As summer turned to autumn, the Isle of Wight’s surfers could only watch restlessly as the South West and North East coasts welcomed the season’s first swell.
Photographer: Peter Heather
While the island’s waves are notoriously inconsistent, it has points, reefs, and beaches, facing east and west, that can deliver excellent longboarding waves, playful peelers, and a fair share of barrel sections. Enough to sustain a thriving surf community riding all types of boards.
The charts showed the wind was turning offshore, and at last, it was the island’s turn to see the first swell of the season.
“See if I can remember how to surf again”, says Enzo Speight, island local, as I paddle out with him at a favourite point break.
Photographer: Peter Heather
The biting northerly gave a feeling like winter, but it was all smiles with this spot providing plenty of waves for the two of us. A playful introduction to the start of winter swells. We hope.
Photographer: Peter Heather
