Crystalline

Clean, crisp morning, pre-work refresh, sun tingly above the horizon to paint the sky in an orange glow. Even the monstrosity that is the surf club looked good in this light. After weeks of Summer time air temperatures, pushing the boundaries into the realms of the late-twenty degrees on a regular basis, this was the first day when the Winter steamer would have been welcomed. Brisk Westerly winds stripping the meagre warmth that the Summer suit provides. Sets still infrequent but at least the odd rideable one and the hungry crowd of days before are satiated enough to make the crowd manageable.

This is more like it

No rain for weeks? It's like surfing in Evian

Commuting

Seagulls have reclaimed the beach post-Summer buzz

Hungry

A few week of flatness build the energy and anticipation to levels that verge on a pre-UFC bout; surfers start to swim, run, cycle....we are are a twitchy crowd...edgy when we are not active. And then the swell arrives and everyone - good, bad, the in-between - descend upon the beach. The usual cycles of morning and afternoon crowds, those who have family commitments sneaking in earlier, or arriving later with children in tow, are crumbled and everyone arrives, en-masse.

And so it was on this day after complete flatness for a few weeks. A hungry crowd and very few waves to go around. The pictures make it look far, far better than it was. An ugly backwash and infrequent sets mean that the attached evidence was limited to a freaky few who managed to sneak onto an unmolested wave that found a bank.

A thick crowd of hungry animals

Just after dawn it was a bit more reasonable

No-one in the right spot

The only place to be alone

Inside backwashed moments gave brief visions (none make-able)

Wave of the day