7 on the Beach

[andybysea]

Thought id open the post,but Stooboy,Peterlee_paddler,Gsfgaz,and Minstrel took lot's of photo's which im sure will start to appear shortly,First of all thanks guy's for coming,good to put a face to a couple of names id not meet before,John and Gaz and his son Sean(a great lad and excellant flint finder)
We (Stoo,Gaz,Sean,Liam and myself)set off from my house around 6.30pm on the Friday,got down to the beach around 7pm set up our basha's etc, then went in search of drift wood(which thanks to the recent storms there was lots of) once the fire was going we got the food on and a little later the alcoholic beverage started to flow, and thanks to Liam and his Apache trading spirit,a few of us where a little worse for wear.The next day we where joined by Minstrel(John) and a short while later Peterlee paddler(tony)a brew or two later and a few hammock set up's later(will let John explain) myself,Gaz,Stoo,John,and Sean set off for a epic explore of the rugged coast line,only photo's will do this part justice,once back it was dinner,brew,more Alcohol,followed by Gaz starting off the singing,followed by Liam,and finally Johns take on a Rowan Attkinson classic!
Up this morning, everything packed and a brew up, we where joined by some sea kayaker's,who had some interesting tales to tell,then up the 500 Accent of pain(joke-ish)
and home,great weekend lots of laughs and great company will definately do it again,cheers all who came.

 

[Miyagi]

I have to say that this jaunt down the goat track to Andy's neck of the woods was the most chilled out weekend I've had in a long time.

Excellent weather, stunning scenery, great company and some of the funniest banter I've ever heard since the Orphanage.

Sleeping arrangements ranged from the basic to the five star.

Mine - a basic shellscrape in the sand with a low bivvy.
Stooboy - almost roughed it with a well arranged poncho set up.
Minstrel - very stylish hammock and tarp arrangement between rock outcrops.
Andybysea/Gsfgaz and Sean - made a Bedouin Village in the sand.
Peterlee Paddler - five star accomodation in a 20 year old microlight tent.

Stooboy, many thanks for the lift there and back and your generous helpings of bacardi mojito. Your help to folk on the way up the goat track was both impressive and unselfish. After meeting Treacle the hyper dog, you realise why it's best for us not to be on that track at the same time as him. Your Swiss army knife is also the first I've seen with the flip out "caravan awning" - that thing was huge!

Minstrel, I'll never forget your rendition/re-enactment of "I Love Bouncing" in the firelight, and with the amount of kit you lugged up the goat track you should consider a job as a Sherpa.

Andybysea, great company as always and to watch you on "tick watch" was hilarious. You live in a lovely area and thanks again for giving me the opportunity to enjoy it.

Gsfgaz, It was good to see you again Gaz - great laugh mate, but next time we need to take a kara-oke machine with us. Gaz also qualifies for the "Man the Hunter" Trophy for catching that pollack on Stooboy's fishing rod.

Sean, thanks for the lump of flint you gave me from the collection you found. That was a mountain you had to climb, a tough task with kit, well done fella.

Peterlee Paddler, the others did their "Tonight Matthew, I'm going to be Chris Bonnington!!" thing along the cliffs, and we got chatting. You're a great bloke with a heart of gold and a great laugh. Reminiscing about "Space Invaders" and GPO phoneboxes etc., was a real tonic. I think you hold the record for the largest bergan known to man and the downhill slalom record with said bergan on your arrival - after a long tab along the cliff tops.

Myself?, I was with a great bunch of folk, made new friends, had a great laugh, temporarily lost the use of my legs at one point and also provided an impromtu "Fire Diving" display at one point. Thanks Gaz for hauling me back out, despite Stooboy and Andy trying to kick me back in.

All in all a very funny and chilled out weekend. I enjoyed it and your company immensely.

Thanks each and every one of you,

Liam

 

[Shewie]

Good stuff lads, sounds like another cracker

Are you tick magnet again already Andy ?

Looking forward to seeing some pics, I'm intrigued about this hammock on the rocks.

 

[andybysea]

Rich i was doing a good turn,John came down a differant way through more heavy undergrowth,when he got down i noticed a tick on his leg,picked it off,and had it on my hand turned away and when i looked at my hand it was gone,so i did a strip on the beach to see if i could locate it ,never did fine it!,the hammock set up's where good,you'd have to see one to believe(using two drift wood planks and some wedge's made from pebbles and bits of wood),the other was between the two large rocks that Stoo bivi'd between last July.

 

[Minstrel]

First of all...thx Andy for organising the weekend. These things aren't simply thrown together at the last minute, they need messages backwards and forwards and coordination of everyone to make it a success..it was

Now to the trip! I'd hoped to join the gang on Friday evening but I started a new job in N Wales that week and wouldn't get away till 5pm; as it happened I made decent time and found my way to the parking spot by about 11pm. I was knacked so I slept in the motor - knowing the walk in was down a cliff helped with that decision too

The next morning I set off to find the way down and bumped into Stooboy and Gsfgaz so I no bother finding my way down. I know I mentioned the great organisation for the trip, well, that doesn't apply to me.. doh! I hadn't thought through what I'd need so I took everything...in fact 2 of everything - I got some bemused looks as I pulled into camp with a huge rucksack, water container and 20 litre cold box! (I did get some thanks later for the ketchup and butter though Note to self Either take tent or tarp and hammock...

When I arrived I walked into a very quiet camp..Miyagi, Sean (Gaz's son) and Andybysea were still out for the count after their first night heroics. Once they were up we didn't have long to wait till Tony (Peterlee Paddler) arrived and we were complete.

Gaz, Stoo, Andy, Miyagi and Sean.
The site is remote, rugged, beautiful, dynamic and brings you to life, The sea birds at the site and further down the coast are dazzling. This time of year they're busy nest building and sitting on eggs (I think).

Once we'd sorted breakfasts and got to know each other a bit we had a play with the hammock trying to find some solutions to the no-tree problem. We managed a straight-forward set-up between two tall outcrops on the beach and tried something I'd seen on the Tube where the hammock is slung between two posts, the tapes anchored to the ground - not too sure of the principle but we just about got it to work - trouble was you had to keep weight on it to keep the posts upright!! All good fun, I think Stooboy has some pics.

The afternoon was filled with a walk/scramble down the coast.

We covered some distance, managed a few hairy climbs and got to cliffs which were alive with sea birds. There were Cormorants, Gannets, Razorbill, Fulmar(I think), Herring Gulls, Dunlin, Oyster Catchers and Gaz spotted a Peregrine. Magical. I was in heaven. The sea was quite big, the birds in and out with fish showing it to be well stocked.

Gaz on top of the world.

It's a pity I don't have a decent camera yet to capture the bird life; i know there's some on the forum who would appreciate some better images - my pics are from my mobile Hopefully Gaz and Stoo will have some more images later.

Andy, Tony (Peterlee Paddler) and Liam (Miyagi)

That evening after getting the food sorted I got to join the party and passed a great night by the fire chewing the fat, laughing, drinking and singing... Gaz has a fine voice and a load of tunes. The drink dried up as the heavens opened so we called it a night at 2:30.

The only thing that needed to finish the 'story' is the walk out... Jeeze..loaded up with bonkers heavy sacks and facing 500 feet of very steep climb wasn't for the feint hearted but huffed and puffed in the brilliant May sunshine and made the top for the group photo (Gaz will be along with that)
As mentioned already...well done to Stoo and Tony for the extra effort they put in to get everyone up the hill.

Again, thanks to Andy for the invite and thanks to everyone for making it a super friendly meet. Let's not leave it too long till we get back again.

 

[stooboy]

Home sweet home, Bedouin shelters of andy, gaz and liams shell scrape/ underground labyrinth entrance and my poncho and pole setup

Liam and John on Breakfast

Andy doing a full monty on the beach, not sure what was more impressive, the thorough tick search or the number of layers of clothing he had on...

John and Sean Bouldering the hammock potential

Bushcraft Engineering

ta da

OF course john had trouble keeping the spot to himself

John went on with more even more impressive bushcraft engineering...

steady in

Then it was time to explore the coast line again in search of the lost beach and the cave with all the whiskey in it...

John aka spider man

Looking back towards camp

Some climbing involved

We all made it over the first hurdle and time for a quick breather

before another climbing attempt

with a little help

gaz made it to the very top

This was the end of the road, we couldn't make it round to the waterfall bay this time...

andy at the end of the road with St Abbs in the background

You might be able to make out Liam and Tony basking in the sun away way in the distance

Time to head back, John topping up on protein all the way on raw limpets, and stuffing his pockets for tea later on

Think we had been gone about 5-6hours, i was wondering if liam and tony had been concerned but apparently not

Gaz was able to land a pollock, not much eating in it but it was scoffed quite quickly along with some limpets

Then BEER oclock

Not so many sore heads on the Sunday

Id just finished telling john how it was a remote beach, and if he wanted to do two trips up the hill be safe enough leaving kit on the beach as "Nobody" else ever turns up here...

on q 3 sea kyakers turn up and have their lunch with us

Then time for the ascent

Nobody really wanted to go home as it was such a beautiful afternoon, we Andy took us on a tour of the local area near him, i think we where all very envious of the bushcraft paradise on his door step

was a really good weekend, got a lot in and had some great company and banter round the fire, i think ive caught the sun.

Thanks to andy, and the rest of the guys for making it a great weekend.

there are videos i need to upload of some of the "singing" round the fire!

 

[Gill]

Looks like a fantastic trip lads .

 

[andybysea]

John,Stoo great pic's far better than i can explain with word's.

 

[Shewie]

Cracking pics lads

Love the hammock although I'd have built it a bit higher up the beach I think

 

[Toddy]

I haven't slept on a beach in years.

That looks like a brilliant weekend

Thanks for sharing the photos

cheers,
M

 

[andybysea]

Rich the suspension hammock set up was a experiment,didnt use it,but we needed the rocks near the sea as anchor points.

 

[Miyagi]

Excellent fotos.

One of the best weekends I've had in ages.

Cheers,

Liam

 

[locum76]

good work lads.

 

[Everything Mac]

looks like a great weekend -I'm sorry I missed it.

Haven't spent a night on a beach before - I will have to do that at some point. - I love rock pooling and beach combing.

Andy

 

[andybysea]

Well Andy, im pretty sure my brother is up for a week in July around the 20th,he has been planning a beach foraging/id- ing course (he's a marine biologist)and a friend of his think he's a ecologist is also coming that week,nearer the time i was going to see if any fancied joining us, i did test the water earlier in the year,there will also be some snorkeling and fishing, if you want me to pm you nearer the time let me know.

 

[drewdunnrespect]

looks like a cracker of a weekend

 

[Barn Owl]

Looks fantastic.

 

[Sherwood]

Wonderful pics, thanks for sharing

 

[gsfgaz]

On the way doon ..

Andy's beach ,away doon there

refreshments time , sorry aboot the focus

up at first light , every body still sleeping...

catching the sunset

amazing hammock set up...

Sean down climbing

run quick...

a few beers roon the fire after a great day ...

Andy's backdoor ,, lucky man or what ...

a group pic

 

[David.s]

Looks like a fantastic trip you had guys, thanks for sharing the pics.