On the drive up to Filey, early on Sunday morning the weather looked really promising. The sunrise was spectacular, lighting up the scenery to the point that if you had taken a photograph, people would say it was photo-shopped, the contrast and strength of the light was so strong. What also made for a pleasant journey were really quiet roads. So having arrived in Filey in plenty of time – we were due to meet at 9:30 for a 10:00 start, I got myself ready and waited for the others to arrive.
By 10:00 ‘ish we were ready and set off for Cayton Bay. No sooner we were on the water, the clouds came over and everything took on a dull look. Although the sea was fairly calm, Filey Brigg was interesting and having mistimed the waves over the rocks I took a bit of a bash in my boat. I was convinced I had put a hole in her, and that my rear compartment was slowly sinking! All the way to Cayton I kept stopping to feel the hull feeling for the hole.
Halfway up, three of us thought we would risk going inside the rocks by the cliffs, as there appeared to be a route through them. But as we ventured further into the gap, an exit point back to the sea was looking more and more unlikely. I had this distinct feeling that we would be turning around and back tracking our way out. Luckily, eventually we found a break in the rocks that allowed us back out to sea. You can see this on my GPS track. You can see where we suddenly wiggle our way, away from the cliffs.
On arriving at Cayton Bay, there was the occasional wave that was surf-able. I decided it was time to don my helmet, besides my head was getting cold at this point. As I was faffing putting my helmet on, Mike Robson who was no more than 10 meters away suddenly caught a smashing wave and disappeared off in the direction of the beach. Of course I was too late. I thought never mind there will be another along in a minute. There wasn’t.
As we arrived at the beach for our lunch it started to rain. The timing was excellent! However, the first thing I did was to check the hull of my boat. The only damage was a very tiny scratch on the keel strip. I felt so lucky.
After lunch was consumed in the rain, I had a quick surf to make up for missing out on “the wave” on our arrival. Then we set back off to Filey.
On the way back we passed a few seals. One was sat on a rock doing its utmost to keep its flippers out of the water. Every time a wave came it would arch its body desperately trying to keep its fins dry. As the tide was now on the way in, this wouldn't be for long.
Back at Filey Brigg, I took the chicken route around the rocks, rather than trying to go across them again. The swell certainly made for some very funny water around the Brigg.
Then we were back at Filey. Having changed and loaded up the car, it stopped raining and suddenly the sun decided to come out again. Amazing!
Then it was just a case of the long drive home...
Thanks to Mike Robson for organising.
Best Days paddling ever!
