Wild, wet and very windy

So the forecast said gale force winds and heavy rain, so I do what every photographer does and head to the beach. No? Just me then!

To be fair I had been promised 11ft waves but I must have read the forecast wrong as they weren't that. The water at Hell's Mouth was wild certainly but not to that height. And there were no surfers to photograph either.

I have recently bought a rain covering for the camera. It is designed to fit on one that has a much longer lens and also a flash gun, so there was a lot more plastic than I needed, but it seemed that it would work.

So undeterred I got to the beach, attached my new rain mac for the camera and headed for a walk. The rain wasn't heavy but it was being whipped by the wind and felt like needles on my face. There was a lot of spray coming from the sea and before long I was completely soaked. My waterproof boots aren't and neither are my waterproof trousers!

It was so wild and really dramatic but absolutely none of the photos came out which is really disappointing. The one above is of Criccieth a bit later on. The spray made it really misty and it was so windy it was impossible to keep the camera still, so I put it away and just revelled in the experience of being the sole person on a very wild beach in the middle of a storm!

Then I thought that I was already soaked I might as well do my 2 minute beach clean as I couldn't get any wetter! I now always carry a couple of plastic bags and some bbq tongs with me so I can do a clean wherever I am. Its amazing how much you can pick up in a short amount of time. I know my little effort isn't going to make a huge difference but it is so important that we all start to think about taking care of our wonderful coastline.

So I get back to the car park and start to disrobe. The wind is so strong the car is rocking and I am sitting there in little more than a t-shirt and towel and the bag I carefully packed full of spare clothes is sitting on the sofa at home. The car is like a sauna as I am trying so hard to dry my clothes. It doesn't work. There is little worse than putting wet feet into wet boots through wet trousers! I just hoped that no-one would come by as if they see a rocking car, all steamed up with a scantily clad passenger I think that they might jump to erroneous conclusions!

 

On the way back I briefly stopped at Llanbedrog. I had been here over the summer and it is a beautifully sheltered beach. I found that they have moved all the beach huts to the carpark for the winter, and I thought that this would make a nice colourful photograph. I have done very little to the colour here, the surrounding areas were as grey and dismal as they look!

But I didn't want to go home, still had a couple of hours of daylight left! So my final stop a squelch along the front at Criccieth, 

Had a very welcome and warming coffee at Cadwaladers so things seemed to be looking up, but when I went for a walk on the beach and the sea went over my wellies and I found I didn't have a square inch of dry cloth to wipe my camera lens with I decided enough was enough and time to go home for a long hot bath!


Lessons Learned: I have since been taught how to read the forecasts properly. Apparently the wind was too strong and in the wrong direction for high waves, but hopefully I will know better next time.
Take the darned bag with me next time!