There are a couple of sure fire indicators we're about to get a big wave session to remember. The first one is snow to sea level and a storm half the size of the South Island approaching from the south. The second one is a sustained period of crazy winds that come with it all. When waves start breaking over White Island my palms start sweating. When I see Doug Young's name pop up on my mobile I know the cogs of adventure are already turning.
The only challenge for this last swell was that the wind wasn't forecast to drop to a reasonable puff until after the peak of the swell. So we were basically trying to slot into a very small window and the tolerance for error was about as tight as we could get. I had Dave Wild driving for me and I realised on this trip just how much faith I put in him. Without his experience running and driving a ski we'd have never been able to do it. Even for him, he admitted much later, that this was about as close to the edge of makeable as we'd come.
Even for the surfers; Doug Young, Dave Lyons and Dan Smith, this was an adventure that skirted the limits. And in more ways than one for Dan who had to take the rope and try to find a line in and out of one of the less than habitable waves on offer. It didn't look pretty, or surfable, at any stage, but Dave, Dan and Doug saw something else. So hidden in a little sheltered wedge of less than 25 knot winds we tried to tame a very challenging wave.
Our efforts were cut short. Dan blew a fin out on the shallow reef, or in the maelstrom of a rescue, we never knew which.
The journey back was through a maze of 2m-plus chop with the odd mammoth, broad set wandering in just to make our keyhole look like a tiny target. I was pretty happy to land my feet back on solid ground, but reeling at the adventure that we'd just shared.
See you at the beach ... Derek
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