STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON!STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON!HEAVY-WATER SESSIONS ON THE ISLE OF WIGHTRoss Williams and Timo Mullen take on a pumping southwest swell at Compton Beach on the Isle of Wight, where the conditions may have slightly spiralled out of control. John Carter looks back on two days of proper heavy-water action.Words: John Carter Photos: John Carter and Peter Heather / PH Imagery.Click on any picture to enlarge and scroll through the gallery!DIALLED INJC: Unless youre permanently glued to weather maps and forecast models, some wave-sailing opportunities can easily slip through the net. Ill admit I hadnt really clocked the incoming southwest swell paired with south to southeast windsuntil a message pinged on my WhatsApp from Ross Williams, confidently suggesting that Compton Beach on the west side of the Isle of Wight could be firing on Thursday and Friday.A closer look at the charts suggested he might actually be onto something, although the setup was far from perfect: lightish winds, a long-period swell and the kind of gloomy, wet weather that can kill the wind and make conditions unpredictable. Not exactly the turquoise imagery Id recently been drooling over of Thomas Traversa and friends slaying the perfect points breaks In Cape Verde. Still, colour is a matter of perception and visual appeal is subjectiveat least thats what I kept telling myself.More likely, Compton was shaping up to deliver thick, brown waves under dark, rain-soaked skies: a long way from the turquoise point breaks of Cape Verde but potentially heavy with a different set of photographic opportunities. Game on!THURSDAY: THE BUILD-UPI headed west just after midday on Thursday, my trusty VW Polo was loaded to the brim with camera gearI was clearly optimistic. As my Polo happily trundled into Compton car park (It doesnt get out too much these days!), Ross was already there, in his truck, enjoying the luxury of warmth while giving the sea a long, thoughtful stare.The tide was low, but there were some solid, clean sets marching in under side-to-side offshore winds. Not bad at all. Ross, fresh from a winter largely spent running his caf rather than charging down wave faces, was the first to admit his water time had taken a hit. Still, today looked like the perfect invitation back and he seemed quietly up for the challenge.Conditions were deceptive. Light winds and a low tide turned the impact zone into a washing machine, making every attempt to get out back a test of patience and commitment. Once on a wave, though, Ross still had plenty of fire and determination, driving down the line with speed and power, eyes clearly scanning for aerial sections.Timing was everything and a bit of rustiness showed; a few misjudgements were punished swiftly and without mercy. Compton has never been big on forgiveness.But perseverance paid off. After two solid hours of graft, Ross came in smiling, having banked a handful of proper turns and a couple of airsexactly the kind of session that reminds you why you keep coming back.HEAVY FRIDAYBy the time I got home Thursday night, my phone was already buzzing. Timo had scored a late Kimmeridge session on the same swell and signed off his message with the immortal words: Compton tomorrow?The forecast had shifted slightly. Light south-westerlies and sunshine to start, rain moving in, then stronger south to south-east winds later. What really caught my eye, though, was the swell: building from 1.5m at 14 seconds to a rather more serious 2.6m at 17 seconds by afternoon. In my book, that has the potential to get spicy. Very spicy. In the midst of winter you sometimes have to just put your faith in the forecast. This one was giving us a tiny window of opportunity in the late afternoon when it would most likely be fading light and miserable weather. Would the wind swing to the SE or would the waves arriveswe really had no idea aside from trusting a few maps and graphs on all the forecast models. How they can be that accurate, who knows but sometimes you have to take a chanceright? Timo didnt need much persuasion. By 9pm his ferry was booked and he was officially all in. Still, nothing about this forecast was guaranteed. We needed the wind to fill in and swing, the swell to funnel neatly up the Channel, all lining up after a 1:40pm low tide. A lot of ingredients, one volatile recipe. Risky? Absolutely.Friday morning started exactly as promised. Sunshine gave way to a thick blanket of mizzle and low cloud as I headed westhardly photographer-friendly, but at least the forecast was behaving. Timo rolled off the ferry at Cowes at 1pm and by 1:30 he was pulling in beside me at Compton in driving rain. Ross, delayed by a school assembly (his daughter was star pupilsome moments you just cant misseven for potential epic windsurfing), wouldnt be joining us until after three.First glance: similar size to Thursday, but the tide was rock bottom and Compton on the push can go from polite to gnarly very quickly. Reports from Cornwall suggested things were already going nuclear, so we werent too worried about a lack of swell.PULLING THE TRIGGER!By 2:30pm Timo was rigged5.3 Duotone, trusty 106L Grip, otherwise known as the get out of jail cardand heading into the abyss. The waves were already detonating in the shallows, exploding onto the sandbar with proper intent. I wasnt convinced there was enough wind for him to escape the impact zone, but after a couple of heart-in-mouth moments he punched through the chaos and clawed his way upwind.Choosing his moment carefully, Timo soon dropped into a set wave, screaming down the line on a chocolate-mast-high wall. Glory beckonedbriefly. The wave was hollow, ugly and in absolutely no mood to be messed with. Any attempt at an aerial would have ended in a swift, humiliating beat-down. Sensibly, Timo straightened up as the wave avalanched behind him in a brown, angry mess.For the next 45 minutes, he danced on the edge of the impact zone. The swell had doubled since our arrival, and the power of the waves hitting the sandbar was heavy, relentless and deeply intimidating.Ross arrived around 3:15pm, wasted no time rigging, and charged straight into the chaos. By now the waves were even bigger and heavierbut just to keep things interesting, the wind had started to back off. Ross fought his way out, taking several full-force poundings along the way. Cold water, dropping wind and a high likelihood of broken gear made it very clear this was not the day for heroics.After a few more wavesand a few more reminders of who was in chargeboth Timo and Ross called it. Sometimes the smartest move is knowing when to walk away.By 4pm it was almost dark. The wind had nudged back onshore, rain lashed sideways again, and the brief window slammed shut. A short session, brutal conditions and plenty of dramaclassic Compton. One of those days that doesnt deliver the glory shots, but leaves you buzzing all the same.THE AFTERMATHWe rounded things off with a proper debrief in the Albion Hotel bar, perched right in front of the crashing surf in Freshwater Bay. Pints in hand, we replayed a few moments of the session debating whether any of those lips were actually hittable or whether they were simply suicidal gear destroying beasts. From the safety of the warm bar, the waves suddenly looked almost inviting. Winter windsurfing is always a challengeat least until the next time!The post STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON! appeared first on Windsurf Magazine Online.