Watch: Scotland // Freezing Cold Tubes
If you can get yourself beyond the second wave ridden - which admittedly is hard, what was old mate thinking? - then this is a hugely enjoyable clip.
Clean North Atlantic lines broaching tilted bedrock reefs, and brushed clean by a stiff, and no doubt brisk, offshore.
Great viewing.
Comments
Gahhhhh, you can have your cyclones, BRING THE COLD!! Dreaming about conditions like that recently.
Totally agreed Sprout (although no doubt colder than I think it is).
Nice waves and pretty nice surfing.
Having castle ruins to look at while waiting for sets would be something new!
So much rubber. So much fun. So few crowds.
Great to see they that despite the cold and tiny crew, too have drop ins
All that space and they still ran into each other haha
"what was old mate thinking?"
The best way to burn his mate the snake.
Hilarious but yeah, that looked deliberate to me. Maybe payback for snaking or a previous drop in, or maybe the inside guy just 'Oi'd' the wrong bloke, I've seen that happen before.
Even looks like 'old mate' lunged and tried to crash tackle him in the last frames. Would've been interesting to see what happened when they resurfaced.
The more I look at it, the more I think old mate on the shoulder didn't realise the guy inside had spun around and taken it.
When he did realise, it was too late, he was already dropping into it. However, rather than continue with the burn, old mate thought he could fade back left and let the guy on the inside have the right of way.
Yet the guy on the inside either didn't understand the sudden plan or didn't have the speed to get around him, so he also faded back left and they both went down in a pile.
That seems v. generous Stu.
Looks incredibly like the old classic Burleigh line- take off and fade old mate back into the pit.
But you might be right- probably not much peripheral vision with the twat caps on.
I'd like to give them both the benefit of the doubt, but I'm a fairly cynical type of person.
And I was actually referring to Burleigh (80's/90's era) about 'Oi"ing the wrong bloke. And it's there that I've seen very similar scenarios happen , especially the pit fading. Screaming obscenities at a Burleigh boy who was burning you never worked out for many visitors.
Stu could be right of course , but there's a moment before he fades back, where I'm sure he can see the guy below him and I think he could have quite easily just flicked off over the shoulder.
Also, there's nothing worse than one some cheeky prick who's been paddling up the inside all day and then has the audacity to hurl abuse when someone decides enough is enough.
Your last paragraph resonates so much. I see so much of this, either clueless or deliberate fwits who paddle inside all session and think they then have right of wave every farkin time just because they’ve paddled 5-10m further out.
.
Then when you do finally get jack of it and just drop in as there’s no way in farkin hell the next wave is theirs, they look at you screaming that you’ve burned THEM! Shits me.
One of my best surfing buddies does that ALL the time. Called him on it once and he seriously didn’t realise it, in fact didn’t accept it at all, and then his girlfriend says “yeah he does that to me too”.
Which sort of shut him up, but still think he doesn’t really accept it. He’s getting a bit of a reputation at a certain Bali wave we frequent. Again, just doesn’t realise he’s doing it. Can’t quite fathom it myself.
Otherwise he’s a gentle guy, just gets the froth happening and the blinkers go on.
Same, never sure if they really don't realise. The only time there seemed some recognition was at a land based Mentawai camp once they were running the days video of a day out front and there was wave after wave of him, after a few hoots he realised there was a stony silence from the rest of the room.
Exactly what I was thinking stu.
I was thinking the same Stu, haha didn't end as planned though!
That right has a real cold water Lances Right vibe about it
Locals or travelling surfers out there?
More what was old mate at 3:18 doing!!????? Paddlleeeeee hhaarrrrddderrrr!!
(easy to say when you're not wearing a diving wetsuit...)
looked way too crowded for me to don a 6/5/4 with gloves, booties and hood.
Only to get burned by old mate.
darn nice
Thurso is such an easy wave to surf aswell.
I spent a month up there on our way to surf iceland about 15 years ago. It was late Autumn, got a 6-8 foot north swell, which started onshore, but after returning to the Van after 3-4 pints at about 9pm, the wind turned offshore. with 2 more hours of light, I had to paddle out, just me.. so good... so cold... and so hung over when I came in.....
Late autumn, 9pm, two more hours of light ... think the drink and passing of time have clouded your memory
/
"Thurso dusk on 31 May is 11.16pm" - May isn't late autumn in the Northern Hemisphere mate
When you travel through those parts you realise how far north you are. Doesnt get dark till stupid o'clock and I remember waking in the van to blaring sunlight and looking at my watch and its like 3 or 4 am....so 9pm sounds like a good time for a Scottish late session!
Thats summer- isn't it flat in summer?
Only breaks in winter?
Some local confirm?
Does break in the summer, swell wraps around from the north Atlantic which doesn't stay quiet for long. Surf around the clock then if you're lucky. Far more chance of scoring in autumn/winter though which is when Torren Martyn an co hit it on a pretty poor day, swell but shit wind. After a session like that you need a warm fire and a dram rather than a freezing box van.
Surf til dark here in summer and you’ll struggle to make last drinks at the pub.
I grew up in Scotland doesnt get dark until really late in Summer.
Never in question, love a summer night surf. But bloke said at 9pm one late autumn evening he found himself with 2 more hours of daylight. Wouldn't happen that time of year, sunset is around 5pm in late autumn.
what was the water temp/how much rubber PS?
Whoops missed this whole discussion. Water temp was around 9 degrees from memory - also it was a sneaky north swell in Early September... was wearing a 5/6 with built in hood, no gloves and 5mm boots.
Was used to it as had just spent two years surfing ireland..
8 degree water today. A good 5/3 with all the extra's would keep you warm. coldest part is getting changed in the carpark!
Heading up there in May for a month. Can't wait. Scotland is one of the most beautiful countries I have visited.
Water is 8/9C, suits probably 4:3, 5:4. Wind is the killer, looked pretty good though.
Not for everyone but if you're used to cold water, the conditions and gear aren't a problem. Hard to adapt if used to warm water and more mature in years.
Put me out there in a 4/3 and I'd be dead in an hour.
haha you'd be right. After a paddle about and couple of kegs you'd be toasty.
That whole video was superb. "It's just the vibe".
Amazing wave. Went up there on a mission many northern winters ago - didn’t score that wave unfortunately. There are some other crackers nearby.
I dream of a day like that out there.
Few bombs unridden too!
Really enjoyed that.
Must be getting more mature as the lack of an off putting soundtrack was part of the Bliss.
haha I was there! Certain other waves smoked too.
And no, i didn't drop in.
Good to see you still getting all around those parts keeping the stoke alive and surfing all over, even with a family and kids.
I try. Lots of A+ waves at home, but Thurso, Gils, etc get the size. Orkney holding too.. It’s a nice drive up here. Family are good about it during the short season. Hope you’re getting in too..
Good to hear, i haven't traveled more than 30 minutes away in a few months so that means not within distance of other waves such as red bluff or gnar or gero spots..But some small peelers and ok winds this morning and maybe week, nothing for the chargers or rippers here, but good for me and my gardener who loves any size surf till around 5/6 foot these days (which in west oz is raw and heavy at jakes)...
To be honest playing more poker than surfing lately but winds have been howling onshore for weeks.maybe months...Anyway glad you are scoring.
Beautiful waves and looks, perhaps deceptively, to be a very straightforward affair. Would be unreal surfing with a castle in the foreground.
But the idea of surfing anywhere colder than Tasmania is so unappealing haha. After a summer in boardies and a rashie I'm thoroughly dreading everything about winter surfing here - from the cold and dark to the anticipation/let down/crowds of the points. A good reminder to book the ferry!
DanDanDan ever score that really long epic barrelling right point in Tassie?, i think you know it and i wont give away where or anything but keen to know if you've scored it? Looks fickle if it is where i think it is.
I reckon I know the one you're talking about - sandy but close to shore, as opposed the sandy one that is half way to NZ that everyone knows about. I've wasted hours of my life going to check it and never seen it properly line up in the way you'd hope it would, when I could have been at half a dozen other excellent waves that we're definitely breaking. I've seen a video of it at about 3 foot and running really well and everyone else seem to have a story of scoring it, but I've had no luck so far.
Ok sweet, thats the one..damn phantom waves that always seem to have some minor thing wrong with it so it doesn't happen..Def not worth a month or two month trip then to try and get it on.
Yeah, needs to be dead south, good size, and good sand. Thankfully a bunch of other fun waves turn on with that kind of swell, though you're easily wasting 90 minutes or more if you're checking the phantom.
Good to know..Would love to go, im not a great fisherman or trout fisherman but love fly fishing on occasion and know tassie has some impressive trout fishing and would give that a crack if i went there and the surf didnt turn out on a surf trip.
Not sure after the warmth up here i could handle 4/3 or 5/4steamer tho..Guess im being a pussy though, steamers these days are so good and flexy compared to 90's and earlier that no better time to go to cold surf areas...some empty lineups maybe.No shippies though not even on a lid.
I was out at Goats today in a 2mm Springy. Winter 5/3. Winter is our friend here as it stops heaps of people going surfing especially when it is freezing rain. Points are more crowded than ever though. Lots of other places to go if you know where to look and you are not pressed for time. Also Winter stops heaps of the Van Lyfe people as they find it too cold to sleep in their metal coffins.
thanks for the info..tropical places all seem too crowded these days especially indo..Good to know some places like tassie have good waves..Like the look of a certain left slab on east coast tassie, might be short but looks fun..Pretty sure that psycho martin bryant or whatever his name was lived near that east coast slab.
That was so good! What a setup. Imagine all the barrels the sentries in the castle (or is it a broch?) got to watch back in the day.
Have since learned it's not just some of my ancestry that comes from around there, but most of my Ms' family too... have to take the young one for a surf up that way, get the feeling of the land and sea that runs deep.
Vikings called it the South Land, cos it was for them.
So dreamy, have to get to Scotland and Ireland one day.