9 of us met at Dunbar Harbour and surveyed the moderate swell and RNLI flag fluttering/flapping straight out from the pole with some trepidation. Probably Lower end of F4 from NE.
“Over to you” said Graham ” with your local knowledge”
So we cautiously edged out of the harbour and sat in the shelter with just the swell. “Not for me” said novice Alison , wisely!
The rest of us headed out beyond the harbour wall & into the exposed sea beyond the skerries before turning round and heading back to shelter. ” How did that feel then?” “Ok” most agreed tho Claire was less sure. So we persuaded her to come with us as we headed down to Belhaven about 2.5km away. we managed to thread behind some skerries which gave shelter from the swell and we were soon at Belhaven . The surf here was about 1 foot high and some people enjoyed surfing through it and one person capsized in it but they were in waist deep water so it was OK.
Heading back was a bit more problematic as the tide had risen and our sheltered route behind the skerries was no longer available.
Everyone coped well with the 1m swell as the wind had dropped slightly . We only had one capsize and rescue which was dealt with smoothly by Bill.
Hopefully everyone felt a bit of a confidence boost coping with the less than ideal conditions and rescuing in rough water isn’t that difficult if you’ve practised it.
Thanks Alison for the lovely photos.we’ll get you further the next time!
Neil Black