Dawn Patrol Hell.
Way back when we were at the first rung of grommetitude, back when we very first started surfing with a passion, we came across the concept of the dawn patrol for the first time.
You must realise that way back then, we were all on the dole, so the actual concept of 'getting up early' was a complete revelation to us all, let alone actually heading off to the beach at that time. We'd probably seen it in a magazine somewhere, this 'dawn patrol' scenario, and we were all fired up by the romance that those two words conjure, of glassy waves, offshore winds, and no one out.Why we thought this might be a reality after reading a magazine that never showed anything except liquid perfection and Reef girls is something else all together.We were grommet surfers, we weren't all cynical like that.
We talked about this idea, this getting up early and going surfing concept, and we decided it was a great idea, and that we were going to do it the very next day. As soon as our minds were made up, we started working on the details. Inevitably, a game of 'who-can-get-up-the-earliest' chicken ensued, with each of us trying to outdo the others in how early we could get out of bed.
' Ill see your 5am and raise you halfanhour.'
This went on, until we reached a compromise of meeting the next morning at 6am, and then we'd all head off to Bantham. Me, Craig, Bill, Rup, Dan 'letsgopaignton' Southcombe, Andrew, and , for his first ever surf, Matty P would be making up the intrepid group.We all headed off home to bed, and set our alarms, and tried to sleep.
Amazingly, we all managed to crawl out of our pits at the decided time, and met up at Craig's house; which seems to be the traditional meeting place for all our stupid plans. It was a beautiful morning, the sun was out, the sky was blue, birds were singing and there wasn't a breath of wind. We were excited. We loaded up the cars by throwing our sponges in the boot or strapping our sticks to the roof, and took off beachwards.
When we got to Bantham, we stopped in the posh house driveway, which is right opposite to the 'BANTHAM' sign. If you stand on the wall, and look over the hedge, you can see the break from there, without having to pay the extortionate parking fee the official carpark charges, just to see what's going on. The rich bloke who owns the house absolutely hates us, and it really annoys him when stop outside his posh house in our surfwagons and clamber over his property, but we were doleys, and he was loaded, so we got a kick out of it. Now, 10 years on, and we've all got jobs and we've got less excuse, but we still get a kick out of it, so we still do it. And anyway, it's a great view: why the hell should he claim it all f or himself? Right on.
That wonderful morning, we hurtled down the lane, and screeched to a noisy halt in rich blokes drive, ostentatiously blocking it off, and climbed on to his wall to have a look. It's no great surprise to you probably, but it was to us at the time, to find it was flat.
Very flat.
About the only thing the magazine story had got vaguely correct was the glass. The ocean was like a sheet mirror, reflecting that wonderful blue sky and the island, and leaving us open mouthed in disappointment. We didn’t know what to do with the energy we had built up from the previous night, when we had talking about how great it was going to be. so me and Ange attempted to burn off some of this energy by jumping over the opposite hedge and into a maize field. The maize was well over our heads, and so we got lost the second we went three rows in, but we had a happy few minutes working off our liveliness by legging it around like loonies. We got soaked in dew and covered in spiders webs in the process. We eventually found our way back to where we started, and climbed back over to the car, where the rest of the group were muttering to each other in a state of denial. All of us really didn't know what do to , so it being such a wonderful day, we decided to go on the beach anyway. maybe this flatness was just some weird optical illusion, or a hallucination brought on by being up so early. Maybe it was between sets. We headed on down.
If anything, it was flatter. I think II have never seen a flatter sea. It looked frozen, the water completely motionless. Even Paignton would have been bigger. We must have been in shock or something, because we went paddling as if to confirm to ourselves that there really was no surf. We were devastated. We discussed our options, and decided that the only thing we could do, was to go to Cornwall, and make up for the day in the surf that would surely be there.
Cornwall was flat too.
The next day, we started to learn how to forecast surf.
By Jon
