South Coast with Flick
We were headed into the depths of winter. The air had a crisp, cold and gasping feel, and I had an eagle eye on the charts, looking for a hint of adventure and pining for a big wave session. With odds looking better than a steroid-fueled greyhound, I had a sparking thought to team up with legendary big wave surfer Felicity Palmateer on the chance that we may score the sleeping giant, Red Beards, for a rare sighting.
We set off in the early hours on a cold winter morning. I had once again successfully seconded master Kim Feast to document the trip, and I swang around to meet up with Flick in a 4 am blast off to hit the road and begin the hunt with a nervous but frothing demeanour. With a bit of a spark to the trip, the night before, I dyed my hair electric blue for my daughter, Ruby, a frozen fanatic. When we met up, we said our hellos and when the speedo had hit 100, I pulled off my beenie and turned on the light and said, “Hope you don’t mind, I’ve got blue hair”, Flick being the champion that she is, promptly pissed herself laughing and might have agreed that it suited me. Haha
Flick was back in town for a rare moment after spending most of her time performing commentary for the WSL roadshow. Flick is the absolute training machine and dedicated big wave charger. She was fresh from completing a mock Molokai board race with One Ocean international diving legend Joe Knight. Just a lazy 32-mile prone board paddle on a Friday, if you don’t mind. These two are like rabid dogs from the 80’s cult movie Cujo, frothing at the mouth and fizzing like mentos in a can of coke over hard-core training and endurance.
The drive went by in a flash, with Flick and myself solving the world's problems and frothing out on surfing stories as we chewed up the highway in a coffee-fueled morning through majestic fog and an epic sunrise. On arrival, we met up with Feastie and swiftly launched the skis. Flick is generally a paddle lord but was looking to expand her surfing to more tow-orientated surf. We checked a secret wave on our way and decided to stay and surf a few barrels to wash off the drive. We got a few chambers each and decided it was time to continue, find our photographer friend, and get to some serious slabs.
When we arrived at the infamous left Red Beards, it was a foreboding sight. It was brown from river winter water, and the ocean was imperfect. It looked manageable, but no one was surfing. Local lad Ben Rufus was checking it with a young grommet Riley, and they were not convinced it was any good to take on on their backhand.
We did a few rounds on the ski to show Flick where I wanted to be put on the tow, and I had the feeling that she wasn’t feeling the drive on a day that was imperfect and a little evil. It’s an intimidating joint. There is a heavy current, and it’s really hard to gauge just how big it is when no one is out and everyone looks like they don’t want a piece of it. With this in mind, I hit Benny to see if he would sling me in, and he took me up on the offer easily. I had not towed with Benny before, but he knew these waters better than anybody, and I was confident that he would put me where I wanted. It’s a considerable trust, jumping on the rope with someone you don’t know down there. If you are in the wrong spot, shit can go pear-shaped very quickly.
On my first wave, we waited for a while, and my only direction to Benny was to wait for a good one. Benny asked the question when this lump came from the depths, and I was keen. When I let go of this thing, it was touch and go what it would do. After I had committed to the wave, picking my line into it, a step came up the face and I knew I had to hit it straight and steered into it. After a little bump over the step, I saw another step coming up, and I thought ‘Fuck” I hope there is no more after this. Then, after I had made the second one, the wave troughed out over the ledge, and all I had to do was stand in this gaping cavern and enjoy the view.
I indulged in a swag of sick slabbing pits and then decided it was time to get Flick in the pit. We pulled up stumps and headed to a secret slab where we got Flick into some gaping caves, and the day was on. Flick took on the left-hand barrels with ease, and after a gorging feast of left-hand pits, we decided to head back to land and call it a day.
We returned to the ramp and our accommodation as we thought we would hang out the night, see if we could make full pigs of ourselves, and indulge in a second course the next day. When we woke the next day, the swell had dropped. I knew of a beach break that we could surf before heading home. We said our goodbyes to Feastie and headed to the beach, where we were met with some 2-3ft grinding rip bowls. When we arrived, we saw our mate Benny in the carpark. I was still fizzing from the day before, and Benny and I went out to wet our whiskers on some crystal right-hand cylinders. Flick was sore and needed to rest. She was about to embark on another journey to Tahiti only two days later for the Teahupoo contest. I think that she was finally feeling the effects of an adrenaline-fueled day of towing the day before, and the 32-mile paddle was catching up to her. She was, in fact, human.
It was not long into the surf when I went to pull into a small right-hander when my board came flying up at me inside the tube after hitting the shock wave. It smashed me so hard in the side of the cheek that I thought I had shattered my tooth. It sent me in with blood coming out of my mouth and a small 1cm gash on the side of my cheek. We decided it was time to leave and said our goodbyes to Benny. It was not till later in the drive that I discovered that the hole in my cheek actually went entirely through my mouth, and that on the inside of my mouth was a 3cm gash where the tooth had sliced my cheek on the inside and come out the other side. It was a classic finish to a classic trip.
All of my adventures to these places and times shared in these experiences are times that are etched into my mind of unforgettable memories and crazy adventures. Writing about these and sharing these moments is a process that I really enjoy, and I appreciate you reading this content. Thanks for joining me on a trip that Flick and I will not forget in a hurry. Stay tuned for more good times.
All pictures by Kim Feast
