The Sea is Still There

I’m not sure when or how it started, but I remember that when my Grandparents lived in Budleigh Salterton, a gorgeous little village in Devon, that we would often take a drive to the seafront simply “to see if the sea was still there“.

It’s something that has stuck with me. Even before then I knew I loved the sea, I find it stunning. Not living with it on my doorstep (we’re about an hour away) I feel the need every now and again to just go and see it.  It has such power, such grace. It reflects whatever is going on around it. It is beautiful to watch in the sunshine and in the rain, when it is still and when it is rough.  I could spend hours just watching the waves. I wish I had the time – and I wish I could see it from my lounge window!

Being a fairly mild New Year’s Day we decided to go for ride – my husband asked where I wanted to go – to see the sea I said, of course.  So I took my F650GS (and he took his SV) to see the sea (via some fabulous Lincolnshire countryside roads). We went to Sutton on Sea, between Mablethorpe and Skegness, a small seaside village with traditional beach huts lining the promenade. It makes for a lovely walk on a better day – and when you’re not wearing motorbike gear. It was busier than I expected, lots of people just checking the sea was still there.

The sea was pretty rough and very brown – it was churning up the sand. You can kind of see in my quick iPhone snap. And despite getting rather damp on the way home I was so pleased we went.

The bike runs really nicely. This is the first long ride (I guess about 100 miles perhaps) I’ve done since I got the F650GS a few weeks ago.  The tall screen I got for Christmas is on it and makes a big difference. The height is just perfect for me – I know the factory lowered version with low seat is too close to the ground for many people, but it’s like it’s been made for me and my size. The 800cc engine doesn’t quite keep up with the 650 in our SV650S my husband rides, but it’s not far off and has plenty of power. It is so easy to ride at slow speeds in town, and is more than happy on Lincolnshire’s national speed limit roads.  More about the bike another time though (when I’ve taken some nice pics).

So my first day of getting outside went very well… and my second was also seaside related. I met my sister for an afternoon in Skegness.  A well known seaside resort, Skegness draws the crowds even out of season – although there weren’t any families with wind breaks making a day of it today.  And I didn’t see anyone swimming (no chance of surfing in Skegness!).  We found free parking and some lunch, and then walked along the sand.

We were blessed with a beautiful blue sky today, unlike yesterday, but the wind made the sea a little unsettled.  Others were at the seaside too – there was a family scattering flower petals into the waves in what appeared to be a moving tribute to someone, there were children and dogs running up and down the sand, there were couples walking hand in hand along the promenade, there were people sat relaxing on benches eating fish and chips out of the paper, and there were fishermen seeing what would bite.  I love how the sea is so many different things to different people. I hope all those people had a great day.  I hope that family scattering petals found it helpful.  And I hope the fishermen caught something.

Of course being a winter’s day at the seaside we went for the doughnut treat rather than ice cream – mmmm deep fried goodness.

I doubt I’ll get to see the sea tomorrow – I can’t really spend over two hours on the road for a third day in a row to satisfy my want, but hopefully it’ll only be a few weeks before I can breathe in the salty air again. At least I know for now that the sea is still there at Sutton on Sea and Skegness and can sleep easy!  I will absolutely be outside doing something, that is my New Year plan after all.  If the rest of 2012 is like the last couple of days then things are looking good.

I hope you’ve had a good 1st and 2nd day of the year and that you have so far managed to keep whatever resolutions you made without temptation. Let’s keep it up!