Bantham surf, in a kayak!!

With the surf forecast showing a good Southwest swell, and off-shore winds, there was no doubt that there would be some waves on the south coast today. The only trouble was getting the tide times right. There was only one thing for it, a 5am start!!

One of the larger set waves of the session

So we rolled up at Bantham at 6.30, still in the dark. But the dawn was rapidly coming, and so were the number of cars! A dozen hard-core dawn mission surfers made the way out into the line up. Some for a quick 45min session before hitting work, other were there like me, surfing till the tide was too high.

Mmmm.... Werner foam-core paddles......

The surf was perfect, 3ft sets, with the odd larger set to catch you out, light off-shore winds to hold them up, and a soft light pressing through the grey clouds. The only worry I had was, "what this boat going to be like?" I'd not paddled the Valley Rush, or any other composite surf kayak, before and so it was going to be a bit of a jump in the deep end!

Desperately trying to make the drop in

The Rush however turned out to be a dream to paddle, fast, very maneuverable and surprisingly forgiving. I took a couple of late take offs, one on one of the bigger sets, I was sure I was going to go over the falls, but some how, with all my weight back and on my highest rail , I made the drop and fired off down the line in a state of shock!

One of the earlier waves of the day

I would like to try out the new bigger sized Rush, the Rush+. I just felt that the boat felt a little over loaded sometimes, even with only my 12stone in it.

Shredding the inside re-form on the way back to the beach

I also gave the Gopro camera another test. However it wasn't the greatest, unable to mount it on my helmet, helmet mounts are still on there way. So I strapped it to my Buoyancy aid shoulder strap. I captured a few good bit of footage, not many, but check them out below.

Bantham surf video, not the best but not too bad!