incidents along the northern NSW coastline
- an unprecedented series of shark related
events that have now put the world’s surfing
communities on edge.
Mike was on his annual holiday that he’s
been taking for years, renting a magic pad in
Lennox and getting some serious down time
done whilst sliding down the magnificent point
break’s edge. He’d been in that place many
times before and was sitting inside the main
take-off zone, down the point a little in an
attempt to jag a few of the waves that might
slip under the main pack.
It was July 3rd, and the talk of sharks had
already filled the air on the Lennox headland
as a day earlier, bodyboarder Mathew Lee
had been hit by a large great white at Ballina’s
Lighthouse Beach, just 8km to the south. Mr
Lee suffered catastrophic injuries to his legs
that left him fighting for his life. He is only now
- more than a month later - beginning his long
rehabilitation.
“
It’s almost like a monster,
just a gigantor, had grabbed
my surfboard and was holding
it like it was in a vice
- Mike Hoile
Mike was surfing with his brother Phil and the
surf was pumping. They had been out for a
while and were nearing the end of their session
when all hell broke loose. Mike detailed his
encounter to LiQUiFY “We were on edge anyway, because of the
Ballina one the day before. Normally we would
get out in the water about half an hour earlier
than we did that day. From the verandah of
where we stay, we could see there’s guys
out surfing and we thought, well if they’re out
there surfing ... let’s go for a surf! The surf was
absolutely pumping, a new swell, but the new
swell stirred up the water a little bit - it wasn’t
as clear. It had been, on the days prior, crystal
clear and absolutely perfect as far as water
visibility goes.
“The swell had changed, it was a sort of angry
swell, and I hadn’t quite got my head around
surfing it, and in the early part of that session I
wasn’t getting any good waves like the locals
were. So I moved in a bit, and managed to
snare a good one, from further inside, about 20
metres inside from where you’d usually jump
off and paddle out and yeah, it was a beautiful
wave - all the way through past the hut. I
thought well, I’ll go back to that area again and
try and get another good one.
“I’d been out a fair while, in the water. So I was
just sitting there, looking out to sea and waiting
for the next wave to come flying by. Then just
out of the clear blue sky - bang - just like I’d
been run over by a truck, or as if you were,
say, sitting in your car and someone from out
of nowhere smashed into your car and you
didn’t see it coming. It was just so sudden, and
you don’t think, well I didn’t think at the time,
what’s happening, what’s going on.
“In the actual split-second that it happened,
it’s almost like a monster, just a gigantor, had
grabbed my surfboard and was holding it like it
was in a vice - for that split-second - and that
force threw me from my surfboard, with that
force.
“Next thing you know I’m sitting in the wate