winter waves
nothing but fun
Gold Coast playground
#30 sep/OCT 2 015
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CONTENTS
NOTHING BUT FUN The last two months deliver perfect beachies and dreamy points on a rare combo of elements - this is our journal!
COVER Out of all the images you see in this issue, we believe this one starring Dion Atkinson sums up the word ‘fun’ the MOST. What could be more fun than gin-clear water, blue skies and two-tofour foot peaks unloading 50 metres from the beach? Nothing! Unless of course you’re a mad charger and eight foot slabs are your thing, but even then, deep down, you’d find this unloading beachie a whole lotta fun! Photo: AM.
18secon d s
a pack involved in crimes such as running guns down to the beach when it's 10-foot-plus and illegal carry-on luggage weights: andy morris editor
andy@18seconds.com.au
alicia smith designer
alicia@18seconds.com.au
russell ord photo editor ordy@me.com
contributors
18seconds is self-published six times a year in Currumbin, Australia: PO Box 86, Tugun, QLD 4224. Views expressed by authors aren’t necessarily those of the publisher and editor. Copyright is reserved, so please don’t reproduce our pages for anything. Email addresses are published for professional communication and swell alerts only.
ted grambeau chris burkard duncan macfarlane ed sloane andrew christie leroy bellet billy morris lee pegus peter 'joli' wilson jason corroto jake 'yaki' newell – music ink dwayne fetch – video james driscoll – proof reading jake williams – designer
E D N ote
30 issues. The big three-o. 30 issues! That’s quite a milestone for us kooks from Currumbin. To celebrate we did absolutely fuck-all. Actually I tell a lie. We knocked the top off a few Coronas (with lime) when we realised we were up to number 30… and once this issue’s live (and you’re reading this), we’ll be knocking the top off a few more Coronas (with lime). And we’ll go out for Mexican to celebrate.
As for the issue… what’d we do? Well, we crafted a special one bringing you eye candy from one of the dreamiest winters the Gold Coast has seen in 10 years. But it hasn’t been over four foot ya kooks, you say! Yeah totally and we’re not all midgets, but what this winter lacks in size, it made up for in two-to-four foot consistency, epic banks, blue skies and crisp offshores.
the 2015 winter has been plagued by small to medium swells, crisp offshore winds, an abundance of tightly packed sand in all the right places and uncrowded sessions. it's been such a bad plague... said no one ever! Photo: AM
Seriously, the state of the sand along the Gold Coast is mind bending right now. It’s hard to leave and deserves to be documented in a time capsule because it holds a unique place in the Australian surfing experience. Snapper is as good as it gets. Ever. D’bah is a little straight but breaking like your favourite French beachie, (La Graviere, Hossegor) about 50 metres from dry sand
and just totally unloading. It has been for months. The Alley and Burleigh are perfectly packed, along with all the beachies in between. And Straddie. Don’t’ even go there! As you’ll see when you dig in, it’s had its moments too. Here’s to winter (other than autumn), you’re the best pal a surfer could ever have! Andy Morris
This isn’t Mick’s first time back in the water after you know what. It’s about his seventh (we were there for his actual first time though, which you’ll see down the line). This day was horrendous at Snapper. Between the pros, semi pros, everyday punters and photographers all aiming for the same thing – a piece of the magical sand build at Snapper, chaos ensured. As for Jesse the photog who nailed this shot, although you can’t see all the people, it has a certain beautiful chaos feelin’ about it. can you dig? Photo: Jesse Little
nothing but fun
“The best session I had this winter was definitely at South Straddie. We had some nice westerly winds with an east swell and no one was on to it. There were just a handful of us out getting barrelled off our heads. These are the days you remember for a long time.� Bede Durbidge
PHOTO: AM
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“The waves have been really fun this winter. It is the most time I have ever spent around the Gold Coast this time of the year and it’s definitely my favourite – the cold offshores every morning remind me of home in South Australia and with waves up and down the coast, it's always fun getting in your car trying to find some peaks or some drainers on the points.” Dion Atkinson
PHOTO: AM
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Tim Macdonald is a surf coach for the HPC (High Performance Centre) in northern New South Wales. They churn out great surfers and it’s easy to see why, when the coaches tear the bags and draw lines like this. Photo: AM
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“The session we had over at Straddie was special: there was barely anyone around, which meant you could choose a peak to yourself and only a few other guys instead of 20. The all day offshores and three-to-four foot swell made for a long day of surfing.� Sheldon Simkus
PHOTO: AM
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South Straddie. Wednesday 5 August, 2015. Photo: AM
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“It’s been a sick winter. The stand out for me was having so many sessions at Straddie without many people. I haven’t seen the bank so close to shore and perfect in a long time.” Eddie Kelly
PHOTO: AM
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We were over at Straddie for eight hours this day. Our first session went for five hours straight. Then it was a quick lunch break and back out there for another three hours till the sun went down. Needless to say, we were all fried at the end of it (except Sheldon Simkus who spent so much time in the toobe!). Photo: AM
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Jamie O‘Brien made softboards legit and now hard charging big wave surfers, like Ryan ‘Hippo’ Hipwood pictured here are getting in on the act. This day Hippo decided to take advantage of the hollow conditions and took a bunch of new softboards across the seaway to Straddie for a potential new sponsor. He had a pink and a green one! Photo: AM
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The Gold Coast City Council is developing a Surf Management Plan and want your input. How about... more groynes (or outer-reefs), more waves, more barrels, less erosion! Win, win. And a win for Brent Dorrington pictured here enjoying the fruits of beachside alterations by man! Photo: AM
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A bit of communication in the lineup and everyone’s happy. Sheldon Simkus goes the right, while Tim Macdonald slips into the left. Photo: AM
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The champ, Mick Fanning dodgin' the masses on a crowded Saturday in August. Photo: AM
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Off the beaten path. Thursday 20 August, 2015. Photo: AM
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Master of being a sponsored freesurfer, Jackson Coffey slips under the cover of a sucky beachbreak moments after paddling out. Like, one minute after! Photo: AM
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Josh ‘Pinny’ Dowthwaite on a golden winter afternoon. We asked him about the nickname ‘Pinny’. The story goes, when he was a grom he used to call his brother pindick (for obvious reasons). But somehow, the insult backfired and he ended up the victim! Photo: AM
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Rising Coolie star, Sheldon Simkus mixing things up with Jetski assist. Photo: AM
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It’s the go to for thousands of surfers every year and it’s photographed to death, but D’bah… she never gets old. here's Jacob Delaney moments before the spit hurled him out of the tube. Photo: AM
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“I don’t think it gets much better than what it’s been unless you really want to charge heavy waves. It has been a playground up here and one of the best winters I have ever experienced in my life. It gets really cold down in South Oz and your froth levels definitely start to dry up… but not on the Goldie!” Dion Atkinson
PHOTO: jesse little
nothing but fun
Ryan ‘Hippo’ Hipwood calculating what needs to be done to deal with the oncoming sections: the backwash, which you can see moving towards him in the bottom right corner and the throwing lip, which he has to pull under. Oh and the creepy man with the blue flippers? Mr Andrew Shield. Photo: AM
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Probably the most documented Snapper wave in the history of surfing. Jarrah Tutton nailed a late drop to setup wave of the day on this morning. Let’s break down the angles: Jarrah was filming his point of view with a GoPro. Mysurftv were filming another water angle. The Mad Hueys were also filming another water angle. We had this angle covered, which came with a bunch of fisheye shots (pictured) and a Gopro clip. And Craig Halstead was filming from land (an there were also a bunch of other land based filmers and photogs scattered around the point). Talk about angles galore! Photo: AM
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The significance of this tiny wave? Contrary to media reports, this is actually Mick’s very first surf after you know what. He lasted about 25 mins: he caught maybe four waves before he ran back to his car to avoid the pap'. Photo: AM
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Gold Coast pro surfer turned highly skilled carpenter, Corey Ziems entered this section with tremendous speed and easily made the exit. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if they’re going to make a barrel from in the toobe shots like this, but we can guarantee, he did! Photo: AM
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Sheldon Simkus enjoying his first year out of high school as a pro surfer. we've watched him progress for the last six years and knew he would go places. and look at him now: He's been supported by a major sponsor and he's made his surfing dream a reality through developing his talent and lots of hard work. Photo: AM
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Noa Deane jams the breaks and slips into something a little more comfortable. Photo: AM
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an Undisclosed location blowing our little minds that no one was even looking at these lefts. Thursday 20 August, 2015. Photo: AM
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When Bede Durbidge arrives at Straddie it’s usually on the back of a ski. So when he showed up out the back of the surf zone in a police patrol boat we were a little confused. Had he been in trouble with the law? Had he gone off the rails? Will he be able to compete at Chopes? Turns out he’d waved down his cop friend who’d given him a lift over from the carpark. The boys in blue dropped him straight into the lineup and he finally scored some good waves this winter. Photo: AM
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We’ve watched Asher Wales flourish into a well rounded surfer. He holds his own power and rail games. And now, with a little bit more confidence in the boot (thanks to a new sponsor with O’Neill Australia), he’s pushing his air game. And in case you’re wondering what he’s doing here: he’s rotating through a forehand oop. Photo: AM
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Dion Atkinson from the same session where this issues cover is from. Photo: AM
nothing but fun
Sheldon Simkus refused to leave the water until he saw us going through his bag of food. Luckily for him, he has sharp eyes, saw what was going down and was running up the beach faster than we could peel open his organic bananas. Refuelling was essential to get us into the golden hour. Photo: AM
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Corey Ziems rolling into summer. Photo: AM
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Jackson Coffey enjoying a left barrel in the land of dreamy right points. It’s funny how many lefts you find on the Gold Coast, when you actually start looking for them! Photo: AM
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An unknown surfer sets up a dreamy looking barrel at Straddie. Usually, there’d be anywhere between 20-60 surfers spread along the 800 metre stretch of peaks. This day however, caught most people off guard and there were only about 15. Photo: AM
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“The sand bank at Snapper is the best I've ever seen it. The way it formed and packed in quickly was amazing. This swell was a fun size at two-to-three foot with the odd bigger one. The way the sand was, meant the waves were running ruler edge and so perfect. You could have easily taken off behind the rock and be barrelled to Little Marley, but it's easier said than done. There were at least 10 people paddling for your wave just after takeoff behind the rock. Then at least five-to-ten photogs in front of you. Then through the middle section, there were another 20 or so people trying to paddle for your wave and they’d either get sucked over or crumble the section! But, when you got one of the bombs, all you had to do was sit in the pocket and lean back as far as you could, to keep your nose up and not grab a rail.” Sheldon Simkus
PHOTO: AM
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This wave was one of Bede’s first waves of the day and you could tell it was going to be a good one because it had a heavy double up section down the line. And sure enough, as he made his way back to the takeoff area, he claimed (with the biggest grin) it was one of the best waves he’s ever had out there. Photo: AM
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Reef Doig’s an Aussie kid who’s spent the better half of his life growing up in Bali. He’s been mentored by Tai Buddha (the go to man on the island for everything to do with finding good waves and having a good time – so we don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing!) but the kid now resides on the Gold Coast whilst he focuses on his final years at school. Needless to say he didn’t attend many classes this day. Photo: AM
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Not only do photographers have to worry about the wind, tide, swell and light all coming together (and getting into position), there’s a new threat emerging: it’s called the Gopro and it’s coming to an image near you. Like most things in life, you can choose to neg on it or embrace it. Although they look ridiculous in the mouth (particularly on Josh Dowthwaite pictured here) we choose the latter! Photo: AM
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Noa Deane: another perfect afternoon in southern Queensland. Photo: AM
There were four big great whites in the Lennox area this morning (50 mins after this photo was taken). Police parked on the headland and hit the sirens to warn surfers out of the water, but to their frustration were, ignoring requests, one female officer told us. With a new southeast swell in the water, crisp offshores, sunshine and an amazing sandbank who’s to blame them. But in the end the fun police won, as a jet boat came around the corner and sent everyone in. It’s amazing how many sharks they see, once they start looking for them (who would have thought!). Photo: AM
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Nick Vasicek slides into a perfectly groomed wave at South Straddie. Vasa, who runs his own furniture business in between pro surfing commitments, makes the great sport fit perfectly into his lifestyle. Photo: AM
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“Snapper has the most hectic bank I’ve seen since 2007 and it’s so perfectly lined up. Kirra on the other hand hasn’t done anything in a while which is a bummer. [editor note: hasn’t broken properly for over a year since August 2014]. All in all, unless I was living in a place like Pipe or Tahiti ect. I would say the Goldie is as good as it gets for sure with so many great options. The only downside to this area are the lack of reef breaks and the crowds, but hey I’m not complaining!” Ed Kelly.
PHOTO: AM
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Sheldon Simkus: seven hours later and we still couldn't get the kid out of the water. Photo: AM
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An unknown surfer enjoying winter and the lack of crowds during the working week. Photo: AM
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We all know what’s lurking for Queensland surfers: the dreaded northerly seabreezes which hit with the onset of spring and last right up through until Christmas. Here’s Bede milking winter for all it’s worth. Photo: AM
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Unknown surfer during an afternoon at Snapper. During the arvo light ,it's one of the only places along the Coast where you can watch the sun set behind water, due to the shape of the protruding headland. Photo: AM
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Dion Atkinson laying into a D’bah nugget. Photo: Jesse Little
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Sheldon Simkus finding happiness in the ocean, while we pin down the exact sensation in a fleeting moment. Photo: AM
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Korbin Hutchings is a kiwi kid with a really strong Aussie ascent. Why? Because he’s spent the better half of his life on this sun drenched land mainly for reasons like this. Photo: AM
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Undisclosed location with an amazing angle of sand along the point. Saturday 18 July, 2015
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Noah Lane and the feeling when home turns into paradise. Photo: AM
Ed Kelly is a local surfboard glasser who works for DHD (Darren Handley Designs). He’s managed to create a career around the ocean, where he gets to pick and choose when to surf. we're Not sure if many boards were glassed this day! Photo: AM
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Get it while you can. Dion Atkinson soaks up the last of winter. Photo: AM
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Brent Dorrington. D’bah, circa August 2015. Photo: AM
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East swell energy unloads on Sheldon Simkus at South Straddie: an island held close to the heart by many surfers and holds a unique place in the Australian surfing experience. Photo: AM
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Barrels and breaches with Jay ‘Bottle’ Thompson. We were only saying prior to this photo being taken, how cool (and unique) it would be if Bottle pulled in when a whale was breaching. Much to our disbelief, it happened minutes later! Photo: AM
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Noah Lane pulls into a dreamy beachbreak barrel where we’ve managed to capture the wave’s entire falling lip, feathered by a chilly westerly breeze. Photo: AM
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“The state of the sand at the moment on all the points is as good as I’ve ever seen it. It’s such a same there hasn't been any solid east swells or we would have been getting 30 second barrels… but I’ll take slightly smaller, 15 seconds barrels any day!” Bede Durbidge.
PHOTO: AM
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