Chasing the Dream Part I: Gold in the Celtic Lands

It started in Scotland.

Three storms blasted their way across the North Atlantic last week, first a one-two punch, then another late week. This was special because the UK and Ireland hasn’t had back-to-back-to-back swells all winter. Not to mention clear skies, beautiful conditions, and a surf forecast that would make anyone chase this thing around.

And that was the thing last week: the chase. Long-period swell isn’t so good for beachbreaks. It needs a reef or a point to chop it all up and stop the closeouts.

View Live: Lahinch

This wave really can be a tale of two swell angles. From the north, there’s more of a wall to it. If arriving from the west, it’s going to offer up lengthy barrel time. And if the angle is right in the middle, then you get sort of a mix of both. Like here, during the second swell to filter through to Scotland’s stunning shoreline.

In the Scottish off season, Boydie spends his time on coaching retreats in the Maldives, especially around the Malé atolls. Which, if you squint, are like a warm water version of Scotland’s favourite wave.

At the top of Scotland, wave heights were forecast to be double-overhead from Sunday the 5th onwards along the beautiful Norse Shore. The swell peaked midday at 12.5 feet at 15 seconds, filling in from the WSW, with a light offshore wind. That’s the kind of combo that makes for back-to-back barrels in Thurso.

“Its been good to finally have a run of swell like this at home, we’ve had a slow season so far,” said Scottish champ Mark Boyd. “Everyone was chomping at the bit and lineups were fairly crowded, as you’d expect. Temperatures were unseasonably mild, too, which made full days in a wetsuit a bit easier.”

“One of my other passions is Highland dancing,” says Phoebe. “I have done it since I was wee. So it’s quite nice to have some of the different tartans on my board to remind me of it.”

Craig McLachlan. Scotland is more known for its barrels than airs, but there are those who like to challenge that theory.

Craig (pictured here) is the youngest surfer to win the Scottish open title. Craig went to school right next to this wave, so we think maybe those hours of mind surfing at lunch would have paid dividends. It didn’t stop there for the 17-year-old; in October last year, he became the first ever Scot to win a shortboard British title and is the reigning junior British champ.

“It was pumping,” said Phoebe Strachan, a regular in the lineup at Thurso, “but what made it even better was the craic in the lineup. Just me and my pals having a laugh and sharing sick waves. The chart looks good for the next wee while. Think I might have to come down with a sickness bug or something. It’s looking too good to miss.”

“I’m claiming it; one day I got 20 plus tubes,” says 17-year-old frother Craig McClachlan. “The swell’s been awesome. I’ve surfed from morning till dark everyday for the past week. I was lucky enough to get out for the full swell. Some super fun days for turns then some long drawn out barrels. The vibes were really good. No one was hassling and it felt like everyone was getting their waves.”

“It’s been a super fun couple of weeks,” added Iona McClachlan. “Some proper swells hitting with the odd, reasonably warm and sunny day, too. It’s been great getting in the water every day.”

Back in November, Iona McLachlan told us she really struggles committing in winter waves. After a slight pep talk from her peers, and a handy hint to stay a touch higher on this wave, here Iona is, in deepest February, fully committed.

Then the swell began drifting south, landing on the Atlantic coastline of Ireland. The Emerald Island’s been nonstop this winter, evidenced by all the traveling pro surfers who’ve holed up here: Russ Bierke, Mikey Wright, Lowey, Tom Butler, Sebastian Steudtner, Nathan Florence.

Conor Maguire’s mega barrel, though, was one of the standout moments of this swell. This wave was ten years in the making. “I didn’t think it was going to be as crazy as it was,” said Maguire. “I’ve been watching my friends push the limits out there and that’s made me want to hang up the tow board and focus solely on paddling a big barrel out there. It’s where the progression is going and I’ve had enough tow waves out there in my lifetime, so I’m happy to sacrifice a few days now and then.”

Conor Maguire on THAT mega paddle bomb.

Left, Taz Knight moved to Ireland from North Devon last year but he has history on the Emerald Isle. It’s why Mully stalwart Dylan Stott (middle) and Gearoid’s pops, Ray McDaid have been quick to embrace him. Oh it helps that he’ll send it on just about anything too. And will ride safety if needed.

Over the past few seasons, Gearoid McDaid has been pushing himself into bigger waves. He’s gone from taking a little look to hammering through fast, heavy walls of Irish gold.

“The last 7-10 days was probably one of the most intense few days of surfing back-to-back I’ve ever had,” said Gearoid McDaid.

“I think we surfed four days in a row which doesn’t happen too often. A lot of the time the tides don’t line up with charts but luckily this one did. I think we did three days of four hour paddle sessions at and then on the last day it got bigger than expected and we got to whip a couple on the ski — which was nice because I don’t think I could’ve paddled for much longer.

“Was pretty epic few days out there having the craic with all the lads and watching everyone get crazy waves. It’s pretty inspiring out there every time someone gets a sick one, it pushes me to want to go bigger and better. Looking forward to the next few swells to try push myself again out there.”

Cillian Ryan’s another who is putting in the hours at Ireland’s hell slab. Expect to see his name more season by season.

Once it wrapped up in Ireland, the swell moved on to hit Devon and Cornwall. But it was the second swell from the next storm, which filtered on Tuesday, when things really got cooking.

England’s first and only World Surf Reserve, Croyde, was pumping at low tide in the afternoon, while further west, it was a tale of two coasts. A solid W swell managed to wrap into both the north and south Cornish coastlines, the north bombing in the morning and the south lapping up all that energy as the wind swung offshore.

Not all the Cornish beachies were bombing closeouts. Some were kinder, let you in.

Lee Livingston snagged a beauty backhand barrel somewhere in Cornwall. “After working solidly for 28 months, I quit my job and decided to take a break,” said Lee. “Just so happens that Mother Nature was looking out for me on my first week of freedom.”

Croyde on Sunday. The wind picked up at low tide, which is exactly when you wouldn’t want that to happen, given low tide Croyde is the magic hour.

Laura Crane surfed England’s big wave the Cribbar on Tuesday, the first woman to do so. “We saw this swell coming and a couple of people were talking about the Cribbar,” said Laura. “Seth Woolley called my bro, saying they’re going out . And we thought, “why not. Let’s go”. We drove down, left here at 5am and I was feeling pretty nervous. I don’t want to get down there, paddle out, then if I am the only girl that’s ever done this, I really need to pull it through for the girls here. That thought inspired me to really paddle my heart out and give it everything I have.”

“We’ve been blessed with great waves of all sizes, something for everyone to get stoked off of,” said Falmouth’s Sophie Bennett, who surfed both coasts. “Post-work surfs are finally back, with some unreal sunsets, and we had some leaping dolphins.”

“The waves were really good for carving, super clean and glassy,” said St Ives grom Teddy Nichols, who surfed right out front his house. “Really friendly vibe in the water, everyone sharing waves. The waves are meant to be perfect all week, so I’m going to get in every day. I only live two minutes up the hill.”

When the wind is good for the north coast of Cornwall in the morning and then the south coast in the afternoon, you can get between both in about 10 minutes. Which is exactly what Sophie Bennett did.

That’s somewhere to hang your laundry…

Faces of the swell. Top left: Sam Pontin recently moved to the area. “Didn’t fancy drowning at the heavier beachie down the road,” he said. Top right: Teddy Nichols. “Waves were really super clean and glassy. I only live two minutes up the hill so going to be getting in all week.” Bottom left: Simon Barbour. “I came down for the swell from Forest Row, sleeping in the car. Waves looking fun, got to get in!” Bottom right: Jake Easton. “Dad had to carry on working but I wasn’t going to miss out on this swell.”

Three miles of beach, pretty much empty. The water was sparse. Gwithian, in West Cornwall, was a little over juiced as the long period swell hit. Still, it is rare to see the beach with no one around.

You know it’s cooking when everyone stops they’re pre-session prep to watch the next set.

Tom Noon under the moon. A caption that was begging for this shot to one day line up.

By Tuesday, the swell made its way up the English Channel to Dorset. Photographer Bella Bunce and partner Tom Baldwin had time to kill and managed to find a cruisy setup for the single-fin. Northern France thumped with surf, though, coupled with light offshores and super clean conditions. Photographer Romuald Pliquet couldn’t have asked for more.

“This week, the waves were absolutely insane,” he says. “All spots worked for all levels. The 16 second long period swell with offshore winds made for awesome conditions. Waves up to 8 feet for the major spots and a good swell direction. After all the windy conditions during this winter, this was like a gift for all surfers — and the cherry on cake, the wonderful light at sunset. Just perfect.”

“We didn’t have a knife in the van to cut our post-surf baguette,” said photographer Bella Bunce, about this post-surf sarnie in Dorset. “So we used Tom’s fin to cut the bread and spread the cheese — worked quite well.”

The World Surfing Reserve in North Devon stretches 19 miles, Croyde is a crowd favourite.

While most people headed to the north coast for swell three, Jake Sage went to an entire different area. The rewards? Kinda empty, kinda firing and a beautiful azure canvas on which to dance.

From this weekend as swell three hit. Pete Geall, a well-known barrel hound in these parts of the world. Here he is taking on some further research.

At this size, it’s tricky out there. The rips are strong, the current fast. Northern France, empty. Which is also one of the six Celtic nations.

You don’t see much from this corner of French coastline but yeah, there’s great setups away from Hossegor in the south west.

“A weekend warm-up, followed by a solid pulse of NATL juice mid-week treated Southwest UK’s surfers with a run of surf ranging from fun-size to big-wave testers this past week,” said UK forecaster Jamie Bateman. “The first swell came from a fast-moving system, which set up the first pulse of short-to-mid-period W/WNW swell building into exposed beaches in the Southwest UK and Scotland through Saturday, February 4th before slowly easing on Sunday, February 5th.”

“Saturday was decent with light, variable wind providing doable conditions. But Sunday was the money. The surf peaked in the double overhead range in Scotland, and there was still well-overhead surf in the Southwest UK. Once the wind switched offshore, it set up a day of excellent surf.

A lot of people see frost in England and think ‘nah’. But what you miss is some peace at first light.

You can find many sticker-bombed signs across Cornwall. Sometimes, it’s a trip down memory lane from surf brands past and present.

“Through the weekend a second, more powerful storm moved off the coast of Nova Scotia, setting up a series of mid-to-long-period W/WNW swells moving to Southwest UK’s western exposures late Monday, peaking Tuesday, and slowly easing through Wednesday. At its peak this swell was too much for most exposed beaches further south, but the select beachbreaks and big-wave spots rolled to life with overhead surf, double-overhead sets, favourable offshore wind, and perfect conditions.

“Onshore wind took hold as the swell faded away Wednesday and Thursday, but there was still plenty of swell in the water at the more sheltered locations for those wanting more.”

Jacob Down from a gloomy morning in the England’s south west.

“The 3rd of our NATL swells pulsed over the weekend, Feb 11 and 12 — courtesy of a small but hurricane force low pressure system that moved off New England early last week. The system provided the east coast of the USA and the Caribbean with a decent shot of NE, N swell before it shifted on an ENE track to the south of Nova Scotia through Wed.

“That favourable track, towards the UK and Ireland set up a mid-period, W, WNW swell that began to filter in western extremes in Ireland and Cornwall through Saturday afternoon. The best exposed beaches saw 2-3ft overhead sets by sundown. The swell slowly faded through Sunday and Monday but with those offshores, albeit fairly breezy at exposed beaches, there were good conditions throughout.”

Storm three and Tom Butler was in town with old Nazare tow partner Sebastian Steudtner. But Ireland is Butler’s second home, he knows where to score, like here.