The whole south coast lit up this past week ... well, kind of. There was a big swell with plenty of energy and loads of beautiful plumes cascading behind them, but trying to find a spot in the 9-10 out of 10 range was no easy task. Yes, we're spoiled, but everywhere I looked something was a little funky – banks a smidgen off or blown right out, winds 10-20 degrees from optimum, too strong, or not strong enough. Everywhere I looked I came up with waves in the 5-8 range, but further down and up the coast I could imagine something better, something lined up and handling the size and near perfect.
That's the madness of the search setting in. It grips you and winds you into a very thin, highly strung and fragile string. You get desperate knowing full well that you're probably missing out on that oncer spot somewhere hidden by a headland or trek in. I even found myself taking great joy when I heard reports from other spots and learnt that it was rubbish there, too. Selfishly, I was glad that if I wasn't harvesting waves in this beautiful, sun-drenched winter ground swell, then nobody else was either.
After a day here and a day there driving around wishfully, I resigned myself to the old faithful St Clair Point – quite a capable wave when it came to big wally sets. So I paddled out on dark after searching all day and wore a bunch on the head before paddling halfway to St Kilda to avoid the St Clair wall crush that typifies high tide exits these days. Ocean 10, me 0.
Let's hope this week's north swell stumbles across some user-friendly banks.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS The New Zealand International Film Festival kicks off in Dunedin from August 9-26 with 76 films from 25 countries. Nine filmmakers will be attending screenings during NZIFF, which screens at the Regent Dunedin and Rialto Cinemas. Along with plenty of exciting New Zealand films, Tim Winton's novel Breath, a story about two teenage boys (both played by first-time actors who grew up surfing competitively), Pikelet (Samson Coulter) and Loonie (Ben Spence) meet former surf champ Sando (Simon Baker, who is also the film's director). Sando takes the boys under his wing and their passion becomes an obsession with upping the odds. The surfing scenes are magnificently shot, often under dark skies, tracking the cresting waves with grace and capturing their relationship with the water with intimacy and immediacy. The film speaks with loving nostalgia about passion, risk and the ripples of our decisions. Check it out:
Breath, Dunedin Screenings - Regent Wednesday, August 22, 1.30pm and Thursday, August 23, 6.15pm.
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