As we drove along the seafront at Weymouth the
conditions were great for surfing. This was not good as we
had a sea paddle planned and the weather was freezing cold –
well below freezing with snow on the beach.
Dicky called us to say he was already at Bowleaze so we
headed in that direction. Using the softer snow on the
pavement we inched our way down the hill. John followed us
down. We called Ken to find out where he was and he was
sensibly in the Look Out Café – at the top of the hill. The
4 of us got in Dicky’s car with the intention of driving up
to join Ken. Dicky’s car skidded and slithered about on the
icy road.We got out and Dicky slid down the hill and got a
run up and made it up. This left John and Ian to attempt the
same by driving to a clear patch at the end of the road and
getting a good run up they too made it up the hill. And so
to the Look Out. Ken, Craig and Cate were in there – sitting
on a radiator and we were soon joined by Toby.
After a while we ventured outside and went down to the car
park at Secondwind and had a look at the sea. It took quite
a while to persuade ourselves that we would get on the water
and see what it was like. It looked very cold, quite windy
and rough. Craig decided to be our shore contact!
There were significant waves to punch through on launching
but we all got out without incident – except Dicky had
forgotten his gloves and within minutes his hands were numb.
He decided it was best to go back and drive to Osmington
where Sharon was waiting in the warmth of the Smugglers.
That left 6 of us.
As we headed towards Redcliff the weather was obviously
deteriorating rapidly with increasing wind and decreasing
visibility. We paddled inshore to a calmer patch before
Redcliff and decided we would paddle out to the point and
see what it was like and if we didn’t like the look of it we
would go back. Due to the severity of the weather conditions
and the sporty sea state we decided it was better to go
back.
We had a bit of fun with the following waves as we headed
back to Bowleaze and Ken had a little surf. Everyone nailed
the landing and – just for the craic – we all piled into
Ken's emergency shelter for a hot drink and a group huddle to
warm up. This was the highlight of the day!
It had been good to get out on the water – but we were
pleased to be back.
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| Snow caked boats |
Decision time at
Secondwind |
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| Shall we, shan't we? |
Toby at Redcliff |
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| John paddling back |
Group huddle |
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| Steamy in the shelter |
Loading up to go
home. |
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| The Arctic
Expeditionary Force! |
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