Annals Of Adventure: Bore Riding…

Alright, I’m on a bit of a surfing jag. But how it’s hard to resist when you come across a group that perfectly epitomizes the Wetass way of life. Meet the Severn Bore Riders, a group based on the Severn River in Gloucestershire, England that is dedicated to surfing the waves created on rivers by massive tidal flows. Here’s how one novice described the experience:

‘The first time Donny lured me into the Severn, the light was fading, the water was cold, the air was silent. I heard the roar long before I saw the wave, my body was shaking all over and my heart was pounding. The fresh water was pulling my feet from under me, as I struggled to hold myself up. Then I saw her…Three foot of solid, foaming, spewing whitewater, hurtling towards me, and I had nowhere to run now! It was all over in an instant. But it wasn’t long before I returned….1490 minutes later to be precise!’

Sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it? Even more interesting, bore riding is not a New Age sport, dreamed up by Gen Xers bored with surfing the ocean. The Boreriders site, one of the best I have ever come across, is chockablock with fascinating diaries, photos and histories. Check this little nugget out:

‘…At 10:30am on 21st July 1955, Colonel Churchill swam from the bank below Stonebench with his surf-board. There was a tide of 31ft 1in at Sharpness and as the fair-sized bore approached, the Colonel placed his board beneath him and began to swim upstream. Moments later the leading slope of the bore slid under him and he started planing forward…’ (As chronicled by F.W.Rowbotham, 1965)

Anyhow, you can explore the world’s best tidal bores, with reports, photos and links, through the site. You’ve got the Severn River, of course. And the Mascaret in the Gironde Estuary in France. And Turnagain Arm in the Holocene Fjord, Alaska. And of course, the granddaddy of them all, the famed Pororoca in the Amazon.

Yet another reason to get off my ass and learn how to surf…

Severn Boreriders: “Hey, Percy. Either we are all very short or our boards are very long…”