Way out there...

Every now and then a public holiday rolls around. Some people like them as days of no work, and some people hate them because they are days of no work. As surfers we love public holidays that arrive at the end of major storms together with big swell. In surfer language these events are ‘cool’. Wednesday this week was one such ‘cool’ day.

It was a beautiful morning at 07h00, or at least the little bits that I could see, as it was pretty dark. Getting out of my warm and cosy bed was tough, made more difficult by the ‘stay under the covers’ noises made by a rainstorm lashing our house. The snow on all of the mountains around us could not be seen but was certainly making its presence felt. It was a balmy 6 degrees Celsius, just perfect for mad people to bathe in their insanity!

The sea at our spot was uninspiring. Actually that was not true, it was less inspiring that the thought of exchanging my clothes for a neoprene suit. The head honcho of looney surf expeditions, Lawrie, had practically dived into his gear and was already waiting for the sea to bare her claws. Seeing him catch a terrible wave in amongst a school of dolphins got me moving a little quicker. Getting my head into my new hoodie and vest combination involved some bizarre contortions. Luckily our brilliant surf photographer Steve O was on hand to capture these warped moments of madness!

The sea was cold, but I was almost warm on the inside, deep inside! I surfed terribly but loved it. The dolphins made one more pass through us and left for more interesting waters. When all was said and done, I took a quick bath in a mountain stream.

I am all right now, really!