Deadmans: Raw
It looks so good in the stills, eh?
Or when viewing that one-wave-in-a-hundred hitting the ledge perfectly
Here's seven minutes of raw Deadies footage that betrays the real wave.
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Comments
Fearless.
Jesus Christ
holy shit!!
Unreal. What a Deadie beast of a wave.
far out this is so sick
Nice
The May swell was the most user friendly I’ve seen it, maybe more south swell direction, slightly smaller and slightly shorter interval plus very light winds?? Sunday 2-4pm that weekend almost looked inviting.
Interested to hear how the last two swells compare if possible
that was great, thanks!
Fucking hell, that was hectic. I was writhing and ducking in my seat.
It's kind of hard to get a grasp of the size/style of the wave from the cliff angle. Some of the water shots look insane, really wide tube. Big wave charger stuff.
But from this angle, and in this vid it kind of looks like a surging/burgery take off, to a suck rock, to a deeper water close out. Is this pretty much it? Are you lucky if you line up the suck rock and it reels off to an exit on the odd occasion? Is it something your average joes (rightly or wrongly) have a crack at? Or is it just local pros? Do people get badly banged up/two wave hold downs etc?
Interested to know how powerful/sketchy it really is. Coming from mainly surfing in VIC, SA and Indo I'm too used to longer period energy to really understand the difference in power to a large ECL swell. For example, To me that doesn't look too different to say Shippies on face value, but I'm sure it would be leagues apart?
I'll chime in here. I was in the water yesterday and can answer some of your questions.
- The wave is really super steep, fast drop, and then sometimes barrels on the inside ledge. You can pick the ones that hit the ledge because they have more wall, but it's luck whether it lets you out. Too much wall and it does just closeout.
- However, the video doesn't do it justice. It comes out of really deep water and just unloads on the first patch of reef. The wave moves faster then any other slab I've surfed. This swell in particular was more 'unsurfable' then any other swell I've seen there. Maybe because it had more east and a foot or two bigger, but it was crazy. There were some really good surfers out there and they weren't even able to paddle into the bombs. What the video doesn't show is the amount of waves that went unridden because you couldn't paddle fast enough to make it down the face.
- Being an average joe, I enjoy giving it a crack. I've surfed it on a few of the recent swells and had fun, but this swell was different and only the really good guys were getting waves and making them. You also couldn't sit on the inside, which I normally do (and leave the bombs to the others) because the inside ledge was throwing too hard and fast. You also need a bigger board to generate enough paddle power to make it down the face. My biggest board is a 6'0. I'm currently scrolling gumtree looking for step ups.
- The hold downs are bad, particularly the clean up sets if you don't make the drop. My mate chargers and he reckons he had his longest hold down there yesterday. It's actually not too shallow and you rarely hit the bottom, and although you are right in front of the cliff, the sweep normally takes you down the point. I've never seen anyone washed onto the rocks. So if you can hold our breath, and don't get knocked out by the impact, you're normally fine.
- A few semi-pros were out there, but it's mostly local chargers from the area who have put in the time and built their confidence. But even those guys were struggling.
- I've been out at Shippies once (6-8ft day) and yesterday reminded me of it. If it's like it was yesterday, I don't think they are leagues apart. But then again, it's only like that a few times a decade. The more manageable swells at deadies definitely aren't comparable to shippies.
Hope that answers some of your questions.
There's video footage of Tom Salvesen getting washed up on the rocks there. It wasn't pretty, no platform between the jump rock and Winki so it's just boulders, but after getting bounced a few times he made it to dry rock.
Nice round up, thanks.
Crazy how it's a big drop with speed...to almost stopping dead as it stands up on the ledge.
And yes could image you'd be struggling on a 6'0!
@rb7664 pm me mate. I've got a couple of gun's I'm about to sell.
Chapeau!
Curious to understand how you train for a swell event like that? That is, to be able to flip from surfing 3-5ft beachies to taking 30sec+ hold downs. Whole different level of physical/physiological conditioning required.
hava go ya mug
Wow some ballsy late drops from the local chargers. Looks hard to read which waves will stay open or shut down in front of you.
so good to see so many just having a good honest crack!
Loved it.
Well done all.
Damn you Victorian lockdown. I would so have surfed that. Nah just kidding, leave that stuff to the young kids.
Looks a lot better than the 1-2ft SE we have had this week!
Not to mention Thredbo getting 85cm while Buller getting 0cm. Huey was punishing Victorians for the randy security guard.
Haha you’re not wrong mate. Well today it’s 3 foot so there’s a slight improvement i guess
Loved matching that, a few good waves and some nice beatings. To everyone who caught a wave, thanks for the entertainment.
That was epic, love the raw footage and the hoots. Good to see the local punters giving it a red hot go. And filmed on a iphone? No ads. No pros. No sponsors. A few articles ago Stu you mentioned how pro surfing needs us more than we need it. Case in point.
Watching that all I could think about was 'hungry hungry hippos'...
So wanna manhandle one of those beasties...
Whole crew gets *****...real wild that is...luv it!
give me more! sick
Cannot watch that and not wince a few times at least.
Full credit to the guys who had a crack.
Loved the paddle attempt at 3:10....glad he didn't get on it I'm sure.
And the bloke who flew at 5:56...that would've felt like an eternity in the air.
Crazy! Epic viewing! A few of those surfers were pretty lucky their board's didn't smack them in the head after hitting the eject button.
Great viewing. Super committed takeoffs. Happy to surf some clean easy waves today in a more sheltered spot. Too old for that stuff.
Gutzy effort boys, had butterflies watching those drops........Giddyup
It’s great watching these local chargers giving it a crack. More excitement in that short clip than an entire WSL comp.
Deffo crowd pleaser, styling all the way. Take a bow matey!
I take my hat off to those out there that gave it a crack. Unbelievable.
Thanks for the inside word rb. Nice to hear a firsthand experience.
Fuck thats a piece of water
Anyone know where Jughead surfed - Jug you out there...?
What about Queenscliff bombie, Avericks, etc?
Love the highlights.... u gotta laff!
What the fuck that is absolutely mental, thanks for the insight rb. It's wild how many crew are keen to have a crack. Anyone get caught inside? Can't imagine what it'd be like....
That was insane! I hope that poor booger’s necks in one piece.
Chris rummy charged
I'd rather watch this raw footage any day over the edited MTV videos that we get hit with all the time. The 'ooh's & ahh's' from the cliff are great. The car park was busier this week than any Australia Day. 10pts for the Raw.
https://scontent-syd2-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t50.2886-16/109962183_403229…
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wow, that's incredible
there a some truly large waves in there.
wondering what the waves inside the heads were like ?
Head high+ and pumping (considering how deep in there it was) at one spot
I just love the raw footage. This is a serious wave. Hats off to anyone who pulled in, freaking epic.
I watched a lot of the waves from a south coogee vantage point on Wednesday, just glorious, but this arvo seemed to have even more power. It was BIG.
Those magnificent men in their fantastic plastic flying machines,we
salute you!Woohoo
That's the best clip I've seen since the last best clip with no pros and logos. Way better than the edited commercials we've been so used to seeing. Plus 10-point commentary. Felt like I was on the cliff watching, until my daughter told me to shut up and stop hooting.
I lived in Manly for a few years a long time ago, and surfed Winki a lot with a few second button days here and there with a 100m view to the madness that was Deadmans across the channel. Back in the late 90s there were only ever a handful who had a serious go at it - Daylan Neve and Kai Otton both stand out - and every now and then it looked makeable at 6-8ft but the prospect of one of those hidings was a good deterrent. Winki was hard enough at that size, but this stuff is just firkin silly. There's a lot of shallow water around there. Just shows how far surfing has come in 20 years with the level of commitment/pychosis out there in the current crew.
Would have loved to be in the channel...firmly in the channel...watching this up close. Well done.
Tango your comment sums it up. it was the absolute most ballsy hard core surfing I've seen in years... and the cliff crowd hooting makes this video trump any aerial chucking slo mo new age fluffy music shite. best surfing ive seen in years and hats off to the crew. quite happy to vicariously experience those waves here at home and hoping noone received any fins or pin tails up the back passage or concussion on the shelf... bravo
I'm glad that I don't have the skill for Deadmans. No decision needed whether to take it on or not.
https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/queenscliff/surfing/100-dollar-reward-g…
This is still missing if it hasnt made landfall where might it end up ?