Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
Surfers are a strange breed. It must seem odd to people who don't surf when listening to surfers stories from big sessions or heavy water moments. This past week I had my old friend Luke Darby visit Dunedin. He is one of the first magazine designers I ever worked with – back in the New Zealand Surfing Magazine days during its heyday in the late 1990s. He rips in the surf, too.
I spotted a window that looked like the Catlins might be good for a morning and so we gave chase. But not without a little dose of anxiety about how big and raw the waves might be at this one particular spot. To give you an idea I usually surf a 6'1" to 6'4" board, but I had located a 6'8" gun just for the occasion. I share it with my brother-in-law, Ché, but since I was driving I got first dibs. He's good like that.
I was glad I did – it's a magic board and the surf was pushing right from the back rock and seemed to have a good amount of power. Showing new people the jump rock is always fun, but we got a pretty clean run in apart from Luke's mate, Thomas, who copped a set in the worst possible place. He survived with a cool story to tell.
Watching your mates paddling super late into some pretty serious waves is quite something – especially when you have the whole lineup to yourselves. Luke was on a 6'0" and sliding down the face of a few or on tippy toes – completely undergunned but not letting that hold him back at all. I was finding it a lot easier on the bigger board – at least for my first half-dozen waves. Then, as my energy waned, it went pear-shaped.
At one point I tripped on the take-off on a big one and was sent cartwheeling down the face. I could hear Luke and Ché laughing before impact. A little later I messed up the first section and pulled out over the back only to see an even bigger set about to break top-to-bottom right on my head. I got an absolute flogging. The whole time I was thinking not many people would realise how violent this is, as I got thrashed amongst the kelp and rocks, and driven down deep.
I eventually popped up only to cop a few more – almost getting out the back. Then going for the duck dive of duck dives under one angry looking section. I popped up and was quite happy with myself until I saw Luke smiling from ear-to-ear and waving at me. I got sucked right back over for another round in the washing machine.
I emerged from that surf with bruised ribs, sore lungs, aches all over my body and a great big grin. It was a memorable surf that I was stoked to share with three other very cool humans.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS The New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS), which assesses the conservation status of species according to the risk of extinction they face within New Zealand, has just upgraded the status of New Zealand sea lions (Phocarctos hookeri) to Nationally Endangered. That means they are facing high risk of extinction in the short term. The assessments use two very basic measures: population size and population trend – rate of decline or increase. Sea lions are Nationally Endangered due to a small population size and predicted 30-70% decline in population over the next 30 years (three sea lion generations). This is supported by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which has the New Zealand sea lion classified as Endangered and projected in decline. The challenging part of this is that the population in Otago and around Rakiura is stable or growing, but that is far outstripped by the decline in the Auckland Islands and Campbell Island populations. So while it may seem like we have an influx of sea lion activity each summer, the bigger picture is far less rosy.
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: