No Surf Today

16.6C with lots of sunny sunshine. More cloud around than though the week. Easterly wind to 28 mph with gusts to 40 mph in the morning moderating to more of a breeze through the afternoon.

Apothecary7's day off.

About 10.30 am we went to Westport beach and had a long walk along the beach towards Machrihanish. When we started off there wasn't another soul on the whole of the beach. There were no waves at all today with the wind coming from the east. No surf. No surfers. Last weekend a surfer was washed out to see by the tide after becoming tired and suffering from cramp. Story below.

There were lots of Gannets diving offshore, and one or two Terns diving very close to the shore.
When we got back to the car park end of the beach there were a few people and one or two dogs.

Just for a change we went to try The Tin Roofed Diner out by the airport for lunch.

Later Apothecary7 was painting.

DMC-LX7 f/3.5 1/2000 sec. ISO-80 5mm (35mm focal length 24mm)

From the BBC website:
A surfer who was rescued after spending 32 hours in the sea has thanked the "heroes" who saved him.
Speaking from his hospital bed in Belfast, Matthew Bryce said he was grateful to be receiving treatment following his ordeal. The 22-year-old from Glasgow was picked up by a coastguard helicopter 13 miles off the Argyll coast on Monday night after going surfing on Sunday morning. He is now receiving treatment for the effects of hypothermia.

Mr Bryce was reported missing by his family after failing to return from a surfing trip on Sunday. He had last been seen at about 09:00 on Sunday in the St Catherine's area. He was believed to be heading to Westport Beach near Campbeltown but is understood to have set off from Machrihanish beach. (Note: He was photographed surfing off Westport beach). Police Scotland and the coastguard launched a large-scale search which eventually resulted in the surfer being spotted by a rescue helicopter at 19:30 on Monday, drifting 13 miles out to sea.

The coastguard said they believed Matthew Bryce's knowledge and wetsuit saved his life. Conditions in the Irish Sea were also "fairly benign" throughout Monday. Dawn Petrie, from the Belfast coastguard operations centre, said: "He'd been in the water for some 30 hours when the helicopter was delighted to spot him. "He was extremely lucky. "He was wearing the right equipment, had a very thick neoprene wetsuit on and did the right thing by staying with his surfboard. "That must have helped him to survive for so long."