I think we've all spent time in the water with the type of surfer I'm about to describe.

Surfers that move stealthily around the line-up, that respond to unseen prompts and always manage to jag the best sets. While the crowd seethes and pulses they march to their own beat.

Terepai Richmond is just such a surfer, and the analogy is fitting - he being the drummer for The Whitlams and an in-demand session drummer. The Paiman provides the beat that others follow.

In the surf Terepai has made his name at Shark Island, spending endless hours out there making the unmakeable and finding barrels where others can't see them. Here he is on Tuesday evening doing just that - finding a groove on a day that wasn't even an Island day.

Steve Jones brought the shots to us.// STUART NETTLE