It's been six months, almost to the day, since Mark Mathews spun late on a Peahi beast and caught what was then the largest wave of the northern hemi winter. Granted the winter was officially only six days old but it was still a mighty feat.

Mathews' wave set the tone for the WSL's Peahi paddle contest, it set the tone for the run of 'biggest ever' swells that followed through December and January, and it set the tone for what's now considered the best El Nino season in recent memory.

But all that means little to Mathews, the wave he impulsively caught was his first and last solid wave of the winter. Webcast viewers saw Mathews straighten out as the wave exploded, then get dragged from the impact zone his left shoulder hanging limp.

The diagnosis was a dislocated shoulder plus bonus fractures, the prognosis three months out of the water which has balloooned out to a frustrating six.

Swellnet spoke to Mark on his half-year anniversary.

Swellnet: How's the recovery coming along?
Mark Mathews: Yeah, OK. It'll be a while till I'm surfing solid waves again. My shoulder is still frozen though I can surf small waves, so I'm paddling around with one arm at the moment. Trying to drag myself up to my feet.

So you're back out in the water then?
Yeah, but only in small waves. I'm doing one arm paddles and going around in circles.

So does your doc know you're out there?
Ummm...ha ha, nah. Well he said if I can paddle then I could go surfing. What he doesn't know is that I can only paddle with one arm!

Must be good to be back out there?
The best! It's been the most frustrating few months. I've had the worst time watching everyone get great waves. It's been really hard.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but you missed the best northern hemi winter in recent memory.
More than that. It was the best one that I'll ever see.

I've heard it said that missing good things is character building. You reckon that's true or false?
Ha ha, false. It's just depressing. It's fucken depressing. It was the biggest and best Jaws ever and I don't know if I'll ever get another shot at it. I watched that many good sessions and that many good waves...I don't know about character building, I just got depressed.

Mark Mathews' first and last wave of the winter

The wave you injured yourself on was a beast. What are you gonna do if presented with another wave like that: go or no?
No. No way. I knew I wasn't gonna get to the shoulder of it, I knew I was too deep, I was just hoping that I could get out in front of it enough but I got hung up and couldn't get there. It was a pretty dumb decision. But that said, I had to go in, the comp was gonna start and I needed to leave the water. Might paddle in next time.

Reckon you'll take a more calculated approach from now on?
Yeah, definitely. I'm terrified of getting hurt.

The pain of the injury...?
Nah, I'm terrified of hurting myself and being out of the water again.

Oh that pain! Ha, OK. Well when do you think you'll be back?
Maybe about a month?

So you'll miss this swell about to hit the East Coast?
Yeah that's another swell I'll miss.