Summer in the UK doesn’t mean an end to wavesailing or that you need to fly to find world class waves – if you are prepared to drive. The Isle of Lewis may be further north than most windsurfers have travelled in Britain, but that doesn’t stop the wind or swell. Buckle up as Timo Mullen and John Carter tell tale of their midsummer madness mission.

Words  Timo Mullen & John Carter //

Photos John Carter & Roy Davidson

WEDNESDAY 21 JUNE 2017

5 P.M.
JC: It’s the hottest, stillest day you can imagine at home on the Isle of Wight with the temperature soaring to well over 30 degrees. I had just been for an after school SUP session with my son and Sandown Bay was as glassy as I have ever seen it. So thoughts of windsurfing and road trips were pretty much completely off my mind. Just as I was contemplating an icy cold beer and firing up the barbeque, my phone rings…it’s Timo! “It looks on for Scotland at the weekend and it’s the longest day of the year!” Not to be drawn in too early I agreed to check the weather and call him back. To be honest the last thing I wanted to do was drive up to Scotland as it was my eldest son’s school prom on Saturday night, marking the end of his time at school and I kind of wanted to be there to see him off!

8 P.M.
JC: Looking at the forecast I decided Timo was clutching at straws! The swell looked very questionable, 1.8M at 9 seconds with moderate WSW winds, so I decided to give him the cold shoulder! No way was I going to endure 24 hours of driving and two and a half days on the road just to shoot Timo scoring his windsurf fix in waist high waves!

9 P.M.
JC: Oh Lordy, it is all change within an hour! The updated forecast has turned into a potential pot of gold with this rare summer low pressure all wound up to deliver 5M waves and 30 knots of WSW wind. I had no idea how that forecast had jacked up in the space of 60 minutes but even so I decided to bide my time and wait until another update in the morning.

THURSDAY

8 A.M.
TIMO: JC hadn’t seemed that keen on going to Lewis, he had been away from home for a long time this year already so hadn’t seen much of his family (real family, not the lads), so unless it was guaranteed firing conditions he wasn’t interested, so you can imagine how surprised I was to see a Skype message in the morning asking if we were going! Straight away I booked the ferry. I knew that if we decided to go then the one stumbling block would be the ferry or lack of ferry considering our tight schedule. Worst-case scenario we could cancel our reservation, but without a booking we would be going nowhere.

9 A.M.
JC: My ‘red phone’ bleeps, it’s a message from Timo to say he has booked a ferry to Lewis just in case we go; at this time of year they actually can be pretty busy with tourists! We will have to leave by 6 P.M. and drive through the night to catch the 10 A.M. ferry. A night in the van and a 650 mile drive ahead of us…sounds wonderful!

12 P.M.
JC: We still have not made a decision if it is a green light or not. Saturday is giving heavy rain just when the best conditions are set to hit. Procrastinating at forecasts is a speciality for Timo and I, so we decide to wait until 3 P.M. for the final call!

3 P.M.
JC: Just to confuse the matter, Timo launches a second plan to catch a ferry to Belfast and sail on the north coast of Ireland instead. Personally I have not been to Lewis for about five years so after a lukewarm green light from my wife, my vote is cast in favour of Scotland and I start packing for the road. I have to leave home within the hour!

6 P.M.
JC: I arrive in Southampton and load my camera equipment into Timo’s van. As we chat away Timo drives fifteen minutes back towards home in Poole before realizing we are going totally the wrong way…great start!

8 P.M.
JC: I receive a message from my wife, which starts with the words “Emergency, you may need to come straight home!” – it turns out my eldest son has had a disastrous haircut the afternoon before the prom and all hell has let loose! The stupid hairdresser has cut away the bulk of his fringe, which in ‘his terms’ amounts to nothing short of a catastrophe! All of his mates have long fringes with short sides, apparently that is the style these days. As it stands my son has punched a door and is refusing to go to the prom! Let us hope he calms down by the morning! Unable to help in any way we carry on driving headed north. I do seem to remember some pretty bad haircuts myself in the past and locking myself in my room for days on end!

FRIDAY

3:30 A.M.
JC: We cross into Scotland nine and a half hours into the journey! Both completely knackered already! I sometimes wonder if these road trips are all worth it but at least in the grand scheme of things we only have another few hundred miles to go!

4:30 A.M.
JC: Emergency kip on the roadside, both of us are too tired to drive, alarms are set for 5 A.M. !

8 A.M.
JC: We finally arrive at Ullapool ready for the final leg of the journey to Lewis. We collect tickets and stock up on food, all sugar free! Since January Timo has been on this ridiculous diet that involves no processed sugar but fair play, he has lost 12 kilos in the process!

10 A.M.
JC: All aboard, there is no going back now we are on the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry headed for Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. The Captain announces that our journey should take three and a half hours and that there is a stiff breeze outside. Time to sleep (after a greasy breakfast of course, sugar free!)

1:30 P.M.
JC: We arrive on Lewis and the temperature is 12 degrees; around 23 degrees less than it was back home two days ago! The wind is definitely not an issue, but as for waves we are not expecting anything big until Saturday! We decided to splash out fifty quid each on a room in the Royal Hotel, with another long drive on the return journey we need at least one decent night of sleep out of three! The island is the largest of the Outer Hebrides and boasts a population of around 18,500. Nothing seems to have changed since I was last here. Once you leave the main town of Stornoway, you cross an extensive barren peat coved plateau in the centre of the island before hitting the wild exposed coast on the north.

2:30 P.M.
JC: Our first port of call is Bragar, Timo’s favourite spot on the Island in a WSW wind. It is dead flat! We both knew the main swell was forecast for the Saturday but we were at least hoping for a taster session on the Friday. Our next option is Bru, a few miles back towards Stornoway. Bru is normally where you would go on a SW wind but with WSW, we will have to settle for side / side onshore.

3 P.M.
JC: On the bright side we hit a glorious initial hour of sunshine despite the tricky conditions. The tide soon sweeps in over the rocks and there is no shortage of wind with Timo well powered on a 4.2m. But the side shore wind is not quite what we came to Lewis for! We have something in the bag but we need Bragar to fire or we will be driving home disappointed! Timo smashes his face into his sail attempting a goiter but doesn’t seem too phased!

6 P.M.
JC: Just as we are packing up, we spot a soul windsurfer on the loch blasting around on some ancient slalom gear. ‘That must be Roy’ declares Timo, he is one of the two windsurfers on the island. We watch for a while as he battles with the violent gusts before he returns to shore battered and bruised from a few nasty wipeouts. The offer of some hot soup and a coffee is welcome and we spend an hour or two at his house talking story about the island and tales of windsurfing exploits over the years.

8 P.M.
JC: After another check at Bragar, which is still flat, it’s back to Bus Stops, the next break down from Bru for another battle with the elements. With thick cloud overhead, I’m not too motivated but know that Timo will want to clock up some more hours on the water. As Timo launches he gets nailed by the shore dump, which dutifully smashes his prized Severne Nano on the rocks; not a great start. I decide to hike out to the point with my camera gear just in case of a burst of sunshine but know there won’t be much cover if the heavens open.

9.15 P.M.
TIMO: Unlike JC, my criteria to get the job done is not sunshine, so I have no excuses to ignore logo/mast high side shore Bus Stops. Anywhere else in the world this is pumping but to diehard Lewis visitors like myself and JC this may as well be 2 foot slop! With an air of nonchalance I entered the water armed with my new Nano and my 4.5m Severne Blade, well Neptune was there to remind me that even a small North Atlantic swell takes no prisoners, the small 3ft shore dump absolutely savaged me, not once but for probably a solid 5 minutes. I’m talking probably the worst pummelling I’ve taken since the last time I admitted to the boys I bleached my hair! The funny thing was JC was oblivious to all this happening and later asked what took me so long to launch, I made some excuse about adjusting my footstraps! Anyway the conditions were pretty fun but more fun was the novelty that I was windsurfing at 11 P.M. in 100% daylight, an unreal and freaky experience! Most sane people were in bed, yet the Motley Crew were still hard at work!

11 P.M.
JC: It’s 11 P.M. and I’m huddled up against a rock in the driving rain cursing my predicament. The rain came from nowhere around 10 P.M., lashing down like no tomorrow and I had no choice but to hunch down next to a rock and sit it out. By this time I am cursing this place! Drenched to the bone, no real pictures to show for all our efforts. I am starting to think this trip is going to be an utter waste of time.

11.45 P.M.
JC: Bedraggled and soaked, we finally make it back to the hotel! I am literally down in the dumps. Timo is slightly chirpier and suggests we hit the bar for a beer! Since it is light outside we have lost all track of time only to find everything is closed. Back at the room, Timo’s MacBook Pro is having a hissy fit and fails to turn on. The computer has all of his work etc. on it, and Timo is not a happy bunny! Now we are both in the gutter. Surely tomorrow will make amends for this tough day at the office!

SATURDAY

4 A.M.
JC: I had a premonition that it could be a mistake accompanying the keenest windsurfer known to man on the longest day of the year! Timo’s alarm clangs away at 4 A.M. and peeling back the curtains reveals blue sky. ‘Let’s go’ he declares in a military tone of voice that I know I can’t argue with. He is a man on a mission even though we know our best slot for the day is on the outgoing tide after 8 A.M.

4:30 A.M.
JC: Down at Bragger our hopes are dashed! It is still dead flat. Well there are a few knee high ripples feathering on the reef but our illusions of mast high perfection are quashed. Timo is still keen to hit Bru for another bash at messy cross-shore conditions…I am not quite so motivated but there is no choice in the matter. I am starting to come to grips with the possibility this trip could be a potential disaster.

5 A.M.
JC: Timo hits the water for his third session of the trip and I head up the point to scratch out what pics I can from the mediocre conditions. Within fifteen minutes the heavens have opened again and this time I make a mad dash to the van for shelter. Five minutes later and Timo has also called it quits, conditions were difficult and with the onset of pouring rain the wind had dropped.

6 A.M.
JC: Back to bed to grab an hour or two of sleep! In front of us we possibly have a full day at the beach, followed by the 12 hour drive home, which is never as much fun as the outbound journey! Right now we are pretty much both quite low in morale! Timo’s computer is still dead as a Dodo, there is minimal swell and it is raining!

8 A.M.
JC: We decide to score our fifty pounds worth and tuck into a full Scottish ‘brekkie’ at the hotel, sugar free of course, so no baked beans!

10 A.M.
JC: We head back to Bragar and en-route we speculate the best possible outcome for the day. Timo reckons he would settle for waist high waves while I am a little more optimistic with shoulder high! There is a moment of anticipation as you arrive at the spot as the lane climbs up a hill before revealing your fate. Down below in the bay we can finally see swell lines and there is no doubt about it…it is on like Donkey Kong!

10:15 A.M.
JC: With military precision Timo drops me at one end of the bay and heads to the other side to rig and launch. The sets seem to be building by the minute and the sun is peaking through the clouds. This is my third trip to Lewis and already the day seems to be lining up to be one of the standouts in terms of waves! By 10:45 Timo has already nailed about five or six waves and I know he will be happy. On his second wave he nailed three huge aerials on a logo high peeling set. That one wave alone was probably enough to make the trip worth it. For the next hour and a half Timo clocks up countless waves before finally venturing in to change board. I decided to head back over to the other side of the bay to shoot from a different angle.

10:30 A.M.
TIMO: I’ve seen this scenario at Bragar so many times before, it is a reluctant beast to wake up, but it always seems to deliver the goods! Today was looking no different, although I have to admit even I was dubious when a mere 4 hours previous it was as flat as a pancake! Already as I was rigging up I could see that there was going to be some fun sections and it was sunny, just maybe our luck was turning! It was nuking so I rigged a 4.2m but was thinking 3.7m was probably best; as it is always a bit gusty at Bragar I went for the extra power of the 4.2 in case our sun and wave time may be limited.  As it turned out my setup was perfect, the waves were classic Bragar, super long and clean with as many sections as your legs could endure, which for me after my last 24 hours was not too many, I was pretty shattered after my first 50 waves!

12 P.M.
JC: Roy arrives to check out the action and I decide to deploy him as a second shooter while Timo once again sails alone in the firing conditions. All the while the swell is building with solid logo high and occasional mast high sets now marching into the bay.

12:30 P.M.
TIMO:  Severne had made me a new quad this year and when we designed it we had epic wave sailing breaks around the world in mind! Well in my mind these breaks were in Scotland and Ireland so I’ve been frothing to see if what looked good in a shaping bay looked just as good on the wave face. Now was my chance to find out, so I swapped boards to give my Mako Quad its Celtic christening. The conditions really stated to turn on, solid sets were now offloading on the point setting up for the biggest aerial sections and some full speed power hacks, yup this board was definitely at home in Lewis. I lost count of the number of waves I caught, maybe 60-70 waves, with nobody else on the water and heaps of wind I was literally catching waves every 2-3 minutes, contrast that to my previous two weeks in Mauritius where my wave count was every 20-30 minutes with a friendly kitesurfer for company on every wave! The downside, if there can be one, is that I was literally in pieces after a few hours. When you start to get tired and make mistakes then it is always best to stop and fortunately a massive bank of cloud gave me that excuse before I had to admit defeat!

1 P.M.
JC: Timo heads out once again, bang on low tide with the swell squeezing into the bay closing out right across the channel. One mistake here could potentially be nasty since there are all sorts of rips running out towards the rocks. By 2 P.M. even Timo has to call it a day after so many waves and wipeouts. Our ferry is booked for 8 P.M. but we both reckon we have scored the best of the day with the wind due to swing onshore. We mutually agree to go and try and catch an earlier 3:30 ferry from Stornoway. It is not often Timo or myself will leave wind and waves, but the clouds are rolling in and the physical toll has already been enough!

3:30 P.M.
JC: We make it onto the early ferry, both knackered from the previous two days of driving and time at the beach. So far this trip has been alcohol free but after such an amazing day we both treat ourselves to a small bottle of wine. Boy how things have changed since a wild night back in Wick at a nightclub on the first ever Motely Crew road trip back in 2002!

5:30 P.M.
JC: We arrive in Ullapool blown ahead of schedule by the high winds. The ‘sat-nav’ predicts we will be back in Southampton in a mere twelve hours, yippee! A text from my wife is accompanied by a picture of my son and one of his mates on his way to the prom. Ironically his mate has a long fringe and in my books is the one who doesn’t look so cool, but what do I know?

7 P.M.
JC: Just when you thought it was all over, Timo comes up with a plan to find a Loch to sail in. It is still windy and I know he will always be happy to claim another session. So we turn off at Aviemore on a detour to find a watersports centre. An hour later we scrabble back onto the motorway unable to find a decent launch spot. To be fair to Timo, some of the scenery in this part of Scotland is second to none and windsurfing in some of the Lochs we passed by would have made for some awesome pictures.

SUNDAY

12:30 A.M.
It is finally dark and now the toughest part of the journey lies ahead, driving home through the night after minimal sleep and two tough days on the water. At least in the end it was all worth it. I can’t imagine our mood if that swell had not delivered. Fair play to the likes of Windguru and Magicseaweed, who both were pretty much spot on with their swell forecasting down to the hour!

6:45 A.M.
JC: I make the first Red Jet Ferry of the day with 30 seconds to spare, right result!

7:45 A.M.
TIMO: Well if it doesn’t kill you it will certainly make you stronger! Whoever came up with that has never driven to Lewis and back in 60 hours with just 8 hours sleep! As always though with every trip to Lewis, I was returning with a very smug and contented smile on my face. If windsurfing was on a school report it would have read 10/10 for effort and achievement but behaviour and cleanliness could do better, attendance 100%!!

“ I lost count of the number of waves I caught, maybe 60-70 waves, with nobody else on the water. ”

 

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