hellwoman
03-03-2007, 04:14 AM
MONSTER ATTACKS AUSTRALIA
By: Alex "Alfy" Cater Photos: Mark Anderson/PurpleMonster.net August 12, 2006 During the last week of July, an enormous swell approached Western Australia. Locals were claiming it was the biggest surf Australia had ever seen. What follows is the first hand account from Alex “Alfy” Cater of this magical day where all the elements came together perfectly.
Nothing was particularly different about the red monster dribbling across the computer screen. We've seen them a hundred times. But this one wasn't accompanied with gale force winds and sideways rain. This was a rogue one, a dark horse in the sunshine.
It had peak periods of 17-18 seconds, max wave heights reaching around the 28 foot mark and light offshore winds. We'd been waiting two years since this Xbox-style wave last broke properly, so you could almost hear the boys' drool slapping the pavement for this one.
Imagine riding over a mile out -- up and down open ocean swells -- while only getting tiny glimpses of whitewater. Then seeing Paul 'Antman' Patterson whip into what really is not a wave but a moving mountain of water 50 feet high. Patterson pulls up into the section he looked to be making, when all of a sudden the thunderous lip smashes him square in the head. Even though the impact smashed his back teeth to bits from the collision of lip and head, he's still got a Cheshire grin.
Game on.
The wave itself breaks in about 25 feet of water coming up from around 120 feet. The swells that arrive don't have time slow down when they hit the reef, so they're moving at around twice the speed of a normal big wave, making it almost impossible to paddle into.
Thanks to the tabloids claiming an ex-pro surfed the biggest waves in Australia during a session two weeks prior, the lineup was chaos. Ten-15 skis, boats, helicopters, planes… hell, I think I even saw a chick sipping champagne in a speedboat. It was a coliseum style event with gladiators fighting it out for the biggest waves and even heavier barrels.
Local Damon Eastough and Antman were leading the pack, with Jay Davies and Taj Burrow also in the pecking order -- just stoked to be on home turf in the biggest waves Oz had ever seen. 19-year-old Oscar Adrian (along with brother Dino "Dingolips" and father John -- who has had the lads on the end of a tow rope since they were in diapers) pulled into a cavern big enough to have its own postal code. Sets continued to roll through all day, with the waves hitting the water so hard it sounded like being in the middle of a bombing raid. It really did feel like World War Three with skis, choppers, boats and airplanes all frothing around the lineup.
Eastough nailed what some say was the biggest wave of the day. While one unlucky surfer tried pulling in on the first wave of that set, but ate shit. He then wore the next two on the head. Coming up after a solid beating coughing blood, he retired to the bench.
Thanks for coming.
Considering this place might not break for another two years and to have all the conditions come together perfectly, it feels pretty special to be among some of the lucky punters who scored.
http://www.surfline.com/surfnews/article_bamp.cfm?id=3701
By: Alex "Alfy" Cater Photos: Mark Anderson/PurpleMonster.net August 12, 2006 During the last week of July, an enormous swell approached Western Australia. Locals were claiming it was the biggest surf Australia had ever seen. What follows is the first hand account from Alex “Alfy” Cater of this magical day where all the elements came together perfectly.
Nothing was particularly different about the red monster dribbling across the computer screen. We've seen them a hundred times. But this one wasn't accompanied with gale force winds and sideways rain. This was a rogue one, a dark horse in the sunshine.
It had peak periods of 17-18 seconds, max wave heights reaching around the 28 foot mark and light offshore winds. We'd been waiting two years since this Xbox-style wave last broke properly, so you could almost hear the boys' drool slapping the pavement for this one.
Imagine riding over a mile out -- up and down open ocean swells -- while only getting tiny glimpses of whitewater. Then seeing Paul 'Antman' Patterson whip into what really is not a wave but a moving mountain of water 50 feet high. Patterson pulls up into the section he looked to be making, when all of a sudden the thunderous lip smashes him square in the head. Even though the impact smashed his back teeth to bits from the collision of lip and head, he's still got a Cheshire grin.
Game on.
The wave itself breaks in about 25 feet of water coming up from around 120 feet. The swells that arrive don't have time slow down when they hit the reef, so they're moving at around twice the speed of a normal big wave, making it almost impossible to paddle into.
Thanks to the tabloids claiming an ex-pro surfed the biggest waves in Australia during a session two weeks prior, the lineup was chaos. Ten-15 skis, boats, helicopters, planes… hell, I think I even saw a chick sipping champagne in a speedboat. It was a coliseum style event with gladiators fighting it out for the biggest waves and even heavier barrels.
Local Damon Eastough and Antman were leading the pack, with Jay Davies and Taj Burrow also in the pecking order -- just stoked to be on home turf in the biggest waves Oz had ever seen. 19-year-old Oscar Adrian (along with brother Dino "Dingolips" and father John -- who has had the lads on the end of a tow rope since they were in diapers) pulled into a cavern big enough to have its own postal code. Sets continued to roll through all day, with the waves hitting the water so hard it sounded like being in the middle of a bombing raid. It really did feel like World War Three with skis, choppers, boats and airplanes all frothing around the lineup.
Eastough nailed what some say was the biggest wave of the day. While one unlucky surfer tried pulling in on the first wave of that set, but ate shit. He then wore the next two on the head. Coming up after a solid beating coughing blood, he retired to the bench.
Thanks for coming.
Considering this place might not break for another two years and to have all the conditions come together perfectly, it feels pretty special to be among some of the lucky punters who scored.
http://www.surfline.com/surfnews/article_bamp.cfm?id=3701