Every now and then I am fortunate to witness a surfing session that I'll never forget. That happened right on my doorstep this past Mother's Day at a remote reef not far from the CBD of Dunedin. I'll call it The Vault – it's a cavernous space and most surfers get locked in one way or another.
This wave is an extraordinary monster – first surfed by Jamie Gordon and Kyle Davidson many years ago. I was lucky to have Jamie drive the jet-ski for me as James Steiner, Davy Wooffindin, Leroy Rust and Tom Bracegirdle stepped it up to the next level and surfed through some one of the heaviest slabs of the day.
The wave requires a jet-ski assist – the surfer being towed in and then positioning for the big open barrel section. If you get it right then you're in a vault large enough to fit a van. Get it wrong and you're leaping off a step in the face, or getting taken out by it and wearing the full force of the South Pacific.
It was Leroy's first time out there, but it didn't stop him from charging hard. He paid the price on a couple. It's not a wave that will drown you. It's a wave that will rip your limbs off and break your bones. Leroy, was unable to unstrap on one nasty wipeout and was lucky not to break his leg as the wave detonated on him.
Jamie explained that the wave was best surfed with a bigger swell "when it lined up on the reef a bit better". I'm not sure what that arena would look like, but if this session was anything to go by then it would have to be pretty intense.
The Vault is not the sort of place you want to find yourself without superb fitness, skill, the right equipment and oodles of big wave experience. These lads had it in spades and you could tell by the grins on their faces when they burst through the foaming whitewater after each wave that they were completely in their element. Inspired.
See you at the beach ...
Derek
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