Beachy Head - Sunday 29th September

Another one of these glorious Indian summer days we have had this year encouraged Julie and I to Seaford beach. With both of us not feeling 100% well, this trip would have been a slog in miserable weather.
Unusually, this SESK meeting was made up of people I had never met before and it was good to see 7 new faces. Paul met us at the beach and helped carry down the boats but wasn’t paddling himself today, as he was also not 100%.

The forecast had varied from N/NE 2-3 veering S/SW 2-3 on one site to a straight N/NE 2-3, increasing 4 on another. The latter was probably the more accurate.

Leaving the beach at 12.00, we had a couple of hours against the tide to reach the Beachy Head lighthouse. There was a slight swell, pushed up a little by the wind but nothing that was going to cause any problems. The sunny weather continued and the beaches were busy with people catching the last days of summer, some even being brave enough to go swimming.

The cliffs were looking their best and for some it was their first time along this part of the coast.
It took the expected 2 hours to reach the Light. Placards in Eastbourne had been advertising this as the 100th anniversary of the Light with pleasure trips out to view it. Perhaps we were too early but we certainly had the area to ourselves.

The seas around the light house were messy as the swell broke on the lines of rocks that run seaward form here. The Ledge was clearly visible in the distance, a breaking line of surf from the beach to about 1 mile offshore.
We turned back to Birling Gap and spent a leisurely lunch, which Paul re-joined us for, in the sun just chatting and kicking ideas around for next year. The proximity of this beach to a coffee shop was probably the only excuse Paul needed to be there!
As the tide turned, the sea settled into a nice gentle swell for our return to Seaford. The sun still shone and the return trip was really quite a warm one. So warm for some, that as Julie and I landed we had help from 2 of our group swimming around.

Finishing just after 5.00 (as planned) it had been a good day and I look forward to meeting those who came with us again.
Paddlers on the day: Nigel & Julie Williams, Tony Sandry, Kevin Ball, Ian Webster, Tim Carter, Simon, Neil and Steve Clay