A call from Doug Young always heralds an opportunity to document something special. He lives and works out of Christchurch, but is completely in tune with every big wave spot around New Zealand. He never makes a bad call. He has New Zealand big wave surfing wired.
That notion was playing on my mind as I drove past Christchurch on my way to a commercial shoot in Nelson for the week. By the turn off to Hanmer, and my last chance to switch coasts, I checked the latest report: 4.5m westerly swell at a 17-second period with light offshores for the next three days. How is that even possible in the Tasman Sea? Doug had called it.
It would add an extra 200km to my journey, but would finally quell that voice in my head that would otherwise drive me insane.
After a quick slip and slide with winter over the Lewis Pass, I was on the West Coast at Greymouth. The swell was huge and unmanageable. The Resolution 2 timed a perfect run across the bar of the Grey River as rights reeled awkwardly down the inside of the northern tip. Like all big swells the energy is mesmerising, but so stacked that there is little reprieve.
Greymouth is finally emerging from a desperate smog that is the Pike River disaster. It's a raw nerve here and comes to the surface in every conversation. At the Kahuna Boardriders Club, right out in its grand north-facing position on the northern tip, there is a chair shaped like a wave and facing the infamous Cobden peak. Cut into the sides of its base are the names Kane and Glen. Kane Nieper, who was 33 at the time, and Glen Cruse, who was 35, were two members who lost their lives in the mine disaster of 2010. Their deaths feel unresolved.
Artist and surfer Steve Newby, who helps run the club, tells me their stories with a shake of his head. The sadness is overwhelming. He lightens the mood by telling me about the time Ricky Harris tried to stab him. He reckons he asked for it – he had hit him over the head with a bottle of beer.
"Those were the good old days," he smiles.
Doug Young and Dave Lyons arrive with the ski and are eager to get amongst it, but the locals aren't so sure the Cobden Peak is going to open for business. It doesn't. Even with a ski the ocean state is so active that every wave would be a game of roulette for everyone involved.
Steve reckons they should just paddle out the harbour mouth, wide of the peak detonating on the end, but not too far that they get swept down the coast. If they're lucky they'll snatch a wave before a monster set shuffles into place to end their dreams.
It's a huge call, but I can't help but think it was the right one. We leave Cobden unsurfed.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS This past week we've been shooting like crazy around Nelson. Pretty minimal surf (on its day I am told there are some runners), but this place has such a beautiful coastline and that Abel Tasman – that's a gem. We'll have a few glimpses of that for you next week ...
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