Sweet Friday

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[Sweet Friday p2]

Friday 12th, 2007

I still canīt believe it. Maybe it was just a dream, caused by way too few surfing sessions in the past months.

Anyhow. On Monday the forecast showed a quite interesting scenario for the end of the week. Interesting? To be honest, a 10 foot swell from the northwest with a period of 9 seconds together with light offshore winds, is a sensational forecast for the North Sea! But it was still a long time ītill Friday. Avoid expecting too much. This wouldnīt be the first perfect medium range forecast that turns into nothing at the end of the week.

Tuesday the forecast still was good. Wednesday: still solid swell and offshore winds forecasted. I started to clear Friday from appointments. Thursday: forecast for the next day still 9 feet, at noon light winds from the northeast that even were supposed to turn east!!!! I prepared the van.

Friday morning I hit the road. At the border to Denmark the sun came out and the flags were hanging motionless from their poles. itīs been a very long time that I felt that nervous on the drive north. At the Ringkoebing Fjord the wind was a light breeze from the north. Checked the first jetty. The swell was there but the messed up sandbars didnīt create any good waves. I continued driving. Didnīt that flag that I just past point to the west? Finally, almost there. the last part of the dirt track I drove very slowly. Now, the last dune and......

I must have been driving the wrong way. This couldnīt be Denmark. Very solid swell rolled in, perfectly kept in form by the light offshore. Unbelievable tubes everywhere. During a set pause I finally recognized the well known little jetty with the usual entrance to the break. It was indeed the North Sea where I was. But to get out there you had to be very patient to avoid getting mowed down by the heavy closeouts (experts might have called them tubes...). The low autumn sun was putting a glistening light on this surreal szenery. Suddenly I recognized a longboarder far out. Frank was out there all alone and took some heavy beatings. Nothing for an old man like me. I prefered to take my camera for the moment, knowing that the swell would drop a bit later in the evening.

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