Packing the van the night before, a full fuel tank, healthy food and flasks of hot drinks all make the difference or at least helps to suppress my OCD. Dry wetsuits, spare paddles and leashes are all in there too as well as my trusty O’Neill flotation vest. There’s been a lot of talk lately in big wave surfing of the new generation of inflatable flotation devices. I myself am still a big advocate of regular passive flotation so you don’t have the risk of the inflation device not working plus there’s all the heat benefits on insulating your torso between two blocks of foam all in a bright neon easy to spot package – I’ll take safety over soul surfing’s all black look any day! I pull up to the break, it’s a remote boulder reef with a channel open on all but the biggest of days. A slowly decaying harbour sits behind the break, a convenient launch spot where fishing boats sit out the storms as their crews look curiously at my craft and intentions. I sense their doubts on my designs as I scramble over the first set. It’s bigger than it looked from land…I remind myself that it’s always bigger than it looks and I am certain the fishermen knew that too.
