Surfing at Whiterock, Portrush 28/1/08

I thought I’d write a few lines about this trip, especially if any of you were thinking of heading up for the first time, like I did. When I say first time, it has been about 27 years since I tried this. My vague memories of those few occasions mostly consist of trying to empty my 10 or 12 feet long kayak. It was all T rescues or bail out, as I could not roll.

This time however the scene is completely different. 3 of us went up (Pete Dew, Davey Killen & me. Davey lent me his Dagger Sluice which looked like it was half the length of the kayaks in my memories. It felt good. He assured me it was easy to roll but I hoped not to have to find this out. At the safety briefing at the beach Pete advised that if someone was surfing down on top of me, I should capsize and let them ride over the top (or is it bottom?) of mine, instead of trying to paddle away.

The waves were absolutely brilliant and very regular, numerous, high & powerful. Davey was right – the first slap up the face with the cold sea water let me know I was in for a brilliant days surfing. The first one I caught lifted me right up and I shot down the front – then it caught me again and I found myself instinctively paddling high more or less slapping the top of the wave on each side of me. When the kayak was heading towards the beach, I tried to stern rudder and lean back, as instructed. The boat felt really really stable and when it eventually spun me sideways, I high braced over the back of it and just hung on. What a rush. I couldn’t believe the advance in technology.

My Lomo Keyhole neoprene spraydeck kept coming off so I changed it to a Classic Deck which Davey had & the problem was solved.

I tried to catch a good wave which had already broken, when it hit me the paddle was ripped from my hands and I had to bail out. (Note to self “hold on really tight to my paddle.”) Swam to shore, emptied the kayak & back in to the fight. Surfed numerous waves and paddled back out each time. When kayaking back out against the waves, Pete advised to try to reach behind the wave with the paddle. That way the paddle is placed in “useful” water and not in soft surf.

I suppose another lesson I learned was not to bring the kayak ashore right way up. I ended up with a kayak full of water, beached on the sand. If you bring it in up side down, at least you have a fighting chance of emptying it.

Well suddenly the sea became calm for about 2 or 3 minutes. It was really strange. I used the opportunity to make my way to the right (in front of Davey & Pete) to make up some ground due the wind blowing us to the left. I looked up & saw a very good wave, when I turned towards shore I noticed Davey & Pete had turned so I turned back. (The last thing I wanted to do was surf down on top of either of them because I knew my steering was pretty poor.) So I paddled like mad towards it and it became more & more steep. I managed to get over it just as it became vertical and starting to break. Both the boys got into that unique position of being in “the tunnel” and both fell through the air as the water came unbroken over the top of them. When it crashed over them Davey lost his paddle & bailed and Pete’s paddle was wrenched from his right hand. He held onto the paddle like a baseball bat with both hands and eventually rolled up.

We surfed for about 4 hours in total and had a half hour lunch. By the end I was shattered. I could hardly paddle any more because I had no more power in my arms.

Clothing:- Wet suit bottoms over swimming shorts, base layer t shirt, Helly hanson long sleeve base layer, fleece, dry cag, booties, swimming hat, helmet, pair of blue B & Q thin rubber DIY gloves (because my hands were freezing.)

I hope this encourages anyone who is thinking about trying surfing. Whilst it is tiring, it is an absolute blast. It really was a great day & many thanks to Pete & Davey for arranging everything.

Kevin Murray