Kayak Surfing at Pease Bay (9/16/05)

Here in Edinburgh, it didn't take us long to find the first kayak club. I found the Edinburgh University Kayak Club at the Freshers Week Sport Fair and we went on our first outing with them two days later -- kayak surfing at Pease Bay. We met at the lockup (where the boats live) to say hello, load boats and pack gear into two minibusses and a trailer. I expected a short jaunt out to some place like Musselburgh on the Firth of Forth, with wimpy waves. Nope, we stopped at the big grocery in Cameron Toll and then drove for nearly an hour to reach Pease Bay on the North Sea itself. For you map geeks, try this location out for size. If you see the word "Cove, follow that little gray road down to the cove. That's where we went to play.

We drove down the bumpy old road and beheld (?) the sea of single wides and double wides surrounding the sea itself. The Pease Bay holiday community brought us all sorts of warm fuzzies from home. The boys got one bus for changing and the girls got the other. Borrowed gear is always fun to tug on, especially boy sizes around girl frames. Once suited up, we hauled the gear down to the beach. We had about eight boats to share amongst twenty people so people played in shifts. I started off taking pictures. After the camera died (battery only, I hope), I watched Lucas paddle out pretty far. My guess was that he (a) didn't realize how far out he had gotten and (b) wasn't having an easy time getting on the waves to get back into the beach. The boat he had picked was a bit on the wee side, more my size than his.

I decided to try my luck with the Necky Jive, the biggest pointy boat of the lot. My spray deck was in use by Lucas and I really didn't want one anyway. The waves were bigger than I'm used to seeing at NJ's beaches, so I wanted a feel for them before committing myself, especially in somebody else's pointy boat. The surf was easy to catch. I didn't have a spray skirt -- it was attached to Lucas' waist and I had my apprehensions anyway -- so by the time I reached the beach, the Jive was a solid anchor on the sand. Dumping the water out was a two person job or a one person hernia. I found another newbie to the club and we swapped out who surfed and who dragged the surfer out to the proper starting point. And so the ritual began. Dump, drag, whee!

After about two hours of play, a small storm took our sunlight away and it got cold pretty quickly. Actually, it wasn't all that warm to begin with, so it got colder. The sun makes a lot of difference. Lacking the proper warm fuzzies, I made a run for the changing busses.

The storm didn't last, but neither did the daylight, so most everybody followed us out to the busses. Once warm, we washed the gear in the nearby freshwater creek fire brigade style. Some of the club members started the grill by the beach and eventually we joined them for (over) grilled burgers and sausages. After the first round of burger briquets were consumed, the coals settled to the proper grilling temperature. The sausages came out better and better until round 2 of the burgers dripped enough grease to get the fire going strong.

Dusk was dog time at the beach. At least half a dozen dogs were out with their people. One of those lucky dogs feasted on greasy burger and sausage bits that had fallen through the grill. As the sun disappeared further from view, we huddled closer to the grill. Then somebody started a bigger fire nearby and we relocated to the warmer spot. The beer flowed more freely as did the river stories. Our list of suggested first Scotland whitewater trips included the Tay, the Spey and the Tweed.

Close to 9pm, they finally had enough of the cold beach and decided to relocate the party to somebody's flat. The timing was critical because the off licence shops closed at 10pm and more alcohol was needed. Lucas and I, being old people, decided that we would call it a night when we got back to town and leave the partying to the young folk. We piled back into minibusses and headed back to town. We beat the bus with the boats and wet kit, so we hung out a bit until it arrived. We said our goodnights and headed for the comfort of the pillows.