Gallery: Best of 2018
2018 was another so so year of waves on the Australian East Coast. Autumn and winter failed to deliver as per last year, with only a couple of standout days for the whole season.
The modus operandi was then to chase surf out of Sydney during the weekends to squeeze the most out of the size and also score the best conditions. There were a few epic sessions through the year and with hardly any other surfers to be found, just me and my mates surfing perfect empty beach and point setups.
Interspersed with this was a late season trip to the North Shore and mid-year Euro trip, scoring fun summer sessions at Hossegor and a couple of empty surfs at Bakio, deep in the beautiful Basque Country.
One highlight was teaching an Austrian guy how to position and read waves at a beach further west in Andrin. He'd split with his partner, sold the house and travelled with a caravan to the coast to learn to surf. Not a soul in the water and with a peaky north-east windswell, Martin had good balance from a snowboarding background but just needed tips on where to position himself and which waves to go for. After a few pointers he was riding the crystal clear walls all the way to shore, both of us stoked and sharing shapely peaks in a quiet corner of northern Spain.
The snow season was one of the best in over a decade providing plenty of quality powder days and a great backup as the surf faltered through winter. This also produced a prolonged spring touring season which was capitalised on, bookended by a final trip in November in which Shane Ackerman put his slab hunting skills to the test. When we tried to coax him down one of the steeper and tighter rocky chutes, the reply of “I'd rather go straight at The Right” revealed he is still just like us mere mortals.
As the year started to wind down, a winteresque Surf Coast swell in November looked too good to pass up, and a quick strike mission was organised. Scoring clean 4-6ft+ reef waves with fairly low numbers was a highlight and without the hassle of those freezing mid-winter temperatures.
On a final note, the Swellnet Boardswap fundraiser for the Lifeline Classic was a huge success and we'll be holding another bigger event early in the new year.
Let's hope 2019 provides a bit more consistent swell action across the East Coast. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Comments
You sure know how to rub it in eh.......ferk ........well done Craig...
Get a job. Oh wait...
Bloody hell Craig! What a year! Love the snow shots too.
Hopefully there's some fun clear water kegs about on Sunday to wrap up the year in style.
Well done , Craig.
Best of luck for future missions.
Fortune favours the brave.
Thanks guys, if anything just also some motivation for those who don't already to go on a roadtrip and score good, less crowded waves. The journey is half the fun ay, well maybe one quarter the fun!
Siiiiiiiiick
Hmm could be some free accommadation on offer Craig!
Some great missions Craig and always enjoy your photos.
That photo of the tent in the snow under the stars is epic!
Yeah some of the trips I've had out there either with a full moon or no moon at all are just extraordinary. So many stars when there's no moon that it's hard to pick out the constellations we all know so well. Oh and the shooting stars! Everywhere.
Great pics Craig.
When I saw this one it made me think about how the vastness of space can be so awe inspiring...especially when the nearest solar system would take about 40 000 years to reach using our current technology.
Fuck, you are doing alright Craig!
Just one bone contention. Autumn and Winter were epic here last year.
we had 4 swells in excess of 6ft from the Splendour in the Grass weekend onwards and autumn was as good as it gets.
Ah, case of if I wasn't there, it didn't happen :p Haha.
Nice work Craig, scored big time
Great photos, love the snow camping shot. Kudos for giving the Austrian guy some pointers. His life falls apart then he heads to the coast, picks up a board and bumps into a friendly Aussie, life changed. These chance meetings through travel are soul food and he won't forget his encounter with you.
Yeah we were both frothing as the waves weren't anything special but it was good to share that experience with someone when I was mostly travelling solo. Also met an American guy at the same spot that was camping and owned a brewery just out of San Sebastian. Just didn't manage a time to hook up at the same time when travelling back, as he was going to show me around.
I just checked and found the message from Martin after I sent him some phone shots I took from the water (he wanted a selfie post lesson).
Can you get any more Austrian! Haha
Haha that's quality, stoked! Well if one was needed you've got a good reason to head to San Sebastian next time you are in that neck of the woods. Sampling beer and exploring the area, I can think of worse ways to spend my time! Bayonne is cool if your up that way, home of the ham.
I loved Bayonne! Spent lots of time in, around and through it driving between surf spots and general exploring. Didn’t have a GPS so got to known it inside out haha. The old terraces along the river there are so beautiful as are the old town and cathedral!
Sounds like you had a good look around! The cathedral is beautiful, love how you can see the spires from miles away when driving south towards the town, usually means a long journey is nearly done!
Some nice little lines coming in at Laga beach in that pic. No doubt some nice little nubile, tanned Basque chicas on the sand as well!
Wowee!!!! Fotermania in a nutshell!!! Subscription stampede!!! I’m surprised that you left out perhaps the most swillnut telling shot of all young Craig!!! I was at a loss for words when I saw it!!?? An epic swillnut roadkill under the bus mmmmaaayyttee combo moment!!! A kind of backside, sand munchkin, boogy gringo fandango swillnut toasted pretzel fiasco... That mysterious but telling under the bus ride shot, throws a whole new light on the side show slide show dramatics!!!!
Cool Craig. Don't ever grow up, or get a real job, or a girlfriend. All of them will cut you down to 2 weekends away per year, 1 snow trip, and an overseas adventure looking at art galleries and museums. :-)
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
If you’re lucky.
Wonderful Craig - if you ever have any pointers on snow camping I'm all ears.
2019 is set up to be the first year with no children young or in school in pretty much my adult life. I find I'm looking at increasingly wider swell charts and old panel vans in the classifieds... The winter season, with the best waves and snow, will be the most free. I think I'll try to follow your example.
Yeah for sure. Hit us with an email or something and I’ll be able to help you from there. Gotta say there’s nothing like being so comfortable in such a raw environment that if you didn’t have the gear you’d be dead within minutes.
Great Story. Well done
Great pictures Craig. Says something about the still shot- invites you into the scene with time to imagine yourself there, unlike the busy video .
Thanks guys, had a great trip back to this zone last weekend. About as small as it gets but to surf uncrowded waves in such pristine conditions is what it's all about :)