WINTER SOLSTICE: K-BAY CALLING

WINTER SOLSTICE: K-BAY CALLING

John Carter looks back on a surprise Winter Solstice session at K-bay! With a forecast balanced delicately between being potentially epic and probable disappointment, K-Bay became the focus of a high-risk, low-margin mission. The waves delivered, the clock kept ticking and for a brief moment everything lined up…almost. This is the story of a session that came agonisingly close to being all time!

Words: John Carter // Photos John Carter and Roger Turner.

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SKETCHY

After weeks of relentless wind and waves, I’d pretty much written off the idea of any more epic photo sessions before Christmas. The forecasts had gone suspiciously quiet, so I accepted my fate: Christmas shopping uuuughh. Spirits were low but morale was briefly boosted by my first mince pie of the season when, right on cue, salvation arrived via WhatsApp. A message from Timo lit up my phone with four dangerously optimistic words: “K-Bay tomorrow epic!”

A quick glance at the forecast revealed a totally sketchy forecast…12–20 knots around midday and a 1.5m swell at a teasing 16-second period. Hmmm. Risky. But then again, last year we scored an all-time day at K-Bay under similar circumstances. The mince pie was abandoned, the shopping trip was officially postponed until Christmas Eve and the decision was made to go for it. It might be a gamble…but it felt like the kind worth taking. In other words an absolutely stupid decision!

ON THE CLOCK

Working against us was one inconvenient detail: it was the shortest day of the year…Winter Solstice. Time was very much not on our side. Military precision would be required to be in the right place at the right time. The alarm was set for 5:45am, followed by a 6:00am conference call to decide whether this was a green light or mission abort.

At 6:15am I stepped outside into the darkness. It was as still as it gets…not a breath of wind. ‘Am I mad?’ I wondered. (Almost certainly.) I promptly reversed into a lamppost while parking in Cowes…an early omen for the day…but somehow still made the 7:15am ferry, followed by the 8:30am train to Poole.

When the train rolled into Poole station at precisely 9:34am…bang on time…Poole Harbour was mirror-flat and, once again not a hint of wind. At this point, the outcome of the day was starting to look… ominous.

Once loaded into Timo’s van, he surprised me with an actual Christmas gift. It was even wrapped, with my name on it…raising expectations dangerously high. I tore it open to reveal a packet of Tayto’s Cheese & Onion crisps and a bar of chocolate (both Irish specialities!). Not bad at all. I briefly felt guilty for not reciprocating such festive generosity, but that feeling quickly vanished as I stuffed the loot into my jacket pocket. With any luck, they might prove to be lifesavers later.

K-BAY

Right on schedule we arrived at K-Bay by 10:30am to the sight of pumping surf. There was still no wind, of course, but at least half the ingredients were in place. According to the forecast, the peak of the wind was due between midday and 2pm, with rain…and possibly the wind swinging too offshore. Our golden hour was imminent.

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There were a few smirks from the surfers as Timo prepped his 5.3m and 106L Duotone Grip, but optimism was mandatory. After all, on the shortest day of the year, every second counts.

By 11:30am we headed to the point to re-check the surf and bumped into Max Metcalfe and Oliver Randall, who had been surfing since first light. They reckoned there was already wind on the waves further upwind and suggested Timo head out there…purely as a test dummy for their own benefit, of course. Timo needed no convincing and was straight into his wetsuit.

SUPERTUBES

It looked like Timo was heading up to Supertubes, a fair trek upwind beneath the cliffs below Clavell Tower. Having snapped my Achilles back in July, I now faced a dilemma: shoot from the beach or climb the steps to the top of the cliffs. Recent weather meant slippery paths and the last thing I needed was spending Christmas in a boot and on crutches!

Thankfully, local photographer Roger Turner arrived at just the right moment and offered to help lug my camera kit up the steps. Absolute saviour. Slow but steady, we made it to the top in good time before Timo hit the water.

From our bird’s-eye view of the lineup, there was definitely wind on the waves. So far, the forecast was doing exactly what it said on the tin. Maybe…just maybe…we were in for a Winter Solstice epic.

TANTALISINGLY CLOSE TO BEING EPIC

It took Timo a while to navigate his way out to the lineup, but once there he was plenty mobile on the 106L with the 5.3m. Straight off the bat, he hooked into a solid wave and launched into a decent aerial to open his account. Things were looking up.

The waves at Yellows a bit downwind looked punchier but were stacked with surfers, so Timo wisely stayed upwind, well clear of the pack. Three or four waves in, though, he was suddenly down in the water. That seemed odd. Turns out he’d come too far inside and bashed a fin on the shallow reef.

AGAINST THE CLOCK

This is where time really turned against us, despite all our planning we could not of accounted for the pit stop! It took Timo around twenty minutes to get back in, followed by a clamber along the rocks to fetch a spare fin. As fate would have it, the next forty minutes were probably the windiest and waviest of the entire day…Grrrr!

Meanwhile, local crew Mike Byfield and Neil Freeman headed out and scored a solid half hour of conditions while Timo was on his recovery mission. The clock was ticking, and the forecast rain was edging ever closer. I could see those black clouds looming and a definite drop in the wind.

TIME RUNS OUT

After his mammoth effort, Timo headed back out with Max Metcalfe and Oliver Randall not far behind, but by then the best of the wind had been soaked up by the incoming rain. Up on the cliffs, it was grim…driving rain and damp frustration as we realised we’d missed the magic window thanks to a pesky equipment issue.

The crew persevered for another 45 minutes, but as conditions continued to fade, they eventually threw in the towel one by one. It turned out Timo’s first few waves were the best that were windsurfed on the day and he was only really just warming up before the mishap!

NO REGRETS

Drenched on the cliffs, I pondered whether it had all been worth it. The answer was an easy yes. I’d much rather be in the mix on a possible epic than sat at home wondering what might have been. Then I remembered the packet of Tayto’s Cheese & Onion crisps and the bar of chocolate and suddenly the world felt like a much better place. Should I take them back down the cliffs and share them with the crew or….they did look mighty appealing!!! Sorry guys I needed a pick me up to make it back down the cliffs!!

I made it safely back down the steps and we regrouped in the car park to discuss just how close it had been. I eventually got home around 8pm. As an added bonus, the heavens opened just as I reached Cowes and I got absolutely soaked walking back to my trusty Volkswagen Polo. Then I remembered…14 hours earlier…I’d reversed into a lamppost. I decided not to check the damage. Some things are better left for another day.

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UNTIL NEXT TIME

So that was that. The Winter Solstice delivered stunning waves, but the wind only offered a fleeting window and luck wasn’t on our side this time round. Maybe that was the last of the wind and waves for the Christmas period…Hang on. I’ve just had a WhatsApp.

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