Kai Otton takes time out from the CT chasing mid-winter swells near home. First stop is the perfect training ground for Chopes and arrest his mid-year slump.

On the first of August the WA coast was pleasantly smashed by a large south-west swell. John Barton perched himself on the hill and watched the local maniacs go about their business.

Elliot Marshall struggles through numerous perfect barrels around his South Coast home plus the odd desert jaunt.

Mick Fanning and Mason Ho find cold waves and clarity in the frozen north.

It's come and gone, but the East Coast's 'Black Nor'Easter' swell has left a lasting mark on the coastline. Many rock platforms were reshaped under the might of that storm.