Friday 4th February and I knock off work early to go to Flinders. I arrive about 2.45 and it is grey and stormy but there seems quite a good swell out. I haven't been to Flinders for a surf before and it's a bit of a hike down through the pine trees, across a paddock and then down some winding steps to a black beach of rocks. Its very rural and I imagine it to be what surfing in Ireland would look like - green paddocks and black basalt cliffs with rain pelting down. I choose Big Left over Cyrills which is a bit further on to my right over a further stretch of rocks.
The paddle out to big left is not for the faint hearted. It's about 400 meters over black water and today its very grey ovderhead - it seems very sharky to me. About 5 mins in the rain gets heavier and lightning is striking so near you can see it. A surfer comes towards me saying he thinks the lightning is only 3-5kms away and he is getting out till it goes away. I think about it but decide to keep going. After what seems and age I get out the back where there are three other surfers. The waves coming through are big - 1.5 meters at least and heavy. I go over a couple and then get caught in between two big waves and get carried back some way. I paddlle back and sit for a while. I see a bloke take off and get wiped out. I decide to paddle in a bit and see if I can get onto something smaller or gentler. I get nothing for 10 mins - meanwhile the storm seems to be buidling and with it the waves. I decide to head in and try one last wave by paddling back out a bit more. I get set for a wave and start paddling but I can feel myself going to go over - I pull back and just drop off and decide thats it I'm out.
I paddle back thinking can you count this as a surf when you don't get a wave. I am going to count it on the basis of the effort I put in. It's a monster paddle back and the weather conditions don't help. I knew the weather was going to turn today because of the cyclone effects from up North but this has been incredible.
I'd like to try big left again as the setting is spectacular and perhaps I will after another 31 breaks are completed. And I can always do Cyrills, next store.
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