The story of how I got to this beach is unusual in itself. I was in West Cork yesterday in stormy conditions. After a very windy walk along the edge of some cliffs I came upon a cove where there was a stony beach, which could only be reached by way of some steep concrete steps and at the end, a descent via a rope attached to a cliff face. You come to a point when the steps peter out and the descent is along a steep cliff edge. To get down, you have to go down backwards into the unknown, holding the rope and searching for footholds and handholds. With about four stones weight on my back, between my camera bag and my tripod, and wearing wellington boots, I must confess I wondered if it was worth it. It was stormy. I was alone. Mobile phone coverage was patchy. If I got trapped on that beach with the tide coming in, nobody would be able to find me. It was a genuine decision whether to risk it. But something told me that this was one of those watershed moments when you are empowered by getting beyond the obstacle. So I threw caution to the wind and risked my 56 year-old body by going over the edge even though I did not know whether I could make it down and back.
When I got down to the beach, the wind was so strong that it was whipping rubbish up into the air and whirling it in circles in front of the cliff. You could hear the plastic bottles and other objects banging off each other. The surf was pounding in, and I was soon soaked by extra high waves that caught me by surprise and flooded my wellies. I could feel the stones in the waves, whacking against my shins. But at that stage, I was committed and kept going. I spotted this fin of rock, which was unfortunately too far out in the surf to get as close as I would have liked. For once, I abandoned my tripod and increased the ISO to 800 in order to handhold the camera. I waited for a moment when the water was receding and ran out as far as I dared to take some handheld shots. then I ran back as the big waves came in. Salt spray was a major problem, as a southerly gale was blowing onshore. I had to clean the grad filter I was using every 30 seconds.
This went on for some time, until I got the shot I wanted. Am I mad? Almost certainly. Was it worth it? Definitely! What a rush! I wouldn't have missed it for the world. And you know what? I'm going back there. Wild horses wouldn't keep me away.
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