Tuesday, August 26, 2008

13 Seconds to get off Charton Bay

The August Bank Holiday weekend started off fine enough - and Ladram Bay proved a good launch site. A smooth sea, impressive stacks, light winds and sun. We made Charton Bay by 2pm


We knew that this was the best camp on our way to West Bay, in hind sight we should have continued but we opted for a lazy afternoon on the beach. Growing storm clouds and rain extinguished our fire and found a design fault in my bivvy bag. The outcome - a sleepless and soaking night. While the storm had passed by first light, it left a 'boat breaking' dumping surf in its wake.

We sat on the beach all morning waiting for a 'break in the break'. Eventually (by mid day) the period between large dumping sets had stretched to a respectable 13 seconds. Was this enough to launch the 4 kayaks or should we wait it out for another wet night on the pebbles?
In reality the launch was a piece of cake and we rode a 2 meter swell on to Lyme Regis and the sanctuary of the Cob.