At first sight this appears a rather uninspiring view. A dark grey sky, restless grey waters, grey stonework filling the screen, and little of joyful movement to be found. However, early this morning I began watching this, I filled the screen with it as background while I did other things, and became taken by the sea, the restless, ever moving sea.
There is something relaxing about watching waves build up and heave themselves over the breakwater, or is this a sea wall? The incoming tide carries great weight and as many know erodes vast areas of coast line in the UK. The Norfolk coast on the east of England has for many years seen villages and even towns disappear under the sea. Heavy tides in winter can crash across the beach removing vast tons to distant parts never to be seen again. Dunwich famously is now a mere collection of debris where once a town stood. The sea now covers several hundred yards of what once was a busy, bustling town. On the west coast of Ireland the half circle remains of a Neolithic settlement can be seen. Originally this was a round defensive wall, not far from the edge of the cliff. These cliffs are not the soft east of England shores but hard rock with a cliff now quite high. The strength of the Atlantic waves can be seen among the ruined settlement where large stones, many tons in weight lie scattered around. These once formed the cliff, now they have been hurled high up and onto the clifftop. It is no wonder the people moved inland!
That said, the sight of waves gently or as this morning, with a somewhat rougher edge was still a pleasure. The waves splash along the wall, every so often building up until first, at the lighthouse end, they crash across the wall, and then much more powerfully, crash over the wall, reaching even to the further side. Such a sight is not unknown in most parts of the UK. In Arbroath, on Scotland's east coast, the football team ground is only a small road with away from the North Sea. Crashing waves are a danger during storms as they are known to come over the football ground wall and saturate anyone taking a corner kick at the time!
Considering how powerful waves can be, how much water there is between one land mass and another, and how difficult it is to create a raft that can cross such water, I am always amazed that man took to the water just to see what was 'over there.' They reckon (Note the use of the word 'they' to fill in when I do not know who) that five thousand years ago, and maybe more, men made a couple of dugout logs, attached to a sail, a craft that travelled across the Pacific ocean enabling them to reach places like Fiji and other far spread islands. What skill! What talent, what courage! This comes from that strange desire to look around the corner just to see what can be found. I think we all have that to some extent. But sailing such craft? Amazing. Just as in similar fashion we crossed from the British Isles to what is now Ireland. A hollowed out log probably, and an adventurous, possibly mad, young man or two. Maybe they were just trying to impress the women? But how many did not survive the experiment?
The camera is situated on the Porthcawl RNLI building looking in a south east direction along the southern coast of Wales. The RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) operates a small but lively lifeboat from breakwater. While a lifeboat was arranged by wealthy locals in the 19th century the RNLI as we know it today has operated from here for some 50 years. In the past lifeboats were just large rowing boats, the operators local men who knew the sea, and knew the risks they were taking to save lives. In my view there can be few volunteer organisations more worthy than one where the operators, in spite of the training received today, understand that each time they leave shore they may not return.
Fast rubber boats, high skills, good training, yet in the past strong me rowed out into the roaring seas just to save people. Lifeboats developed, attempts to enable boats avoiding sinking grew, but in the end whatever safety feature is created it is the man in the boat that counts.
There is little to equal such an enterprise as this.
