The local fish-n-chip shop // Photo Matthew Ellks
French accent unsurprisingly smelt of beer
and his small frame reminded me of a cross
somewhere between the great Napoléon
Bonaparte and Dudley Moore. He continued
to tell me that I have to negotiate about 10
metres worth of shallow coral heads after the
keyhole to make it to the channel. I could see
there was a sweeping sideways current and
that if I timed my entry right it wouldn’t be
long ‘til it swept me down the point and into
open seas. The whole set-up reminded me of
Jakes Point. I said my goodbyes to Robinson
Crusoe and bolted back to tell the guys the
joint was on.
“It’s pumping!” I blurted, informing the guys
of his instructions on how to paddle out. After
smearing my 30+ natural sun screen on I was
ready and couldn’t wait any longer for the
boys so I walked down ahead of them. Just
before I jumped into the keyhole I turned and
saw them moving at a snail’s pace, ambling
down the sandy beach like stragglers not
wanting to go to school.
It was high tide so the current was backing
out with ease. I could see it was going to be
fairly easy to negotiate the narrow passage. I
thought I might as well show them the way so
I lunged in on the back of the next swell and
started guiding myself down the long corridor.
I got bumped and tossed and turned a bit but
overall it wasn’t too bad and I made it to the
safety of the channel with relative ease. I felt
unreal, the water was so refreshing and I was
looking forward to surfing with my mates in
some decent waves.
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