The Ten Most Popular Articles of '22

Science, religion, surfing, and violence.

'Twas a big mix of topics in this year's most popular stories.

It was a year characterised by the unwinding of COVID restrictions, yet if anyone thought things would bounce back to normal they'd be sadly mistaken. 2022 brought a new kind of upheaval.

But now's not the time to wallow in the mire, as Jimbo Morrisson once sung, as many very good things happened too. Travel restrictions were wound back, la Nina brought great waves to boat-loads of surfers, and at the end of the year the bounty was shared with southern surfers, and that pattern looks set to continue.

These were the ten most popular stories (plus one) based on clicks and comments.

Cyclone Seth Splits Bribie Island

It'd previously overtopped once or twice during high tides, but only during the relentless onslaught of TC Seth in early January did the northern end of Bribie Island break through and create a new, permanent channel.

Being a surfing website with a scientific bent this real time reporting of coastal processes was exciting. No longer would the waters of Pumicestone Channel be forced through Caloundra Bar but instead it'd have another way of reaching the ocean. Much was speculated by way of sand movement, tidal flow, and of course surf amenity. Even the CSIRO promised to send Queensland's top scientist down to assess the situation.

As a sidenote: Despite all the mainstream press attention, Swellnet had hate mail from one surfer who accused us of exposing his new secret spot. A quick scroll of Instagram showed he wasn't shy of exposing it himself.

Almost a year later, the new bar is permanent, the sand has settled, and Caloundra Bar remains open, just, though there's no word on what the new island will be called.

Chris Davidson Dies After Alleged One-Punch Assault

It was the fight that no-one won. In fact, the whole goddamn thing was unseemly. A large percentage of the surfing audience remained taciturn upon the news of Davo's death, while some elevated him to legend status for the surfing he did. The latter may perhaps be reflecting on the former's silence when subsequent news about Davo's transgressions were made public.

Despite his misgivings, Davo was an archetype of the Aussie Surf Animal and, for better or worse, the species has become critically endangered.

An Open Letter to the Devout Brazilian Roman Catholic Surfers of the WCT

It was the first time God had contributed to Swellnet, and who knew His word could cause such hatred and division? Not us!

We had to close the comment thread down when it passed 500 - a Swellnet record - and if we hadn't the arguments and rancor would surely have continued for centuries more.

To clarify his intent, God approached Swellnet with a second submission, convinced this follow up script would silence the uproar.

"Thanks anyway," said Swellnet's Editor rebuffing the big fella, "but I've got this hilarious piece from Ding Alley and that takes precedence."

Politicians Single Out Kelly Slater For Vaccination Stance

Another article that makes me wince when re-reading it. Wil Anderson recently released 'Wilogical', his response to the COVID brouhaha. "We all said some stupid things, didn't we?" Said Wil and I imagine most would nod in agreement wherever you stood on the issue.

No doubt this article attracted views because it had the winning mix of 'celebrity name + vaccine', but it also had the eleven-time champ saying his own stupid thing. In this case: "I know more about being healthy than 99 percent of doctors."

Welcome to the club, Kelly.

Long Range Forecast: Quiksilver Pro G'Land

Bit surprised to see this one rate so well. Though in hindsight, maybe not. The move back to G'Land was both exciting and controversial. There were far fewer surfers on the planet when Quiksilver last visited G'Land, so shining a spotlight on a wave that's fallen off the radar (to mince analogies) was always going to upset crew.

Then again, it's G'Land. If Speed Reef was forecast to pump who woudn't tune in?

As it happened, the forecast was underwhelming, the contest was too, and Quik aren't going back next year.

Infragravity Waves Reach Full-Force

This was a textbook case of schooling. Two years earlier, Craig wrote an article about infragravity waves that, while interesting, largely sunk without trace. This year, however, during a run of large surf on the East Coast, reports and videos surfaced of infragravity waves engulging lagoons and beaches.

Craig effectively rehashed the original article, but this time with video and eyewitness accounts, and suddenly all that guff made sense.

Kelly and Shaun: Ten Minutes With Two Pipe Masters

The conversation was a few years old, held on the dunes of J'Bay in 2018, but Shaun recorded it and never released it. So here we had an unfiltered conversation between two pros from successive eras of surfing, the conversation including their approach to Pipeline, the uncertainty of retirement, Andy Irons, drugs, and the benefits - or otherwise - of pro surfing to the surfing community at large.

A timeless read.

Beaches In Retreat

A topic we often return to here at Swellnet is sand movement. We've been trying to do some big picture thinking, observing erosion up the east and west coasts of Australia, knowing it's largely due to short-sighted development but also aware there are other factors at play, and trying to understand what they all are so we can formulate some kind of overarching theory. Perhaps one day we'll write a definitive article, or series of articles, on the topic.

For now, the larger answers are beyond us, yet still the sand flows north and the ocean erodes the coast. Not uniformly but in fits and starts. This year was a particularly bad one for erosion on the East Coast with predominantly east swells slowing the conveyor belt of sand while allowing more energy into otherwise sheltered corners.

This article from July immediately followed one of the more destructive storms of the year, and cast an eye on how the coastline is faring, plus what the authorities are doing to counter erosion.

It also generated a charitable phone call from an expert in the field. We're suckers for a compliment that counts.

Niña Won't Budge

It was March, a month when La Niña events classically break down, however in this instance the 'double dip' La Niña was powering on. In fine form, Craig, connected readings from across the world's largest ocean basin and catalysed them into a coherent theory that us plebs could understand.

Interestingly, Craig made no mention of the forthcoming 'triple dip La Niña', though it was mentioned in the comments when an infamous two-humped desert dweller linked famous Gold Coast swells with a triple dip.

Can You Get Better At Surfing?

Another article that racked up a huge comment count. Testament that the author, in this case Steve, had tapped into a topic we all felt strongly about. Despite the strength of feeling, nothing was resolved, so Steve is gonna pick up the rope in 2023; find out if he can get better at surfing.

Gallery: Up Close and Personal

Saturday 2nd April saw the biggest and best Deadmans in quite some time. It's a wave that usually breaks under wild southerly conditions but this day saw light westerly wind groom the triple-overhead waves.

Craig paddled out on his minimal, waterhousing in hand, and parked himself at the end of the wave - there's no channel - as an incredible session went down. They were arguably the best photos ever taken of the place.