Scott McKercher
Cloudbreak is a long way out to sea. If anything was to go wrong, which I’ve seen out there surfing, it’s a long way to medical attention. The thing is, once I was on the ocean, my nerves became calm with what was happening right now, or for whatever waves were on their way. I was now in the moment. Finally. Our first session was a good aperitif for the main course, which was on its way across the Pacific. Medium-sized waves at logo-to-mast-high. But any day at Cloudbreak can make you pay for being a little reckless. The bottom is razor sharp, with the inside section called Shish Kebabs for a good reason. If you get caught behind the section, a trip over the reef is pretty much inevitable.
It was pretty windy 4.7m conditions and a little bit wobbly with some breaking on the outside and some on the inside, which probably explained why every surfer and his dog wasn’t on it and we could get a few. Even so, there was a splattering of the world’s best surfers in the line-up, (It’s not often you’re bottom turning and seeing Taj Burrow’s head in the lip) but the crowd wasn’t too bad considering the ASP was in town.
