Safetosea

One of the worst surfing Easters for years had me hightailing it alone down to our deep south chasing... something.

An area that can be sublime has one spot that makes a mockery of many surfers, me more than most. Both on Saturday and Sunday a total of maybe 5 hours in the water realised perhaps one wave I'd give a tick to, the rest, a physical comedy that I couldn't laugh about as I was blasted hither and thither by crumbling lips, sections that showed promise only to disappear, bad timing, age and infirmity. The kids love this spot.. called The Point, somewhere it missed the point when the reef and location conspired to get it not-quite-right.

As a panacea, my photographer mate Rod and I decided to shoot the sunset and check potentials for waves as the swell abated and the hope of groomed banks beckoned. Some hope was out there amongst the turmoil, though a light onshore made it a little hard to read.

Shooting away as the light dimmed, me with my little snapper and Rod with his enviable kit, I decided to concentrate on the shooter as he went about his business.

Rod is a gun, and makes his living shooting the coast, knows its every mood, nook and cranny, in the water and out. With a nickname that I won't repeat, but one that alludes to the amount of people he represents in paddling power and wave count, he can be a formidable presence in the lineup, while his conversation as we wait for waves can be obtuse in the extreme. Sunday evening, sitting in a somewhat confused sea, he was discussing cosmic string theory.

God love ya Rodney.

Yesterday was frustration city as I had to hightail it back to town for work, only to discover halfway there that I wasn't needed. Doubling back I found a nook on the coast with a wedging rip bowl with no one out. Very thick, with 6-10ft faces ( it felt bigger and looks way smaller) while battling a ridiculously strong rip I managed a fun session all by myself on Easter Monday.

I can't complain.

Pics: Rod x 2, My shot of what he shot, and the said bowl, not a set, but indicating both wind and nature of the wave. It started out the back where the lines are, not this inside section. I was crowded out by chinese tourists as I tried to take the shot. It's about 300 metres away and with no one out hard to show the size.
The tree... a woolly old casuarina taken as I wandered past.