2.15, I estimated he'd be easily an hour and half which would mean he'd be there and in around an hour after LT. All we needed now was for a wave and for the breeze to ease a little. Within 5 or so minutes I had found a not too inspiring first view. To balance it out a bit, the ebb was still in flow, albeit in it's last stages, but the breeze though offshore was strong. Too strong at times!

I decide to watch for a while and see how things developed. There were 2 out even then, but they didn't look to be having much joy. Clearly the cross-offshore was making things difficult all round, and was flattening a lot of the swell size too. Not long later and one of the surfers was on his way back in for a breather, a bite to eat, and to give it until the push took hold. Maybe then things would improve. By 3.15 it did look as if there was more substance and more lines trying to come through.

A quarter of an hour later and I was suited up and in, though it quickly became obvious how deceptive things looked. Yes there were more lines heading towards shore, but the 'cross' element to the wind had had it's effect with a lot more cross-shore wind waves beyond the inside having their effect. This was not fun by a long chalk, in fact it was quite an effort to stay anywhere near what peaks there were before finding you'd drifted further out. Swiveling round to paddle in to a potential wave was tricky in itself, and required more anticipation than usual to get into the correct position and direction in time. I took a few minutes to adjust and get up to speed, but even then, the quality of ride was nothing to write home about.

I put up with this for about 35 - 40 minutes before getting in to see if Brox had arrived, though also to wait for a while on the long chance of some improvement. Brox had arrived and was almost suited up. After passing on my experiences so far, it was decided to watch some more. Remarkably, after about half an hour the breeze did appear to ease off a little, which also gave the impression of allowing a few more rideable sets through. We went in. For a while there was a general feeling of having been conned by an illusion, but as the tide came further in and over the banks a short period did emerge where things became a lot more do-able. Sadly this didn't last long, in fact by 6.15, and with the tide now well up, what swell there was, despite being super clean in the now calm conditions; had flattened off. Time to call it a day, and with very few satisfying waves to remember.
posted by wollocks at 11:32 AM