How do you summarise three days of incredible waves?
Three days where the average wave height on the Sydney buoy didn’t drop below five metres.
You read that right, from Monday to Wednesday the Significant Wave Height flat-lined at five metres, while the Maximum Wave Heights hovered between eight to eleven metres.
From the outset, this swell event was shaping up to be another marathon. That’s on top of the equally persistent trough-block swell through early-mid July and the similar but slightly weaker swell producer through the end of June.
The past two months have been incredible on the East Coast and this gallery comes as the swell still pushes in at 6-8 feet, with a full weekend of waves yet to come.
With the swell being so large and local winds generally strong from the southern quadrant, there's only been a handful of spots handling the energy. This one in particular has been offering back to back days of heavy, unpredictable surf when it’s usually a half-day affair.
With such a prolonged run of heavy water, there’s a myriad of stories to be told, but I’ve condensed the last three days of action to these twenty shots. Enjoy.
Sam Jones inside a Hawaiian-sized barrel
Speaking of Hawaiian, here's Koa Rothman who was unable to get around this section, while the photo below shows what could have been.
Wade Clemens (above and below) making an incredible recovery
Adam Darsley full throttle
Max Hyett training for dummy half
Jethro James flirting with the foamball
Gordon Dreyer with a bit of work ahead of him
George Langley taking the unconventional route
Sam Jones (above and below) charging a 15-footer. After air-dropping the step, it all came to an abrupt end (below)
Tom Myers amongst the maelstrom
Billy Langley riding a shorter board on a perfect one at dawn
Lachie Rombouts (above and below) gets the payoff: negotiating the imperfections on takeoff, to reach the perfect slot down the line. These are just two images of a twenty shot sequence.
Max Hyett frozen in time - better get a move on but
Zac Ghabrial on a freshly aquired stick (care of Camel)
Joel Hittmann dressed in black, surrounded by blue
Comments
Fun few days!
That was incredible Craig! Sydney Shippies
Gnarly! I rather sit on my bum on land
Unreal shots Craig! I had the pleasure of watching this from the water as well - from about 100m away at the next break down. About as close as I want to get, bloody hellmen!!
Sydney doing a Shippies.
Mad pics. Kudos to those who took it on.
Unreal Pics
Next Swell..... Mia's DaD will Go.
Fantastic shots Craig, that boog photo is sick! Look forward to Koa's inevitable video.
What's your call for Koa's clickbait wave size in the vid title? I'm going with 30ft.
Haha! It's weird that a Hawaiian does that. "10ft Bowls" was nowhere near 10ft even by Aus standards. Perhaps he's adopted the Surfline scale or should we say 'spectrum' because he's clearly on it.
sam is an absolute hellman. so sick, craig
Epic pics. Must have been crazy being out there. Hats off to all the surfers having a dig. Especially the goofy footers.
Where was i ?
Likely sucking on a cocktail after a pumping day somewhere like Tahiti, Fiji or similar...you certainly get around!!!!
ha. I'm guessing i know exactly where you were TB.
Probably somewhere in the vicinity of where i was too.
Unreal shots Craig. Truly top shelf.
Probably one of the best galleries i've seen over the years on SN and that's saying something considering the esteemed company of TB and the like.
Hats off to all the chargers out there.
Mixing more shitty music for yr next vid drop?
I found a few at, ahem, less exposed places
On the 3rd shot (and last) of Sam Jones' 15 footer, was that bare Deadmans ledge sticking out of the water, bottom left of shot. Got goosebumps looking at Sam being drilled below ledge level......
Why is it called deadmans ???
hey craig, curious to know how you went swimming out there? current okay? you get caught inside at all?
The current once past 2nds isn't too bad, though on the higher tide Wednesday afternoon with the swell pulsing through, it was actually moving quite a bit. Nah not caught inside, had a few solid lumps pass under me but sit just beyond the ledge so generally fine, even if 10-12ft.
amazing photo's craig...
Great stuff Craig, love your work!
Koa Stuck behind and Straightened out and then a Broken Board.......
Should have let Sam have it he was already Stroking in but Koa called him off. . .
Yeah Jonesy is filthy.
Yeah, and apparently his brother burnt a local really badly at Cloudbreak once. So no one is going to be nice out there to the Rothman sisters.
How damn cringey is the acting and self promotion. "well I found that step!". I'd rather be a plumber and remain fair dinkum than copy Nic Von Knobhead to make a few bucks.
Imagine S.J. in Pole Position at 15 ft Pipe and calling off Rothman . . .
Haha
That first one of Lachie Rombouts is an absolute cracker. Would love to see the full sequence.
Will have the seq and a bit of a write up.
can't wait! Lachie in full beardy mode?
Great pics Craig. Some seriously big waves there!
Awesome stuff!! The monster barrel pic is incredible.
Hawaiian size indeed.. Id go as far to say it’s a select group of Hawaiians that could boast a photo of themselves in a barrel that big!
(paddle in)
awesome shot of Zac G
His old man would be proud as!
Ride on Zac
So, so proud. It was his first time out there and he surfed it like he had years of experience. I missed his bomb as I filled my card and hard to swim back in, but that board from Camel suited him to a t.
Great to hear thanks Craig
And lovely style Zac
2nd that Salty
Hilarious localism, what a cute little sign. I bet they spoke shit about him really loudly within earshot too. Can't be mad at being called off a wave when you oblige and let him go. Though it appears they didn't allow a second one lol.
Friggen 'ell. Mmerd.
great pics!
floated around the second break inside and get a couple while marveling at the core-lord lunatics flinging themselves into those waves. for anyone wondering there's not many makes on the real heavy ones and it's an absolute gamble. so heavy.
I paddled over. After 20 min, I was hoping for a dignified exit. 5min later, I was wading the injured guy in on my board into Shelly, a clubbie who was training took over at the Bower. Wave of coneaquence.
Well-named break. Great coverage Craig.
Great effort Craig did anybody actually make those big ones it looks like they all got munched after the take off.
^ ^ ^
Z.G. on the D.S. ...BooM ...Fine Effort Son... Yew!
And Crangle Sporting the Full Kit.
Thanks guys, stoked on how the images came out. Some crazy moments.
Had such a blast watching from the safety of the cliff. Would love to hear an interview with Sam. That wipeout was horrendous.
Few proper nut jobs. I left well after dusk as I couldn’t see the lineup, but there were still 4-5 guys in. Waiting.