Changes at the Cape
During the marvelous month of May, the East Coast of Oz has been bathed in a seemingly never-ending run of swell, offshore wind, and sunshine.
This deluge of swell has also produced an inundation of images, clips, and even livestreams onto social media platforms as riders, filmers, and videographers compete to be the first to upload their coverage to the masses.
From an entertainment perspective, it was a boon to be able to watch hard-charging hombres and hombrettes getting shacked off their dial in all but real time.
However, what has happened to the cultural code that used to be so ingrained within the surfing and bodyboarding mindset, of an almost obsessive secrecy and desire to keep sessions and waves under wraps for fear of attracting crowds?
Is it still relevant, or are lineups and attitudes vastly different in the year 2021?
Ground Zero for both surf action and media content from this month's swell eminated from the break of a thousand names: Pikers Hole, De Niro’s, Cape Fear, Ours, Solander.
Shots and clips from the ledgey, backwashy, right-hander hit the socials the evening of each session, with a drip-feed of follow ups over the subsequent days.
In many ways, the Cape is the perfect metaphor for the changing culture around the surf experience. A secret spot kept under wraps for years in Australia’s most populous city, next a spot dominated by violence so that it could be exploited by a select few, and now the media darling for the disposal posts-for-likes mentality that social media has created.
In an effort to try to understand this evolution in attitudes we hunted down some significant characters within the Cape Solander story to see if we could flesh out how and why the attitudes are a’changing.
First up, Kurnell’s original hard-charging hellman and early Cape test pilot, bodyboarder Warren 'Wazza' Feinbier on the early days and how the secret of the Cape started to leak:
“I never told photogs where I was going. Most guys ring and make friends with photographer’s for their own benefits. Not me. Like Dave Ballard said once, “You charge Wazza because you love it and dont give a shit if you get a photo taken or not."
"I just kept my mouth shut and called places like the Cape, Rights, Lefts and Middles, or just Spot X. People begged me to know and my reply was, “Sorry can’t tell you".
"It most likely leaked from that footage in one of Strohy’s vid with the younger guys, Williams, Leon, Hall, and Lester burning out a car in the carpark and the reverse image pics of Cape that started coming out."
The Bra Boys would have caught onto it. Who really knows? But those stand up surfers have made it a fucking joke of a place now."
Waz in his signature white helmet - image taken from the film 'Holding On'
Des Govender, who owns and operates Cronulla institution Emerald Surf Surf Shop, is another long term local with some firm opinions on the changing scene:
“When I first started surfing around Cape Solander it was around 1994. I was hanging out with a few older guys, and without mobile phones, cameras, and social media the spot was kept pretty under wraps by the locals. It was old school rules like 'keep it to yourself' and 'don’t expose anywhere as it's not your spot to expose', and 'if you do you will get get beat up and never welcomed back again'."
"I think that mentality changed when there was a huge shift in guys chasing waves with a photograher and wanting that instant gratification on Instagram and Facebook. People even posting to their story before they surfed then wondering why the lineup got so crowded. I can’t believe how stupid some people are. You know who you are!"
"Instagram livestreaming makes me sick. Social media has it place in most peoples lives but wait a few days until the swell dies down before you post things. It only makes the lineup more crowded the next day amping everyone up!"
"I’m old school so I try and keep some waves between myself and a few mates! I think discretion is still important, but the younger guys with sponsors and social media pressure don’t give a fuck. Not everyone, but a lot don’t care."
"I think personally, jet skis can fuck off unless nobody in the lineup is paddling. Be respectful to the locals wherever you are, and social media is not the be all and end all”.
Pretty stern words from the O.G. crew, but what we would expect from those of the generation who knew the consequences of loose lips was a punch in the face and a more crowded line up?
As ol’ American poet Robert Frost once lamented: 'Nothing gold can stay' and despite the best efforts of the early locals to keep the Cape on the down low, a quality slabbing break on the doorstep of the most populated city in Australia couldn’t be kept quiet forever.
As a new millennium dawned, so did a new era for the Cape, an era characterised by possessive ownership backed up by physical violence and confrontation. This was the time of the Bra Boys and the re-christening of Wazza’s nameless Spot X to the domineering title of Ours.
Richie Vaculik was a member of the crew from across the bay who were soon monopolising the break. He's witnessed the way the lineup, and the attitude of those who surf there, has evolved over the last two decades.
How did the Maroubra crew first become aware of the waves at Cape Solander?
Yeah, staring across Botany Bay watching waves explode along that southern headland we always thought there might of been something surfable over there. Then we started hearing whispers of bodyboarders surfing a slab in that area. On a trip to WA in the early 2000’s we came across some footage and stills of the wave but it had been flipped into a left. But with the water colour and cliffs in the background it was enough for us to have a fair idea where it was.
So on the first swell when we got back home, myself and Mark Mathews went on a little search mission and Bob's ya uncle.
Can you give an insight into how the practice of heavily regulating the line up came about? Was it a conscious decision or did it evolve naturally?
Conscious decision for sure. The idea of having a slab close to home where local young surfers could get waves kinda drove it. The Island, Suctions, Indicators up the coast, were all heavily packed out with lids making it really hard to get good ones out there, and for young groms it was almost impossible, and we were always getting into blues with the crowds. Cape and Shark Island work on similar conditions, so when we started surfing it we were like, 'that can be theirs and this can be ours'.
Why were the Bra boys so militant in only allowing a select crew to surf it?
Maroubra has always been a very testosterone-charged environment, especially in the 90’s and coming into the 2000’s. Fighting has always been a part of life. So if we wanted to keep the break to just surfers there was no other way of going about it. It was a pretty wild time down at Maroubra then and all us boys were running with the ‘hated and proud’ and ’ride or collide’ mentality which fed into that militant approach.
Fearless in the MMA ring and also in the surf, Richie takes a brutal wipeout during the 2016 Cape Fear contest
When did the stranglehold over the lineup start to break down?
I’m not sure really...around 2019 maybe? Loads of crew from Cronulla were hitting it every swell by then, and they were pretty tight and friendly with the bodyboarding crew from that way.
I personally had gotten in a bit of trouble and been in and out the courts. And since first surfing Cape, had done a lot of travel with lids to waves in Tassie, South Oz, and WA, and made good friends with a lot of them. My mentality had definitely shifted from what it was when we first started surfing the place, and it was cool to see crew getting stoked surfing the wave whatever it was they were riding.
How do you feel when you see the way the line up operates today?
It’s good to see a heap of young groms from both our way and Cronulla way charging and getting sick ones out there, as well as guys who have been putting time in out there still pushing each other which produces some mental surfing.
It’s generally a pretty cool line up with a pretty wide range of crew out there. It can get a little chaotic and circus-like at times but that’s kinda the nature of the wave too.
What are your feelings on the practice of posting images, footage, and even livestreaming the action on social media on the same day of a swell?
It’s just they way it is these days. I kinda like seeing and hearing about shit as it goes down if I’m not there. Back in the day you would have to wait until the mags released the photos weeks after the session, but before digital and social media there was really no other option.
It makes it hard for people in the surf photography/video industry to keep shit exclusive and make money outta sessions, but you can’t stop change. It can also effect surfers trying to get coin off sponsors the way they used to, but on the flipside it’s also a steady and instant form of exposure for them.
So there you go. It seems that haters no longer gonna hate. So what has a little time, common ground, respect, and perspective morphed the Cape Solander lineup into now?
We hit up Ben Sawyer, one of the new crew of ‘Nulla core boogers for some insights into what it was like in the guts of the pack at the peak of the swell
What was the vibe like in the water?
Yeah pretty laid back I reckon. Heaps of people out there but no confrontation.
Do you think that livestreams and the quick uploading of footage contributed to the crowd factor?
Yes and no. On one side, anyone that surfs there knew it was going to be on, but on the other, some guys are more encouraged to go there because they see it on people’s Insta story.
If there was no coverage potential, do you think it would have been so crowded?
I don’t think it would have been so crowded, there were a few groms out there that were not really able to get waves but they have to learn somehow. Most of the people out there were good surfers.
Do you think that some spots like Pipe, The Island, Snapper, and now The Cape are so well known that crowds are just part of the deal because everyone knows when it’ll be on and it’ll be crowded no matter what?
Yeah, spots like those are cooked and it’s not getting any better but there are still spots were it’s uncrowded. I find now it’s all secret squirrel before Spot X is on down the coast and nobody says they’re going there, but when you rock up everyone is there!
So for the forseeable future, it seems that surfing at the Cape is going to mean not only navigating the drop and the backwash, but also the pressing mass of bodies in the takeoff zone. But this doesn’t mean that it has to be a confrontational dog eat dog environment. Indeed it seems that a positive crowd can actually enhance the surfing experience.
Brenden Newton says that was largely his experience while shooting photos during the last swell, and it came from the positive attitude of the majority of those in the water:
"Russ Bierke was probably the best guy out there on Saturday and he was also the nicest and kindest dude. He set the standard for how others were treating each other, I think."
"I’ve been out there with fucken sheep that perpetuate the poor treatment of boogers or whatever, but with Tim Bonython, Brad Whittaker, all the Cronulla bodyboarders, the vibe was incredible. The antithesis of the old Bra Boy bully shit."
Maybe crowded lineups can work if respect and stoke are valued over greed and domination?
Perhaps that’s the key then. There are very few secrets anymore, and the days of monopolising a spot through violence are done. With urban sprawl and population growth outside of cities exploding post-COVID, crowds aren’t going to diminish. Perhaps it’s incumbent on all of us when the numbers swell past a certain point to create a positive vibe in the lineup. To work together to create a stoking environment that leaves us all energised post-pits.
Perhaps that’s the lesson of the new Cape experience.
// DAN DOBBIN
Dan runs the unapologetically partisan website 'Infoamed', which presents as an inverse of the Instagram experience: Lots of considered words mixed with the odd photo.
Comments
Maybe only 10% of people who surf the Cape do so without a strong element of "look at me", get a hero photo hope or some sponsor pleasing intent. Many, if they came across a similar wave on some lonely spooky coast, by themselves, with no-one to see or ever know they caught anything, would not even paddle out. The circus they all face therefore comes with the territory of getting paid in either ego cash and maybe dollars and they know it.
RB strikes me mostly in the "purer" 10% but he has bills to pay as well and so makes an appearance.
I bet there are some ugly, rainy days, super late sessions, very early dawn sessions with no cameras that offer some opportunities for an empty peak at the Cape and many other slabs.
Wazza and Des are right.
Be interesting to hear if people's opinions change for other places like Tim's last video.
didn't watch a single frame of it from the last month.
couldn't give a fuck about a bunch of posers putting shit up on social.
Yep Freeo +1
i was one of the guys that kept it a secret. i haven't watched cape footage for years.
good to hear its mellowed but i have little respect for the guys that turned it into their own private studio. its a wankfest
interestingly over the years i've seen many individuals claim they surfed the joint. i never saw them there
The behaviour at each spot reflects the culture of the predominant crowd. Plenty of waves way, way better than Solander that aren’t a zoo cause they weren’t overtaken by crew from skuzzy drug fucked criminalised communities. Plenty of decent crew come out of neighbourhoods like that but it only takes a few select fuck sticks to set the tone.
The mindset towards custodianship of the wave mirrors the low self esteem, look at me vibe of the china plate in the microwave at 1pm on a Tuesday crew. They’re the same clowns who think the waves are a vehicle to drive their own personal infamy.
For contrast check out the crew who surf other epic Australian breaks without the need to turn it into a monument to their ego. That’s why you don’t see too many WA and SA chargers gurning towards Solander but the Solander heroes all too often take their shit show on the road.
Pretty much any given day will find someone in Australia getting throttling pits without having the need to broadcast their image into as many faces as possible. Instagram live feeds aren’t “the way it is now” unless you’re caught in a vortex of shit. Thank Christ for Solander to take the brunt of the rubbish.
epic Blowin
true words bud. old mate in the desert trucks through 30, 6ft pits a morning without even raising a smile while the video of turbo outrun is up before the jiz has even dribbled down the leg.
Spot on.
Not sure about WA, but there's a fair amount of the new gen on Eyre Peninsula putting their local epic surf spots all over Instagram.
I live 1000ks away so I'll probably never surf it anyway, but that's not the point. That was an excellent piece of journalism, getting a number of different views about the one place and seeing how they've changed over time. Well done.
Agree. Was a good read. Cheers Dandob. Even through in a bit of artistic style in the colour of the language.
"I think personally, jet skis can fuck off unless nobody in the lineup is paddling. Be respectful to the locals wherever you are, and social media is not the be all and end all”.
A sentiment I agree with. I would add though that being a local doesn't give you carte-blanche to behave like a fuckwit to visiting surfers who are acting in a respectful manner. I must confess a certain element of schadenfreude when spots where the locals have been happy to dish out violence and bullying behaviour to maintain dominance, eventually get overrun by the hoards.
I believe that respectful visitors who come into contact with entitled bullying locals should feel no compunction to keep their spot secret. In fact, much the opposite.
Here's a bit more schadenfreude for you.
&ab_channel=ZigfinOfficialSaw some really questionable footage of skis earlier this week at the cape too. :(
(IG -- didn't save)
...By behaving in a respectful manner at a secret localised spot I mean this:
Turn up alone, or if you have to only one other friend. Sit wide and let the locals catch their waves for the first hour or two, only ducking in to catch the small ones the locals don't want. Make friendly chit-chat. After two hours I reckon you're good to go to paddle out the back and expect a set wave or two, before retiring back to the original mode, unless invited to keep catching sets.
Of course this depends on the location and the quality of the waves. I wouldn't even bother paddling out at somewhere like North Point when it's pumping. That's a locals only situation where the locals have earned their position. Spots like that require months and years to get a foot-hold in the pecking order. However, if it's an average day, say with an onshore or something then I think my approach is appropriate.
Cool article, great to hear the different perspectives.
Have to agree with Blowin's sentiment above. Only takes one aggro to ruin the vibe for everyone.
Agree. One agro and a pack not game enough to tell them to pull their heads in.
Down at one of the meaner slabs at the bottom of WA, while safely watching from shore, it's only the boogs i've seen attempting to paddle into it. Never seen a surfer attempt it, largely because it would be near impossible to get under it. Would like to see the culprits above shoo the boogs away at this wave and try to surf it paddling in...if thats the way they do things.
Lids are saying that they are being picked on and victimized which in the pass out at Solander is true mostly from the bra boys and the reason why is because they witnessed 1st hand how they completely dominate and taken over shark island and they were not going to let it happen at Solander. Now the Braboys are pretty much disbanded body boarders will move in with their own brand of intimidation that they use on standup riders that try and surf the Island. Like surfers most body boarders are cool as and try to mix but there
are some very hard core big older body boarders more then using intimidation
tactics. Even to the point of deliberately dropping in on some very serious waves that can really do heavy damage at either of these surf locations.
Eventually it will all blow up as some surfers will of had enough and fight back or political correctness will come into play and we will all get along. Personally
I would like we all get along
Seemed like a chill lineup yesterday arvo. Couple of tows and half a dozen paddle-ins all taking turns. Plenty of quality waves and everyone knew everyone. Didn't seem like a pissing contest to me. Everyone else was pretty well surfed out by lunchtime. So yeah, pick your times.
You would have to have a death wish to paddle out and surf that joint, I'd guess about .0001% of the surfing population possesses the required skill and balls to have a crack. Still that probably equates to about 60-80 heroes.
Richie's interview perfectly shows how the Bra Boys, and pretty much anyone else who falls into a gang mentality, just matures about 10-20 years slower than everyone else.
It's Mabo Day tomorrow.
There's been more than 400 cases since Mabo that have confirmed it's authority.
As a beast of the Crown, the High Court is bound to Parliamentary Sovereignty. So therefore, it cannot discuss the source of [-o-] land rights. That source is Aboriginal sovereignty. Australia is a bi-jural country.
So all this talk of what is essentially white localism, is clearly ignorant delusion.
Yes, a good effort on the article. But given it's Reconciliation week, and the white localism underpinnings of the article, perhaps the article is a bit naive, at minimum.
That's some very historical perspective there.
With house prices the way they are on the Sydney beaches, the easy response to any localism nowadays is "not everyone is rich enough to afford a house on the northern beaches". Nothing a surfer hates more than being called rich.
But yours is even better.
Good article, Danbob, thank you. I agree with many comments above too.
In my opinion, even if the crowd is well behaved and whatnot, if it's crowded it's crowded.
I'd prefer the old school approach any day: just go surfing - get off the phone and stay off the phone.
And I reckon there's an article in Spuddups formula for respectful visiting surfer.....I think he's being a bit too respectful.
Depends on the spot aye. I mean at somewhere like Snapper pretty much anything goes. Paddling out at one of those isolated SA desert breaks on the other hand requires a completely different approach.
99 times out of 100 I find locals are very friendly and accommodating once you've shown some respect.
We have a number of high quality but rarely breaking semi secret spots round where I live. Anyone we don't know that paddles out gets a fair go so long as they don't act like fuckwits.
Totally agree, Spuddups. That's the key thing to me - don't act like a fuckwit.
I've travelled all over and rarely had a run-in. Was just up the coast recently during great trade swell and the local crew at a couple of very well known places were very accommodating as long as you get in line, go when it's your turn and have a yarn.
Down this way, we get a lot of bucket-listers but the travellers who are decent surfers generally slot right in. Unfortunately a lot of people - travellers and locals alike - think that it's OK to jump the queue and try and swing straight into a set wave after you paddle out.
Good article with a broad range of views. Increasing crowds are a fact of life pretty much everywhere. This has been happening at least since Gidget, with a few notable surges well before 'social' media took over. Monty Weber made the key links re surf industry (the big clothing crews) promotion 'for the good of surfing' in an excellent article in Tracks mag quite a while back. Sorry I don't have the link. My own personal experience, having surfed a lot of quiet, some then unknown, breaks since the late 60s was to 'keep it secret keep it safe', as much as possible - a lot easier then than now. I bailed from Sunny Coast more than a decade ago for quieter, cooler waters, having made firm friends on an extended surf trip back in the early 80s, and hence I'm a part, albeit small, of the problem. That shift helped for quite a while, with many quiet surfs for the endorphin boost, but the exact same phenomenon is happening here - mass promotion by a few self-interested parties and vested interests, including the councils. The past couple of years have seen a 'mass migration' of surfers here, and our village has turned from a rural retreat to a temperate version of Byron Bay, with crew moving from as far afield as South America, Europe and Japan. These days dummy-spits and fights (as per the Maroubra vibe above) are a common occurrence, but presumably it's all 'for the good of surfing'. At 65 now I'm still getting out there occasionally, but it's a lot harder to find a quiet lineup, where “In this crowded world, the surfer can still seek and find the perfect day, the perfect wave, and be alone with the surf and his thoughts" as SURFER founder John Severson wrote in that 1960 issue. 21st century reality bites.
Loved this article. Does anyone know where "piker" comes from? Macquarie Dictionary says the word is really old and has lots of meanings but they don't really fit with how I know it, and how it is used in this article. I remember a movie in the 70s with old footage of Bob Pike at Pipeline letting massive waves go by. My mates laughed but thinking back, those guys had no leg ropes, no lifesavers, and no crowds. Choosing your waves carefully would have been pretty wise. Does "piking", "piker" etc come from Bob Pike, possibly even that footage? Bit harsh if it does.
lots of interesting perspectives.
I'd like to think an old local called me into a nice set wave on the weekend because I followed the Spuddups method...
I can identify with Lindo, regarding seeing the “mass migration“ of surfers to the region l have lived for 40years. Many are young families fromEast and West seeking a quieter place with affordable housing prices and a great lifestyle with good surf. The other cohort are young surfers who again are escaping their overcrowded regions. The effect has been to overwhelm the once relatively quiet lineups. It has happened so quickly that the local residents have had to adapt to a new reality. All this is a culmination of a post COVID and a world fed by information technology, Facebook, Instagram and the obligatory Professionally made surf videos featuring our local spots. Like Limbo I’m in the same age bracket and have been witness to this turbo charged exposure. I certainly have no control of this wave of surf related mass migration and can only bear witness to it and adjust my own surf life which I have done and be greatful for the incredible surfing life I was gifted. Accepting the new world order of influx is the only way to retain my sanity. At 64 I have no desire to Chase those crowded locations and I find enough stoke in surfing waves that are good enough to get me in the water without the hordes. This is my personal surfing experience and my observations of the place I call home. I would now like review the previous experience that Surfers from our region faced a number of years ago when the WSL tried to bring the Big Wave World Competition to our community and the reaction against it which was an overwhelming NO. It was a defining moment in which our collective core values were able to clearly express to the WSL that Professional Surfing Competitions had no place in our West Coast Eyre Peninsula Surf culture. We knew that once thatGenie was out of the bottle there would be no going back. The West Coast Board riders released a statement that was basically a Manifesto of what Western Eyre Peninsula’s Brand was, Pristine waves in a desert environment free from the constraints of the mass commercialisation of surfing and a place akin to a great National Park where surfers are welcome to visit and enjoy.
Now there is a rumour that Ripcurl have approached the South Australian State Government for a Search Competition in the far West of Eyre Peninsula. I cannot confirm this but the people (Surfers)I have talked to seem to be sure this is the case. Ripcurl is now a Public Multinational Company whose core role is to make profit to overwhelmingly non surfing shareholders. The product is mainly Clothing sold to non surfers worldwide (middle aged men) Their original core market of catering product for Surfers disappeared when it was floated on the Sharemarket years ago. The spinoffs if such an event was to take place are clear. The raw beauty of the place and the waves become a backdrop to move product. A WSL competition held there reduces these once whispered about waves to a Scoreboard. Again I would advise Ripcurl to be ethical and interact with the Eyre Peninsula Surfing Community rather than make deals with Politicians in the back rooms of Government House.
Good luck keeping them out Middy.
it can be done, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Re my reply I would have been better to put it into a new forum specifically about the subject of a proposed professional Surfing Competition on Eyre Peninsula. My IT skills are limited so if anyone does respond could they open a new discussion related to it.
I was at what used to be a remote spot on the EP last xmas when a $ 120,000. Sahara rocked up with NSW plates with six pink boards on the roof and the 16 year old blonde driver with puffed up lips and false lashes looked down at me with a who the fuck are you look on her face and then got out and took 100 selfies holding her board with the pumping waves in the background. She then disappeared in a cloud of dust to do the same thing at the next spot. Enough said.
Thats hilarious^^^.
stalking's no joke
Fortunately that "influencer" will probably never take a wave of consequence off any of us. But her instagram shots might end up in thousands of feeds and could end up leading to packs of brazzos heading that way. So sort of funny and harmless but also not.
As someone that was there many times alone in the 90s, and someone that has been very vocal in my opinion on the place, i am happy to see things have changed.
I do find it interesting how it has been used as a private photo studio.
I have moved on elswhere and have other similarly heavy waves that are more difficult to photograph.
Not one person will come out those spots with me.
So is it all about the photo?
Anyway happy to see the vibe settle into a more gentlemanly vibe.
I wont be back. Had my fun mostly alone for 15 years. They can have it.
Ps wazza has found and pioneered so many secret heavy breaks up and down the east coast. You wouldnt believe the waves he has ridden.
Next time you are up on some cliff between malabar and eden and look at a gnarly barnacle cunji ledge. Chances are wazza has been pitted there wearing two wetsuits and a helmet. He is the only person besides my brother i can truly trust with a secret find.
Well said Dezzie !
I used to check this place in the 90's and 2000's on monster swells and a few of my old mates surfed it like Ox Mcinley and Gav Proctor but i always saw it as death. I was getting some of the best waves at shark island during that time on a good day so had no interest in cape, just good to watch when big.
The circus can have it. way better way longer tubes on the south coast and even shark island is 5 times longer barrel on the same conditions.i surfed shark island at hightide or lowtide, got many uncrowded surfs at lowtide and only get a few scratches even on a solid 10ft bomb i saw peak up at phantoms so paddled to second reef mid peak on an east swell and pulled into a narrowish tube at 2nd reef midpeak squaring out as it hit surge the wave went so square i couldnt hold a rail and got flipped by the shocky and pressed hard on the bottom. A local Dave Hubbard (not hawaiian dave hubbard) saw me and paddled out checking i was ok as it was amoster hold down into the channel with reef sticking up everywhere.
I went too deep for sure but my most memorable waves ive surfed on a lid have been at S.I. and south coast, indo too .
Then i got bored of bodyboarding, aussie pipe was getting too crowded three drop ins each wave shark island was getting over run with heroes who wanted to fight for waves even though they only surfed it for a month, do well in contests get a sponsor and think they can drop in out island.
a lot of slabs were getting crowded so i started getting more serious into a few real surfboards.
(fish of a few sizes, single fins, twinnies, quads and just good wave riding machines designed by master craftsman. that you can surf on 1-3 ft days and still have a great time. Getting decent on a lid pushes boogers to surf bigger and bigger waves and when those bigger and better waves dont come its boredom drink piss all day etc
I felt like once i started getting decent on a shortboard etc i was wasting my time on a lid.
it was just so much more enjoyable to get pitted on a shortboard. i didnt drop in on boogers but was tempted to, so many of them in these days were self entitiled pricks that snake and comes with surfing a board that pretty easy to surf.
Had many surfs on the south coast without bra boys that are way better than cape solander some barrelling for 13 seconds. id rather strike mission to those waves then surf cape. One of my fave waves is perfectly offshore in a southerly and a southerly swell of around 3metres, rare for north facing spots to get south swells at size but this place gets like kirra on south- south east swells.many more shorter waves around too just not that many lefts on the south coast and my twin keel fishes go better on lefts, waves with room and wall and bowls.
I live in midwest nw wa at the moment and jakes point on a good day was for a while getting beyond me on med- big days me as i got fat and unhealthy, now down to 78 from 87kg a month and a half ago,from 95kg a few months ago. i hope i can handle the six foot drops knifing into the barrel..thats my goal but for now im going between my booger (which i find super easy to surf) and my desert storm which catches waves as easy as pie. Another Rasta torus twin should be fun for a racy long walled left somewhere around here, easy takeoff...good for rusty surfers to get back into it.its indoesque on its day but crowded on the rights.Lefts maybe 3-4 people.
Sharky though.
That concludes my TED talk.
Haha was a monster post.