The Left

Friday, 6 April 2001

Last Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday were all good days for surfing with Friday being the pick of them, as far as size and quality rides go. Even from the top of the hill we couldn't tell how big it was but from what we could see we knew that it was clean and glassy, despite the golden rays of an early rising Autumn sun shining in our eyes. Everything about this morning was golden; including the brilliance of the countryside as it changes its hues for the up and coming Winter.

As we pulled up in the car park we noticed that the swell had risen from the previous two days and the ocean looked like a mirror. The girl had decided to go out with me, regardless of the size of the surf, as her previous two sessions had been real confidence lifters and she felt she had reached the level quite that she was comfortable in doing so. Even the walk along the seashore to the bay was something special and different, as the sun glistened off the 6-foot huge heaps of seaweed that had piled up on the beach most recently.

To tell you the truth it was such a beautiful morning that neither of us noticed whether the water was cold or not, as we paddled out through the bay with the aid of the rip. It was good to see the water so clear again, after that strange brown sludge which has been hanging around for the last two weeks or so. I've seen it many times over the years and even though it looks unpleasant and is to paddle through, it seems to be quite harmless.

I’ve got to tell you that over the last week or so the girls’ surfing capabilities have improved out of site. On the previous Thursday she got heaps of long rides and rode them very competently. So it was no surprise to me that she caught the first wave and rode it well, getting off it before it closed out in the shorebreak. I even managed to pick up a couple of those big oily ones for myself and did the same as her, all the time trying to make my bottom turns a little more radical.

We must have been sitting out in the bay alone for the best part of a half an hour before anyone joined us, although way over to the left was one of the most regular locals, Maureen. She’s probably one of the most hard core surfers on this part of the coast, as she’s out there every day regardless of conditions. It was at about the same time as the slight northerly came up that we eventually joined by Jock Gordon and Ian Fuller plus one or two others, but for most of our session it was relatively quiet out there as far as being crowded goes.

As the tide started to turn and come in, we moved over to the point where it was looking like a lot better wave to ride and it was. The waves were coming in now with a somewhat regular breaking pattern and longer rides became abundant. It was during this period of time that I got some of the best rides I’ve had in months with one being particularly pleasing. The only thing wrong with this ride was that my regular photographer wasn’t there on the point to capture it on film. This ride was so long that when I finished it and started paddling back I was nearer to the left where Maureen had been than I was to the point. I looked over to the left on my way out and was even half-tempted to give it a go, as it was looking pretty good.

We got a few more rides each and went in earlier than desired, as the girl had to start work reasonably early that day. I wasn’t disappointed as I knew the conditions would prevail and they did on Saturday. Plus the fact that I’d had a session every day last week except Tuesday.

Even though we got an extra early start on Saturday, it wasn’t long before it got incredibly crowded with some 50 Weekend Warriors out in the water by 7:30AM. I felt like going in almost straight away when the crowd started to turn up, especially after being spoiled by the solitude and quality surf during the week. But we prevailed and I’m glad I did as I got to see one of the best rides of the girls’ short surfing career, and that was seen after paddling back out after a longer and more satisfactory ride than Friday’s.

I guess it’s a pity that we didn’t take photographs of any of these sessions during the week but we both agreed that the memories were more important to us than any shot could capture. As I’ve said many times to the girl, the best surfing is done in the mind and that’s all that matters.

Tuesday, 10 April 2001

If it was a long, strange summer for the lack of surf here, then our autumn has been even stranger for its consistency. It’s a known fact to all of us who surf here that summer seemed to be with us with all it’s heat, lack of surf one day and in what seemed like the next we are enjoying what autumn has to offer.

I didn’t think it would be as big as it was when we got down there today, as this new swell wasn’t showing on the latest swell maps. Two young blokes pulled up after we arrived and went out almost straight away, while we talked to a couple of the locals who didn’t seem in a hurry to get out there. Perhaps it may have been that the tide was too low and it wasn’t breaking perfectly, or that it was overcast and breaking so big and so far out.

While we were standing there talking to the locals as they appeared I noticed that one of the two blokes was having a lot of strife getting out. His mate must have got a lucky break and in a matter of a few seconds there was a difference of a hundred metres between them. It must have taken him at least fifteen minutes or more before he joined his mate out the back. I really don’t understand why some blokes insist on going off the point instead of the bay, especially when it’s so big.

Sequences of one ride

I went out by myself and even though I copped a bit of a pounding going out through the bay I eventually made it out to where they were sitting. One of the guys asked me why I took so long in going out there. I thought it was a strange question and answered, "Well I thought I’d wait to see if you blokes got any decent rides". I guessed that they must have felt a little uncomfortable sitting way out the back there all by themselves.

I must say it was unusual out there today, even though it was really glassy, there seemed to be a bit of chop coming from the rip that reached all the way out to where we were sitting. This rip caused a huge drift to the east of the point and when I warned these two blokes they didn’t seem to bother about it and seemed to be quite content to drift down towards Surfers. Just before I paddled back towards the point a particularly large set came though and broke, catching the three of us inside. I was the furthest out and copped the brunt of them first. I managed to turtle roll under the first two and was just about to do the same with the third when it broke quite suddenly before I could fully complete my roll. The result of this was that my board was upside down, while I wasn’t, and the force of the wave breaking pushed me perilously close and over the protruding fin. I remember so vividly at the time that it could have been quite a nasty accident.

Most of the waves I caught at first were short ones but I did manage to get a couple of longer ones, with one in particular that was so good that I rode it almost all the way in to the Point. Instead of paddling straight back out through the whitewater I decided to go back out through the bay again. By this time there were a number of the locals there including Jock Gordon, Ian Fuller and Peter Cox. I managed to get a few more, not very memorable rides out in the bay and came in far earlier than I wanted to, as the girl was working an early shift that day and we had to be home before 11:00 AM.

Sequences of another ride

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Photographs by Sibylle Martens

©Ron Taylor & Sibylle Martens