Surfs up Dudes

We woke up today to rain pattering on the roof. Well, not so much pattering as hammering. The rain stopped after a couple of hours but the temperature had dropped and it was quite chilly. Eventually the sun made a brave effort to break through the clouds but failed miserably. We pottered about doing the necessary jobs us motorhomers have to do, emptying toilets, topping up the water and putting out the awning to protect us from the drizzle. We had some entertainment watching the entrants registering for the Intercontinental Rally. The organizers had four marquees set up on the beach, Registration, Medical, Technical and Stickers. It took an age for everybody to be processed and I took the opportunity to wander along smiling at everybody and blag a 2014 sticker for the motorhome. Eventually we prepared lunch and noticed that the sea was creating a bit of spray on the rocks at the far end of the beach. Suddenly people were rushing about frantically and when we went out to see what the disturbance was all about saw that two of the registration stations had been washed out. By now the waves were crashing onto the beach, some of them three metres high, maybe more. The guy who was parked in the spot we were in last year was washed out by one big wave! It was strange, there was no wind to speak of, no rain and yet the waves were really tall and powerful. I obviously took some photos but they don't really do justice to the scene.

 

A couple of hours later and the sea was relatively calm again. Yesterday it was like the proverbial mill pond and the change today was really impressive and, for those parked close to the beach, quite scary. One of the support vehicles (imagine an eight metre long converted horse box, about three and a half metres tall) was completely washed out by one massive wave. Five hours later and it's parked next to us and they are still drying out the contents and stripping down a generator full of sea water. We spoke to the campsite owner and she said she had never seen anything like it before.

This is a before and after of one of the registration stations-

10am,

3pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Obviously they had no trouble driving these two out despite being axle deep in what was the volley ball court.

 

After such excitement we obviously all had to retire to the bar to talk about it and compare "big wave" experiences. We also had a chat with some of the entrants in the rally who all seem completely unfazed by the thrills and probable spills the next fortnight has in store for them. They also seem completely relaxed about how they'll get from one waypoint to the next without zig-zagging all over the desert. Anyway, if you do follow the race via their website look out for our French pal No 235, who'll be sat astride 450cc of throbbing Yamaha and, probably, laughing his head off all the way to Dakar. http://www.intercontinentalrally.com/index.php?jazyk=en&odkaz=route

Now we're back home, we've had supper and we're hoping for a peaceful night weather wise although, in the dark and twenty five metres from the beach, it still sounds like surfs up!

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