Four days ago we experienced one of the most unexpectedly intense swells in recent memory. This swell had no forewarning, it went from 2 foot to 20 foot in the space of a short few hours slamming into the Western Australian coastline. While most places became ridiculously overpowered, we knew of a place that needs this power to awaken from its slumber. Huzzas.
What was interesting about this swell is it was only predicted to be 3m in size, but with a starting swell period of 22 seconds, which was ultimately around 26 according to the realtime event. This is crazy energy, an event that can double, triple or even quadruple swell sizes. in hindsight I can remember seeing a swell like this two times before. We were unsure if it would realise itself properly but it really did. It blasted the coastline with full force.
This image shows some reality for me at this location, While it is remote, there are a group of us that have dedicated our lives to being here to witness this wave when it wakes, Here, three friends are doing exactly the same as me.
To shoot in the channel we need to position ourselves on the corner of the reef which is an extremely small zone. I had to work my way around five other Jetski's to gain position in a zone that is only a few metres squared, Normally I am trying to make sure I have an angle for a clear shot, and am being considerate that others can do the same, in this moment my friend Tom driving the Jetski in frame, while another close friend Rex is filming, chose not to hold his position and drove forwards past my position. as I am driving and shooting at the same time, I dont have this luxury resulting in having to document the moment as is with them in it. While I would have loved a clear shot, it provides a great sense of scale for what the experience is out here. This wave seemingly came out of no where, double the size of anything else that we saw the whole day.
Chris Ross the surfer was the exact person to try and ride it. One of the best big wave athletes on the planet that just does it because he loves it. but even one of the most experienced struggled to ride what was one of the biggest waves we have ever seen.
He told me yesterday that his board was being dragged backwards up the face even though he was going as fast as he could, not long after this moment the tail of his board disconnected and he was sent cartwheeling. An extremely violent wipeout that would see him coughing up blood when he made it to the surface, ending his session and requiring a trip to hospital where scans have revealed a lot of blood and air trapped in his right lung. Thankfully he will make a full recovery, There were two other serious injuries this day from the pressure of the hold downs but we all watch out for everyone as a team when someone falls off and everyone made it back to land and will make full recoveries.
overflowing
