YOUR pal the Skipper has weathered many a storm in his time, but there’s still nothing like a decent bit of rough weather to blow the cobwebs away.

On a weekend like the last, waves pounding the shoreline from Liskeard to Land’s End, it can be a great thrill to feel the salt wind blowing through your hair and see the sea in all its majesty.

But if you consider the damage that same sea can do: tearing quoins from sea walls, smashing boats, and shifting entire beaches of sand in the course of just a few hours, trying to take on the waves is surely nothing but idiocy.

Perhaps not for one couple, spotted defying Storm Imogen as they walked their dog along the harbour front at Porthleven on Monday. They are reported to have been holidaymakers, but surely anyone who knows anything about that picturesque port has seen how the waves break over the Institute at the foot of the breakwater – regularly seen in national newspapers.

Ignorance is no defence in the face of the law, and the same can be said when taking on the forces of nature. If those two – or their dog – had been swept away, ‘I didn’t know’ would hardly have saved them from serious injury, or worse.

A prime example of this is the couple in Newquay who braved Neptune’s wrath while trying take a picture, with the woman suffering head injuries and a broken arm.

Respect the water isn’t a new message, but it bears repeating.