Jason Polakow
The best part of the wave is the end section where the wide west sets break and peel all the way down to ‘Shish Kebabs’, where its super shallow and hollow and photographers can just sit in the channel and score amazing images.
This particular swell was very south making most of the rideable waves at the top end of the reef a nightmare for the film and photographer guys to shoot.
Massive 10-ft sets broke on the outer part of the reef every hour or so, so it was a gamble to either sit on the far outside and get the bomb sets that started nice and far out, but, because of the extreme south direction had no shoulder as they hit the bottom end of the reef, or you could risk it and sit on the inside section and wait for the smaller west sets. You couldn’t see nor catch the smaller west sets from the outside so you had to either risk it and sit inside or wait on the outside.
It was a very tricky day and prior knowledge of the wave was key. Scotty and myself were lucky enough to catch a few smaller west sets that peeled all the way down-the-line and Phillip had a few nice bombs on the outside, but wiped-out early and had no spare gear. For me it was definitely the trickiest conditions I’ve had at Cloudbreak, especially with the low cloud, slight rain showers and shifting wind conditions. It only takes me one ‘SICK’ wave to make the trip worthwhile and I had at least 5 of those so I was
super-happy.
