Ever had one of those days?

captainoftheworld's picture
captainoftheworld started the topic in Tuesday, 16 Jul 2019 at 2:12pm

Yesterday I had a surf in Victoria at one of those spots that only work every now and then and under very specific conditions. Saturday we had the right conditions so myself and half of Gippsland went down for a look. It was small and crowded but fun if you were patient enough.

Yesterday the conditions looked perfect so I popped down for a look. I got there and it was a lake, one guy sitting on a Mal with one car on the beach. I watched for five minutes and saw a surf-able set come through and I had a nice dry wetsuit so I paddled out for a try. It was very slow with about 10 minutes between sets but when they came through, they were fun and with only the two of us out, I really couldn't complain.

After about an hour and a half, the swell was dropping so the other guy decided to pack it in. As usual, I wanted a couple more so I stayed out and asked Huey for a couple more. I think he heard me as within 5 minutes, the sets started again even bigger than before. For about an hour I was completely alone and the sets pumped through, mostly empty. Everything went right, the waves that I caught were the best in the sets and I surfed as well as I could. It was absolutely fantastic but no-one to share it with, not even on the beach.

After about an hour I was buggered so I caught one in and I watched two more sets come through and then they stopped. I wanted to get some pictures for myself but by the time I was dry enough to grab my phone, the sets had just about stopped.

On the WSL commentary they talk about being in sync with the ocean and yesterday I was and everything went right. In 50 years of surfing, I can't remember another session like it where everything went right.

On the drive home I had to ring my adult son and tell him as I was so excited about what had just happened. One right out of the box

Thanks Huey.

i

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Monday, 22 Jul 2019 at 4:03pm

Unreal story! Thanks COTW.

zenagain's picture
zenagain's picture
zenagain Monday, 22 Jul 2019 at 4:49pm

Nice!

Westofthelake's picture
Westofthelake's picture
Westofthelake Tuesday, 23 Jul 2019 at 11:27am

Great stuff Captain.

surfstarved's picture
surfstarved's picture
surfstarved Tuesday, 23 Jul 2019 at 12:16pm

Had one of those days about five years ago at an unnamed SA beach. Medium sized, long period swell, offshores, clear blue skies and inexplicably nobody else in the water. The only other human was a fisho down in the near corner of the beach who had bagged out on salmon and was only still there because they just kept biting.

I walked to the other end of the beach where, on this day, the normally fickle banks were perfectly aligned to the swell direction. I paddled out, and for the next three hours had my choice of waves.

It was a long, nervous wait between sets, wondering the whole time what else I was sharing the line-up with, but whenever the sets came all other thoughts were forgotten as the waves reeled off down the line for 70-80 metres, not a drop out of place.

I got so many great waves that day, with nobody but the seagulls and a lone seal to witness them. It definitely qualified as one of those days Captain and it's one that's etched permanently into my memory banks.

GuySmiley's picture
GuySmiley's picture
GuySmiley Tuesday, 23 Jul 2019 at 12:21pm

Been blessed twice like that since Christmas. Sometimes the eye of the storm works in your favour.

Drove along way east to surf a fickle reef that works on a SW, that was the forecast, SW winds on all the web forecasting sites. Arrived at the reef only to find it blowing SE. Drove a couple kms down the coast to a very well know reef that works on a SE expecting it to be packed. There it was 3 to 4 foot, perfect offshore and no one out. Me and my mate surfed it like that for 2 hours before a knee boarder came out. The 23 December it was and the area was full of tourists.

Recently, a vey week known reef with a cam down its throat was 4 foot plus and strong offshore. While the forecasting sites called it the cam footage was dated, from a few days earlier when it was onshore. Again for 2 blissful hours me and just a few others had it to yourselves.

These days are rare but when they happen it’s very nice.

Craig's picture
Craig's picture
Craig Tuesday, 23 Jul 2019 at 12:40pm

COTW, that's a beautiful story and I can feel the stoke coming through the post, how magic.

Had one of these similar surfs on Saturday, at Freeride's premier break.

I think a few things worked in my favour, first being a morning high tide and slow swell so all morning it looked too full and unsurfable. Winds were due to go variable into the afternoon and a lot of people may have been out of town up at Splendour. But they're all young.

I paddled out on the dropping tide and it was a slow 2ft with the odd 3ft so I was on a 5'4 Twinny, just cruising.

Then the crowd of 5/10 dissipated and the tide kept dropping and the sets starting pushing in nicely to 3ft, and with me and one other local, we had the pick of the walled up wide ones. Dead glassy, clear silky water and a couple of waves almost to the hut from the peak, but mostly only half way. A magic three hour session until my calfs cramped up, on a sunny, calm Saturday afternoon. A special little window.