Good Morning Larnaca!
A sunrise SUP in Cyprus
Sun rising at Larnaca, October 2018.
THREE LESSONS I LEARNED IN CYPRUS:
Are you a morning person? Or maybe you’re more like me and press the snooze button half a dozen times before you get up? But on Saturday I awoke as my alarm went off at 05.00 and got up, dressed, and out of my hotel straight away. Why?
The previous day I had arrived in Larnaca, on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, for a one-night stopover on my way back home. I had my trusty Red Paddle Co 11’0 Sport iSUP with me and was planning an afternoon paddle at the beach. However, the weather forecast had been suggesting the possibility of a thunderstorm on Friday afternoon, and I didn’t want to take any chances. Out at sea, standing on a SUP board is probably not the best place to be when lightning strikes!
By the time I reached Larnaca, the possibility of a storm had passed, but it was quite windy. Nothing unmanageable, but I decided to leave my SUP expedition until the following day. I had a pleasant walk along the beach instead, a few beers at the beach bar, and an early evening meal.
Inspired by a post on Facebook by Hannah Louise Garber about an early-morning SUP at Puerto De Pollensa, in Spain, I decided that I should do a sunrise SUP. I’ve done many sunset SUPs; in fact, I love sunset SUP, but this would be my very first sunrise SUP.
So Saturday morning found me dragging myself out of bed at 05.00 and walking to the beach, a 30-minute walk which made me grateful for the wheels on my SUP rucksack! There was almost no one about. I passed a couple of shops that were just opening up, a few people out for an early morning run, and a couple of girls drinking beer, clearly on their way home from the previous night!
Pumping my board up in the dark, I spotted someone swimming in the sea, and a few more runners, one of whom stopped and did some of the board pumping for me. I’m not sure if he was doing it for his own exercise or whether it looked like I needed a hand!
It wasn’t the longest paddle I’ve ever done. In fact, at 0.6 miles in just under an hour, it was probably the shortest. And I certainly spent more time sitting down, relaxing and simply absorbing the peace and tranquillity around me, than I did standing. Sadly, there was some cloud on the horizon, so it wasn’t the most spectacular sunrise ever (at least that’s what I thought), although I was rewarded with a gentle pink sky to the east as I bobbed up and down on the sea.
I had to get back to my hotel for breakfast before heading to the airport for a mid-morning flight so it was time to get off the water. And guess what? Just as I was packing up, deflating and rolling my board, and putting it back into the bag, the sun broke through the cloud to reveal an incredibly beautiful sunrise! Sadly I didn’t have the time, nor the inclination, to get back on the water, but I had the opportunity to watch the sunrise from the water’s edge.
THREE LESSONS LEARNED:
It’s very worthwhile getting up early for a sunrise SUP
Always accept help from runners
Stay out on the water a little longer next time. Give the sun time to do its magic.
John McFadzean
