me. It was to be a late drop as I was under
gunned on my trusty 6’4’’ Dahlberg but I was
up for the challenge as I felt the water start
drawing off the reef. I swung around, thrust
forward just as the wave jacked and took a
couple of deep strokes. I jumped to my feet
as I began my late descent, watching the
shallow corals bottom the wave out so the
lip was only a couple of feet behind me. The
drop had my heart in my mouth. Hitting the
bottom, I compressed and then extended into
a backside bottom turn that Barry K would
have been proud of. The lip had to be content
with exploding behind the tail of my board as
I jetted up the face and railed a massive top
turn. Swooping, driving, angling, the feeling
of precision timing on a bigger wave rates up
there with the ultimate things you can do on
this planet. I rode it for a couple of hundred
metres, senses buzzing and flicked off.
“Whooaaa yeah!” I let out in ecstasy.
I sat and watched a couple of waves drill
past as I gained my composure. That wave
had just made my trip so worth it. When you
surf all your life these moments of pure stoke
remind you about why you’ve sacrificed so
much in your life just to be a surfer, though
most surfers wouldn’t see choosing a freebird lifestyle as a sacrifice. Any real surfer
knows sacrifices are only things that keep us
out of the water, totally the opposite.
Both Guru and Mad Man had enjoyed their
stay but seemed never to get out of first
gear. Or maybe they were cruising in fifth ...
whatever the gear, we had been travelling
at different speeds. The thread being
acceptance of each other, mates no matter
where each other was at.
Check out Matthew Ellks’ surf novel
epic Scum Valley - detailing life on the
beach in Bondi during the 80s and 90s
- www.scumvalleybondi.com
I’m sure it won’t be the last surf trip we spend
together either. Just hope next trip they get
wet a lot more and pull in so I can let out a
few coooo-eees as they pass me down the
line //
LiQUiFY | 131