Story time by @the_atlantic_walrus – “The synergy started at McDonalds where the two vans converged. Four of us, Blake, Brooke, Levi and Walrus. We didn’t all know one another well beforehand; Brooke brought the team together for the trip. Our hearts were aligned in hope of breaking the flat spell Cornwall was experiencing. We had 800 miles of ground to eat up from South Cornwall to North Scotland.”

“We arrived in the small Scottish bay the following day. Through the gate and along the lane to home for the next few days, overlooking several slab setups ideal for enjoying on a bodyboard. A stroll to Bagpipes stretched the legs and gave us the opportunity to visualise the conditions for the morning. Even after Brooke’s reminder, all three of us had forgotten to pack wellies and the coast path’s long grass kept our socks wet for the trip.””After a midnight curry and a few hours sleep it was time for our first session. Levi offered to surf check at 3am claiming “I’m a morning person. As soon as my eyes open I’m like ‘BING’!” Turns out we’d have to wake him up in the end. The wind had adjusted to blow lightly offshore and the swell had filled in. The rate of change in climatic conditions was impressive; there could be rain and cross-shore gusts, then half an hour later sunshine and calm offshores. This certainly simplified the daily routine which involved monitoring the surf whilst sipping Blake’s beautifully brewed cups of tea. When the conditions aligned, we’d make our way precariously along the cliff path bordering the bay for a session.”

“Bagpipes is not visible from the final part of the footpath, where a split in the cliff funnels across slippery boulders through a calm pool toward the reef. This entrance felt somewhat like that of a theatre, when the curtains part revealing the stage. And what a magnificent stage this was.””Brooke and Blake traded barrels, washing up the reef at the waves’ end. By this point of the ride, you can find yourself sliding on kelp rather than having any contact with water. In the first half of the session, Brooke achieved his intention of “hitting every ramp” producing inverts, backflips, ARS and air forwards. The second half was all about the barrels and Blake got a beauty. Levi and Walrus were screaming from the reef when he exited a bonus second section.”

“The next morning we bumped into an old friend and bodyboard filmmaker, Sam Buckle. You may remember his film, La Familia, from back in the day. He’s now monitoring orcas which frequent the area.”

“Dining out on a couple of evenings, we refuelled whilst chewing the fat over a couple of beers. We were tired at the days’ end however it was still difficult to get a full nights’ sleep with the limited hours of darkness between sunset at 12am and sunrise at 2:30am.”

“Our final day was immense. A marathon session at Bagpipes followed by some small slabby barrels at The Dump which Levi skilfully threaded. Walrus was even handed the board to dust off the cobwebs for a couple. We were leaving with satisfaction, a few reef scrapes and excitement for the next trip to repeat scoring slabby waves with a good crew.”

Film and edit: Chris Levi of Biskit Bodyboarding.