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Report de uma surfada em busca de grandes ondas...

Chegou-nos ontem à noite e conta-nos a história de um sábado memorável algures em North Devon (SW da Inglaterra). A história e fotos são de John Watson, NEWS TEAM kayaksuf.net, e vale a pena ver as fotos... pena não terem sido sacadas da praia! Nos kayaks, temos Chris Hobson (Mega Proton), Philip Watson (Boost), Aidan Brackenbury (Boost), Jack Barker (Trident) e Tim Holland (Merlin). O semi-rígido foi conduzido por Glyn Brackenbury. É a história de 5 craques a bordo de um barco à procura de grandes ondas. Vejam o slide-show com todas as fotos ;)

John Watson, NEWS TEAM kayaksurf.net, sent us this "short story" - like he wrote. Check out his onw words and photos: "What do you do when the surf is just too big on the beach, the sheltered spot isn’t working, and you have five surf kayakers looking for a wave to ride and some excitement? We had met for the Mega team to try the new Proton, and hopefully get some great pictures too. The answer was to load up the RIB powerboat with people and kayaks, and head out of the river mouth to the sand bars where the swell breaks first in Bideford Bay, on the North Devon coast". Check out the photos and the full slide-show. Enjoy it!!

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John Watson

A SHORT STORY

The powerboat can stay in the narrow river channel which leads out to the open sea, whilst the surfers dropped off the side to head into the powerful ocean swell. Each wave a solid mass of water, the sea surging and unpredictable, and with no land reference points nearby, the surfers had found their excitement! Chris took two huge bounces dropping down his first wave, and they were off. The next 30 minutes was a mix of speed and turns, and some long hold-downs. As the waves broke, they seemed to keep all their power, with another half-mile to roll before they would eventually reach the beach.

The plan was for the powerboat to stay in the channel as a platform for the cameras, whilst the surfers rode off the waves towards the boat. Our trouble came when the sea didn’t keep to our plan! The swell was large enough to be coming right through the main river channel too, and, keeping an eye out to sea, the powerboat turned and ran ahead of the two bigger sets.

Unable to keep the boat in one position, we got few pictures – but when the surfers rode closer in-shore, we picked them up to speed back home. They each had a story about their adventure and were laughing.

Surfers: Chris Hobson - Mega Proton, Philip Watson – Boost, Aidan Brackenbury – Boost, Jack Barker – Trident, Tim Holland – Merlin. Powerboat driver: Glyn Brackenbury.