All in all it was a good day: No wind forecast, no waves neither, but their was waist to
shoulder high swell at Cryder where Jon Ford and I went to SUP. In the bright sun and near 70’s
air temps my drysuit had been put away, and I thought I’d try skipping my
leaking 5/3 and surf with a 3/2, plus a neoprene shirt and hood to insure
maximum comfort.
Not even close.
Fortunately/unfortunately I didn’t fall for a good ten
minutes after hitting the water.
My first dunking in the 52
degree Atlantic was alarming.
I was about five degrees warmer than Get Out Of The Water Immediately,
or in other words Conditions Were Great Except When I Fell.
Jon caught lots of good waves, and I rode half a dozen
winners plus a dozen not-so-bads. But the cold water was punishing with every
fall, and after an hour or so I paddled over to Jon to tell him that I thought
I’d wrap up the sesh after a few more waves. The first time I tried to say this I found my
lips didn’t work so well. So my
second attempt I changed the line to one more wave. Then when I tried to get back up standing and fell
three times in a row (my balance shot) I thought “I’m like one of those
hypothermic people who don’t realize they’re compromised” and decided to get my
chilled butt off the water whilst I could still fake clear-headedness.
Next time out I’ll be back in a semidry. Even my leaky eight year old 5/3 would
be better. But perhaps I’ll go
shopping for some proper new neoprene.
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