Going against the grain of forecast based windsurfing trips, Sylvain Demercastel casts plans aside and in an act of spontaneity takes a wrong turn but ends up exactly where he needed to be. Read on as Sylvain shares his story of an unexpected but memorable session in Asturias, NW Spain.
Words Sylvain Demercastel // Photos Planetblow Productions
Originally published within the November ’17 edition.
When it comes to travelling for action sports, ‘Road trips’ are part of our culture and vans a symbol of liberty. Offering the freedom to explore and the option of sleeping where you park they allow us to make last minute plans based on forecasts. I was desperate to windsurf and keen to get in the van and start a wind hunt. I wanted special conditions. I don’t like strong wind, I love waveriding and preferably no crowds. I kept having bad luck on my road trips recently though – rainy days and no wind. I went to Portugal, drove 15 hours, found onshore light wind and mushy waves. So after a while and a lot of disappointment, I decided to go back home. Frustrated and feeling like I was jinxed!
LEFT TURN
Somewhere on the way home, in the middle of Spain, I just decided to turn left towards the north coast. I was going to try a different plan, just get lost! It was too late to go to Galicia and I only had 2 more days left, so I felt like trying to see some new places. Maybe I’d find some small waves to surf or SUP; I’d already given up the idea of rigging a sail. The idea was really just to forget about the Internet forecast and get back into the spirit of the old days…when the journey was almost as important as the actual conditions you would find on arrival. When I got there, I had so many beaches to choose from. It was wild camping with very few people around, perfect, except for the weather – rainy, cold, even foggy! This trip was the worst ever. I went for a SUP session anyway, just to wash out the bad vibes from a disappointing destination. It was the beginning of June and it felt like a sad winter day and almost as cold. The good thing about Europe in June is the long days! Late sunsets and ever changing weather – you can see all seasons in a few hours. Sure enough the sun started to come out and a nice side offshore breeze began to pick up. It was light, but promising. I thought this would be a nice spot if only some real wind could show up. Not today I thought. So I went back to the van and prepared some food and coffee. Time to get some rest.
WIND OF CHANGE
I woke from my nap to the sweet noise of wind gusts. Not too strong but it doesn’t take much to get a windsurfer excited! As quickly as I could I threw my gear out of the van and rigged my trusty light wind combination – a 5.0 and 82 litre RRD Wave Cult. I was frothing but nervous the wind could drop as fast as it came. I walked towards the ocean with all the gear on my head. Only two or three surfers were in the water. They looked at me as if they had never saw a windsurfer. The Wind was ok, not planing but enough to allow some nice waveriding in small but fun surf. Being the only windsurfer in the water in a place I don’t know surrounded by a beautiful landscape makes it feel special even if the session is pretty short. It was only an hour but an intense hour. Getting wave after wave until the setting sun cooled the air and slowed down the thermally driven wind. It’s ok; the length of session wasn’t the point.
The most important thing is that I had the opportunity to hear again the sweet noise of the board in the water, experience the feeling of an aerial and best of all that none of this was expected. It was a good lesson, a reminder that whatever your plans are, even though we have these great Internet tools for forecasting, there is always another option. There is always the possibility of improvisation, adventure and reward. Make a left turn when you thought you would go straight. Never complain about the conditions…there is always a place where the wind starts blowing in the right direction, but to find it sometimes you have to forget your plans, embrace your wanderlust and get lost in the van!
“ There is always the possibility of improvisation, adventure and reward. ”
