WINTER WARMER…

November 21, 2007 on 1:19 pm | In Surfing |

WINTER WONDERLAND

Well, what a load of old bollocks…

The clocks have gone back, the bitter blasts of winter are whipping beneath my towel as I change on the beach and the birds are all gone south (well, those with any sense are).

For winter is here.

And that’s rubbish.

Or is it?

Let’s think about this a bit. It certainly was rubbish a few years ago once the leaves had departed their branches and the woolly hat had taken up residence on the car dashboard.

I’m thinking about the time when a winter ‘steamer’ lived up to its name about as effectively as Timberland’s ‘waterproof’ boots do – i.e. expect the opposite of what the term implies and you won’t be disappointed.

These days, winter wetties are a different prospect altogether, which for Scottish surfers in particular is very good news.

Get the right kit and you really can get in one or even two decent sessions a day without the need of reporting to the local A&E department at the end of the day to have your extremities defrosted.

And, of course, winter means bigger and more consistent swells. Which can only be a GOOD THING. If you’re made from the same mould as the likes of Chris Noble of Thurso it means you can feed your cravings for big drops and long, cold hold downs; and if you’re a weed like me it means you can surf smaller, lesser-known breaks that never work on the lacklustre swells of summer.

The cold blasts of winter will also reduce the numbers in the water, whilst with more waves to choose from thanks to bigger swells everyone gets spread out amongst the breaks, the result of which is more waves for one and all. Which yet again can only be a GOOD THING.

In fact when I think about it I’ve had plenty of short one- or two-hour winter sessions in which I’ve surfed more quality waves than any all day session in mid-summer.

I’m not saying winter is the best season to be a surfer because at the end of the day it’s still cold in the water once we’re on the wrong side of the autumn equinox, but it could be a lot worse.

Indeed, Scottish surfers probably have the best deal of any
UK surfers once winter arrives. They get consistent, empty waves, it’s not actually that much colder than Pastieland (Cornwall) and should it all get just that bit too frigid – well that probably means it’s snowing so you can head to the hills and surf some snow instead.

Try doing that on Dartmoor – its rubbish. I know. I’ve tried…

PS If anyone can give me a logical and justified reason for putting the clocks back I’ll be eternally grateful. Someone tells me it’s so farmers can get up earlier to milk the cows and builders can do likewise to lay the bricks. Well I’m not sure about bricks but I do know that cows can’t tell the time so it’s all a huge mystery to me…

Alf Alderson
http://www.alfalderson.co.uk
Multi-award-winning freelance journalist and author of Surf UK - the definitive guide to surfing in Britain.