BIGBURY GOLD
BIGBURY GOLD
BIGBURY GOLD
After an all-out action-packed day at Gwithian for the Code Red session a few weeks ago…the forecast then threw in an extra twist to the story. The following day was showing east winds and another pulse of thumping swell on both coasts. John Carter, Lucas Meldrum and Ian Whittaker didn’t take much convincing to stay down in Cornwall and roll the dice on scoring again. What followed was once of those hunches that paid off and at Bigbury they finally struck gold!
Photos: John Carter…Best Viewed on the big screen…click any shot to enlarge and scroll.
JOHN CARTER
WHEN ONE SCORE ISN’T ENOUGH…
“We were all on a bit of a high after the epic session at Gwithian for the Code Red swell and when the forecast promised another solid day it seemed rude not to stay down in Cornwall and see if we could strike again. Poor Ian Whittaker was in a bit of a dilemma as he had promised to head home to Witterings to do the school run on Wednesday morning but had to call to his wife to see if she would let him stay down for an extra day of windsurfing! Cue delicate negotiations, a hopeful phone call to his wife and what we can only assume was some elite-level pleading. Somehow… he got the green light.
Lucas, meanwhile, was frothing. New North and Quatro kit, fresh energy and he had a burning need to test it anywhere possible so didn’t need any convincing!
Decision made. We were staying!
OMENS, BAKERIES AND BLIND FAITH
We managed to find a cheap hotel in Redruth and the plan was to check out Praa Sands in the morning and let the ocean decide. Back at the hotel, I managed to perform a truly world-class act of self-sabotage…dropping my Micro SD card inside my drone… where it promptly vanished into the internal abyss. What followed was hours of shaking, tilting, and increasingly desperate attempts to retrieve it but somehow, I had actually managed to the SD card completely jammed inside.
Morning came. Lucas was already glued to the webcams. While I was still mid-surgery on the drone. Then the miracle of miracles, the memory card simply… fell out. Just like that.
An omen? A sign? A mechanical fluke? Who cares…Now it was game back on.
Despite the webcams showing very little, my spirits were lifted. The forecast promised swell later and that was enough for me. Ian was dispatched to Praa Sands as the official scout, while we took on the critical task of… bakery reconnaissance. A full sausage, bacon and egg bap was consumed and washed down with a decent mug of latte. The diet would have to go on hold for another day. Lucas even managed to scoff down a donut, but he only weighs about 60 kilos so anything goes for him.
Reports from Praa were that it was messy and not very big, so we made a vote and decided to head for Bigbury rather than hang around for the swell to kick in. We checked in with Bigbury locals Ben Page and Dave Ewer but they were both working and unable to join us. We were taking a gamble and banking on Bigbury. We had no solid reports. No guarantees… just blind faith that the waves would kick in with the pushing tide.
DISAPPEARING ACT
By 11am Ian Whittaker had beat us to Bigbury and reckoned it was logo high and pumping. Suddenly myself and Lucas were fired up that this could turn out to be an epic day. Looking at the sat nav we would be there in less than half an hour. Game on!
By the time we reached Bigbury, Ian was still in the carpark and getting his gear together. The logo high swell he had mentioned was not there however. Somehow in the space of thirty minutes it had gone flat! The ocean had changed its mind!
Surly this was a mere low tide glitch and the swell would be back once the tide started to really kick in.
The good news was that the wind was absolutely cranking and blowing about 25 knots side offshore and it was sunny. With most of the ingredients in place the boys rigged up and were keen to get out on the water and get a feel for the location.
TEASING!
The next few hours were an emotional rollercoaster for me. Once every half an hour or so a head high set would roll though and I would start getting excited that this was the swell kicking in, but then it would go mostly flat again. At low tide the windsurf action was pretty close to where I was shooting on the beach but as the tide surged the action drifted further away with the tide, turning prime shots into distant specks. The waves weren’t quite delivering and my frustration was building.
The boys meanwhile were having a blast. While they may not have been huge waves, it was still clean, cross off and super fun sailing. I could see Lucas and Ian getting aerials right over the far side of bay but it was just too distant to score the right photos.
REGROUP, RE-ROLL, REPEAT
Around 4pm, Ian and Lucas finally came in both exhausted but buzzing after scoring nearly three hours of epic down the line fun sailing. I must admit, I was still a bit grumpy after not really getting the epic shots I had came for. The swell had not really delivered and I felt there was still some unfinished business to be sorted. In my mind I could not go home without the shots I had came for.
Back at the carpark we regrouped and now had to decide if we were going to head back home or go for another session. Ian was suffering with back pain and sensibly decided to call it a day and head home.
Meanwhile, myself and Lucas made a new plan to drive round to Bantham, despite it being a painfully long, winding, countryside mission for what looks like a stone’s throw on the map.
THE MOMENT IT ALL TURNED
Finally, we made it to the Bantham side and climbed up over the dunes to check it out. Boom! As we edged to the top of the dune a clean, glassy, half-mast to logo-high set marched across the bay like something out of a surf film.
No hesitation. Back to the van. Rig. Go!
GOLDEN HOUR GLORY
Bantham delivered. The wind flirted quite offshore but just enough for lightweight, Lucas to work his magic on his North 4.7m and Quatro Pyramid. The waves were buttery smooth and the light turned almost cinematic.
When the sun dipped behind Burgh Island, it cast a golden glow that photographers dream about and rarely get. Lucas threaded smooth lines through the bay, making it all look far too easy. Meanwhile I Sprinted up and down dunes like a man possessed, chasing angles, light, and redemption.
This time…for once, everything clicked.
WORTH THE ROLL OF THE DICE
By 6pm, Lucas came in grinning from ear to ear. The gamble had paid off. Big time. The swell finally showed. The wind held. The light delivered. Bigbury had revealed its gold…we had to wait for it, just like my memory card but eventually, just like magic it turned on.
And as a final bonus? I made the last ferry home with 15 minutes to spare. A nice bit of fortune to round of an epic day.
Ask Lucas when the luck changed and you might hear a different theory. But for me it was the moment that memory card dropped out of the drone.
From then on… the tide turned.
Sometimes you don’t chase too hard.
You just stick around long enough and the luck will come to you!”
LUCAS MELDRUM
“So we got to Bigbury and had been told by Ian it was logo high, but when we arrived it was flat and howling windy. I think about 10 minutes before we got there we’d heard it was going off, so I was pretty excited…but it wasn’t quite as good as we’d hoped.
Still, it was windy enough, just a bit small. We went out anyway…I was on my 4.2m and 75L.
That first part of the session was actually really fun. When the sets came through, they were maybe head high! The sandbank near the Bigbury side had a nice little lip you could hit. Perfect for little aerials. Me and Whittaker even got a few party waves, which was fun.
As the tide pushed in, I thought the swell might pick up, but it never really did. Still fun though and it was sunny again.
Then we regrouped and headed over to the other side to check it out, maybe for photos. And when we got there, it was like something out of a film. You walk over the dune and suddenly it’s peeling waves, super clean and sunset lighting…it just looked amazing.
It felt like the swell had suddenly kicked in. I was a bit nervous about how offshore it was, it almost looked dead offshore. I rigged a bigger sail and off the beach there was barely any wind, which was worrying. But once I made it out, it filled in.
There were some decent sets…maybe logo high…but super offshore. Still, it was such an amazing session. The waves were butter smooth, once you were on them, they were incredible. You could get some really nice turns and a few airs, although the airs were tricky with the wind so offshore.
I really enjoy those sessions when you sail somewhere new…that was my first time at Bigbury…so you get that adventure vibe, which is different from your local spot.
It was not quite a 10 out of 10, but probably an 8… yeah, about a 7 or 8 out of 10.”
IAN WHITTAKER
“Gwithian was great the day before so decided to stay down the forecast looked solid for Bigbury on Sea. I have sailed there once way back in the 90s …
With the swell building as we arrived it was low tide and starting to come in, so I grabbed my 4.7 Ezzy wave and my Quatro 86 custom quad.
When it hit the water, it started to come alive it was so cross off you could ride the whole of the bay. I remember the third wave so well, it peeled perfectly and had so many sections to it, I nailed two aerials and it had 6 smack-able lips, as I pulled off, I had to pinch myself how good it was.
I shared a couple of waves with Lucas turning round each other and airing over each other was a dreamy day!”
Action from the locals!!
The post BIGBURY GOLD appeared first on Windsurf Magazine Online.