Trip Denmark 10/2004

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The first weeks of October were pretty quiet, but since the beginning of that week I hade a close daily look on the forcast sites, as a decent storm was aproaching. And Yes, Thursday was very windy in Hamburg which made me cancel as many business dates as possible. Late Friday morning I could start my truck and in the afternoon I anxiously entered the Klitmoller parking lot. Winds were forcated with force 7 to 8 from the south-southwest, which was the perfect direction for the musselreef. Rain had more or less stopped and temperatures were still fairly mild for that time of the year. I walked for a check and man, it was massiv! Waves easily mast high and the few guys who were out used very small sails. Too bad that the waves were not very organized and even from the beach You could see the strong currents. I decided to watch it for a while. The brave sailors had a hard time going out through the inside currents and not to get swallowed by the the huge waves and the boiling whitewater. I watched it for a little longer and than decided to be a pussy and not go out. I rather wanted to check fish factory in the hope of some surfable waves.

The fascinating nordic scenery of rolling dunes covered with moss and dunegrass rapidly changed as I entered Hanstholm. Itīs allways a bit of a shock when that pristine nature suddenly ends and You enter the – gently said - very rational town and harbour area. But thatīs the price one has to pay wanting to savour those very good Hanstholm breaks. Fish factory has usually very nice waves with westerly winds. With a storm blowing from southerly directions the south swell is strong enough to make it all around the harbour and itīs piers and when it comes to shore it meets an offshore wind. So it was that day and when I drove past the factories and the ever stinking fish factory I could allready see well formed lines and spray that was definitely blown into the right direction. Two guys were just paddeling out and I was ready to grab my wetsuit as some old history came into my mind. The last time that I was surfing there I payed with a solid, four weeks lasting throat infection for my session. And the smell in the air was just as bad as it was that time. Itīs the end of the season, so I considered going out anyway, but the forcast for the following two days was really promissing, so I decided to be a pussy again and made the spectator one more time. The two surfers out had a hard time to find the right possition to really make something out of the promising looking but fast closing lines, so I didnīt feel two bad about my decission. I watched for a while and with sunset drove to Norre Vorupor. In the last light I checked the waves and promised to get up very early the next morning. A couple of beers helped me to fall asleep early despite the noise made by the now pouring rain on the roof of my van.

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