Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
You have to love those mystery swells that fill in from some random low way out in the South Pacific and wreak havoc with all the forecasting models. That's what we woke up to on Saturday – a 1.6m swell that had overwhelmed most of the banks by 10am and continued to get bigger into the evening.
It was way bigger than the 1.8m peak I had in my forecast app. A small crew ventured out at Blackhead as the high tide tried to make sense of the energy. My boy Keo was one of them. I was supposed to join him but after watching a giant set wash nearly everyone in, I decided to document it all instead.
I don't know what size it was, but the water was moving around the entire corner and surfers were paddling out in the keyhole way around towards the northernmost point. Easily some sets were three or four times overhead. Keo was on his only board – a 5'11" epoxy. Tim Barton was on a 5'11", too. They were both way undergunned, but up to the task. Mike Varsanyi and Nathan Rotch had proper guns for the occasion and paddled into some impressive waves.
The arena was the biggest I have ever seen on an east-southeast swell at Blackhead. The take-off zone was out beyond the headland. At times it looked more like a lined-up left pointbreak.
Even in town the lefts peeling off the end of Lawyer's Head and down through St Kilda into St Clair looked like a mega lefthander at times. A few brave souls managed to catch a few waves at Moana Rua and St Kilda, dodging the bigger sets mostly. It was a tough afternoon, with the swell of the year running and very few spots that could be surfed safely without a ski assist.
These special days make you want to invest in a proper big-wave gun. Thankfully, despite some crazy hold-downs, everyone returned to shore safely. And the following day it was all gone.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS A large male sea lion came ashore near Brighton on Saturday with a rather large bite mark on its side. The bite was most likely a mouthing bite from a great white shark. Experts reckon most of the great whites down here prefer to stay out on the edge of the continental shelf and in the canyons where food is plentiful and easy to catch. But some visit our shores over summer when the seal pups are venturing out. Surfers should be extra cautious this time of year – watch the wildlife around you and take cues from their actions. It's a good idea to avoid murky water, dusk and early dawn sessions for a bit. Here's a link to the photos and our story that blew up on social media yesterday.
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: