Scotland

7AM: the light was already inside my tent.

I jumped outside and rapidly the cold morning air filled my lungs. It was probably around 0 to 2 degree Celsius. I started moving my arms and kind of running on the beach to warm up. The day was beautiful, a nice sunrise was exploding in front of my eyes. The other boys woke up as well, we drunk a tea and ate a little. The surf was good so without asking questions, like Buddhist devotees who climb their mountain everyday to pray, we just grabbed our wet wetsuits, almost frosted over, and we put them on.
When you surf in these kinds of conditions you really have to control your body and your vital senses.

Putting a wet, almost frozen, wetsuit on at 07.30 AM when the air temperature is 2 degrees is a matter of zen, mental preparation and a deep and unconditional passion for surfing. The first day even though I was with two local, we probably underestimated how cold night gets and we didn’t prepare the fire. The second night a warm fire heated us up. All day long when we were out of water, we searched for wood everywhere. In places like the Outer Hebrides this is not an easy task. I think I saw only 3 or 4 tress on the entire island. The wind and the thousands of sheep don’t allow the growth of any plant… so you imagine looking for wood in those conditions…

 

I came back from this trip certain of one thing:

surfing and exploring in a cold place is definitely worth it. No matter how cold or how difficult is the adaptation, the outcome is unique!

Being alone in the water with perfect waves, walking around the hills alone with thousands of sheep around you is priceless.

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