Videoreeks – Oli Adams en Micah Lester op zoek naar golven
Oli Adams hecht veel waarde aan zijn ochtendroutine, zodra hij wakker wordt zet hij de computer aan om de golfhoogtes te checken. Oli controleert de grafieken voor zeven plaatsen die verspreid zijn over de kustlijn van Groot-Brittannië en Ierland. Binnen dertig seconden heeft hij genoeg informatie om een beeld te schetsen van de golven bij alle bekende spots.
Onze collega’s van Surf Europe Mag hebben Oli Adams en Micah Lester op pad gestuurd om de beste golven in Groot-Brittannië te trotseren. Het volledige verslag kun je uiteraard op de website terug lezen maar hieronder hebben we alvast een paar fragmenten voor je geselecteerd. Bekijk natuurlijk ook even de eerste video uit deze webserie en houd de website in de gaten voor de nieuwe afleveringen.
I’ve built up an unhealthy obsession with the islands of Britain over the last eight years. I guess it all started probably by watching Coast on BB1 with their helicopter shots making my imagination run wild, and then later finding pictures on line, posted under fake names of mental empty line ups somewhere in Britain. I knew then that this was the life for me, I had to find these waves and I had to find more!
Soon after that I set off on my first mission. I was going to go on my own but I happened to bump into a grom from Newquay called Josh Hughes who at the time must have been about 15. He asked if he could jump on the trip, and since I thought it was probably safer to have someone to surf with if we did find a heavy wave so I said no worries and off we went.
There are hundreds of islands off the coast of Britain and getting to them is definitely where the real adventure starts…certainly that’s what we felt the first time we were on a ferry heading out to the unknown. On that trip we walked miles and miles of coastline – never knowing what was lurking behind each headline or bay. I don’t think there is any better feeling than the expectation of finding new waves in places hardly any surfers have been before. Its a feeling that keeps you coming back for more and one I’m still looking for constantly. After walking for two days, we ending up on a bit of coast that had a perfect flat reef and what seemed like four world class waves. I have to say that this sort of changed the course of my life. At the time I was competing full time on World tour and was spending most of the year chasing contests to some of the worst waves in the world. To find empty waves this good so close to home made me throw in the towel with competing. Instead I decide to focus my time and energy into finding new waves in Britain and Ireland, and work out and score waves I already knew about. On that first trip I caught the island bug!
