Tim Bonython: Cape Fearful/Fearless

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Stu Nettle (stunet)
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Early last week presented a tricky old forecast for the NSW coast. With a low in the Tasman dropping like a yo yo, the swell direction was changing by the day, and with it the size and intensity at various breaks.

Tuesday always seemed like the better chance at Cape Solander, with Monday simply offering a warm up. Yet as it happened, Monday was the wild one with the swell coming in hard east and almost unridable.

There were valiant attempts by Max McGuigan - including an extremely notable effort at 9:50 - plus Kipp Caddy, and Dylan Longbottom, with Tim Bonython on hand to record it.

Readers may note the title to the video, written both on the homepage and above, includes the filmmaker 'Tim Bonython'. If you don't like Tim's videos, and have expressed that opinion the last six of his videos, please consider skipping over this one and simply getting on with your day.

Comments

Beats's picture
Beats's picture
Beats Friday, 5 Aug 2022 at 12:16pm

Dylan at 7.10 yeah - Nah ..... great film making as always, that place continues to provide crazy moments for surfers who are up for it. Thanks for documenting these sessions Tim ......

Robwilliams's picture
Robwilliams's picture
Robwilliams Friday, 5 Aug 2022 at 2:15pm

Crew taking it on.few paddlers out too. looked pretty warpy. Heavy wave Im surprised more don't get hurt. After hitting it on the large unruly day they had to themselves they must go into the smaller days pretty confident. The crew I see towing always build this confidence very quickly due to getting waves and learning to control the boards at much higher speeds than the waves can generate.

I always think that when they return to paddling it must feel so slow in some instances. If crew are towing I want to see them going the otherwise unridable Beasts. This wave often presents that. Heaviest waves Ive seen this year have been towed and that's not to say I don't appreciate a fully blown paddle session Boog or fiberglass (i don't tow). They are completely different but if you are towing go the absolute mental ones. Most crew will be cheering on looking in, in the right waves. I would love to have had some of the pits crew get in front of me. As the paddle bar raises which it will then less waves will be towed or heavier conditions sought, but there is an element of wave that is outside of whats Professionally (elite) physically possible.
In regards to actually making the wave and just throwing yourself over the ledge (Boogie or stick) to injury and destruction.

There are some absolute nuggets that have been towed over the years. Setups that make tow teams shit themselves. This is a good thing. This vid may be far from perfect conditions but there is way less crew in the water than a normal safer good day. How did the boogies go? No doubt they got a few. I am firm believer of that paddlers should get priority due to safety but almost every heavy wave zone and it's best surfers have access to ski's so it's impossible to expect they won't be used. They are highly convenient and capitalising in some situations often at the expense of others but on certain days it can work both ways if crew are aware of each other. Once someone dies things will be regulated but until then I can't see that happening. So it's up to crew to voice concern if they feel threatened or put at risk this isn't a bad thing. No one wishes to experience a death or bad injury through negilegency, bad luck. Everyone knows the risk. As the good and the bad. It's really about being safe and human vs machine elements.

On a separate note would the qld council be liable if a member of the public be hurt or killed for falling to enforce maritime law? Worse case outcome that could eventuate? If ski numbers continue to increase and be used in densely populated surf zones it's really just a matter of time. No point asking if things can be improved after shit's hit the fan. They could put a 2 bouys out and all wave runners must have dropped the surfers outside that mark and only pick up outside the the downline bouy. This would mean everyone paddles to a certain degree. The risks would still be present but paddling surfers a little more protected from interference, harm mechanical failure etc with in the marked zone. Bouys can be moved to best wave zone easily by slsqld at any time keeping water users safer. Just an idea cheap and easy

groundswell's picture
groundswell's picture
groundswell Friday, 5 Aug 2022 at 2:08pm

Kipp seemed to have had the best wave selection getting the most makeable ones. Music wasnt a problem with my own soundcloud tracklist playing..Good vid but i prefer to watch Shark Island growers on a good day than the cape.However slab surfing sure has advanced a lot in the last 15 years.

MrBungle's picture
MrBungle's picture
MrBungle Friday, 12 Aug 2022 at 11:40am

I agree, this wave is mental but Shark Island is more fun to watch to me.

groundswell's picture
groundswell's picture
groundswell Friday, 5 Aug 2022 at 2:30pm

Also Max got some beauties.

Remigogo's picture
Remigogo's picture
Remigogo Friday, 5 Aug 2022 at 3:33pm

These guys crack me up. Enjoyed the interviews. I'm with the crow on this one though.

AlfredWallace's picture
AlfredWallace's picture
AlfredWallace Thursday, 11 Aug 2022 at 11:16am

Remigogo. Just a bit of fun, i loved the close up shots.The bird is an Australian Raven. House, Little and Torresian Crows don’t exist in that geographic location. Arghh, arghh, arghhhhh.

Remigogo's picture
Remigogo's picture
Remigogo Thursday, 11 Aug 2022 at 10:53pm

Ah, hah, arghh... I'd a been the perfectly happy 'little crow' flying in for a look-see.. not pretending at all that I have a problem scuffing up my head feathers and together with Torresian crows, dropping in on the Australian ravens along the cliff tops.

https://ebird.org/species/litcro1?siteLanguage=en_AU

...Laughing away the day together with me core flock watching what ever breed of galahs those are in the line up chasing those rare crackers and having fun doing it.

AlfredWallace's picture
AlfredWallace's picture
AlfredWallace Friday, 12 Aug 2022 at 7:38am

Good stuff Remigogo. You must be ‘Raven’ mad. I’ve been collecting/recording bird data with eBird for about a decade, love it.