Portion Control
There were some seriously steep waves here and you basically just had to charge, as it sucked vertically from takeoff and pretty much doubled in height as you dropped down the face.
I resorted to my old tried and tested 'pig dog' on more than one occassion, to gain an inside edge on my rail as you flew into the channel at a rate of knots. There definitely wasn't time for any manoeuvres!
You could pretty much sit safely in the channel and the only the occasional wider bomb would come through.
The Plough had some screamers, he didn't make many but got a 10/10 for commitment. You just had to make sure, that you were well clear of him when a set came through!
His 9ft board was punishing him on the big sets as he got washed in but that beaming smile of his could be seen from way out back and he was always back for more.
We shared insults - I waved him "goodbye" on numerous occasions as large sets loomed and we all returned to shore completely surf stoked.
It was our last day on the island and we returned to 'Gulls Nest' once more. Today was even better than the previous day.
Absolute perfection for the first 2 hrs with waves so glassy, you could do your makeup in them.
I had trouble seeing some as the sea was so clear, the two just merged into liquid glass. I gradually got deeper and deeper with take offs, getting to know the wave.
It was a relatively slow at the beginning so you could fade really far on your bottom turn before attacking the inside wall.
I didn't bother with many lefts! Some were fast, some slow but it was great all the same. Everyone scored that morning.
Dave was loving the fast hollow left that jacked up on the inside and the Plough was making some drops in style.
Anna-Marie had lost some of her earlier 'cojones' and went in while Carlos filmed the session wth sand between his toes.
He'd paddled out at every spot, no matter how gnarly and ridden a handful as well as taking some reef punishment, so we let him off with a warning.
We had a brief attempt at snorkelling...it was pretty extreme with a raging rip and waves crashing on our heads so ended up lying in a shallow rock pool instead and finding plenty of fish to watch!
That afternoon, we hit the reef again and surfed it slightly choppier than before but still pretty solid in size.
One big set loomed out on the horizon and I scurried out to sea to watch Dave take a few choice ones on the head.
I had a look at one but it was a fair old size, a good 8ft and knew from the previous days excitement how much this wave jacked on the reef at high tide, so thought better of it. I should've gone.
We eventually called it a day, the Plough had been washed in but wasn't done. As we neared shore he gestured for me to come back out with him but I'd had enough.
He went back for one more and caught a nice right before we saw that orange log flying up through the back of the wave one more time! ;)
Back to blighty, only to be greeted by delays, ice and chilling temps. Snow chaos came the following morning. Funny to think we'd snorkelled that morning and been surrounded by tropical fish.
Trip highlights:
Beating Trefin darts legend - Fandango @ darts, "portion control", "same procedure", Fandango chipping his teeth, Fandango being slapped repeatedly with a leather glove, the Plough getting nailed, "Begin your descent!" and singing 'Starship' on the karaoke before falling asleep at the bar.
Good vibes and great waves. I've a feeling we'll do it again.
Gull
View the slideshow from our trip
