East Coast Roast!

If you haven’t paid attention the East Coast of Australia has been on fire over the last week with a prolonged run of huge to extra huge south swells smacking the coast. Everywhere has been on fire and for most it was a great week for perching up and watching the organised chaos unfold.

The first stop on our tour was down on the South Coast to check out a rich slab zone. Unfortunately, the early very south swell direction left much of these stable score zones somewhat underwhelming and others zones very windy. We found shelter inside a protected point break headland with some 6-8ft windy bombs breaking out the back and a cleaner 3-4ft groomed runner racing along the inside. We dabbled in a little bit of both but as per usual the inside was the go.

Inside drainers always win

Knee boarder dealing with the elements on the outside

What most of the coast looked like on the first day of the swell, huge and windy !

Next, we were back to Dan's (boardsox co-founder) Sydney beachside town. It's unique to have a city with surf, only a few come to mind such as Rio De Janeiro, Cape Town and some of the USA beachside towns like San Clemente etc, but personally, we think Sydney takes the cake. So its pretty special to see when an XL swell hits that places within a stone's throw of the CBD are able to flex their feathers and hold swell as well as Sydney gems do.

It’s an incredibly challenging wave that only breaks when it's over 6-8ft+ and is characterised by breaking directly on the cliff face and by its Shipsterns-like boil popping up straight after taking off on a hectic wedged-up slab.

The local boys rightly hold it down and the skill level to bravery level is apparent equal in parts. You can do everything right on one of these waves and it will still not be enough with chandelling lips and mutant boils taking you down or more likely the infamous end section just shutting down. There was carnage out there with the Ambulance showing up after one of the local chargers went down on one of the waves of the day and we heard he unfortunately broke his arm.

Besides the local talent, there was also international talent in the lineup with Hawaiian royalty Koa Rothman flying in for the swell. Koa was accompanied by Eastern Beaches chargers and Bra Boy Jesse Pollock, Bondi lifeguards Clint Kimmins and Jethro James. Koa felt the full wrath of the wave with his first bomb getting lit up on a monster, snapping his board and being subsequently washed in. This may have put a smile on a few of the local's faces, who weren’t loving the potential attention Koa’s VLOG “ This is living” would throw on the break. However, we don’t think they need to be too overly concerned with the wave itself and the tight local pack proving to be enough barrier to entry for the majority of Meer mortals.

We caught up with local water photographer Robin Corvest to get his perspective from arguably one of the best sessions at his local heavy water spot that has gone down.

Sam Jones on a bomb

Local charger finds a dreamy one

Peeping through the trees at one sneaking through

inside cone zone

Body surfer picking one of many on the inside

Koa Rothaman Jags a Bomb

Koa makes this one, after getting flogged on his previous one and snapping his board

Some of the local crew not so happy with Rothman & filming entourage that were in town

Boardsox Co-Founder Dan put the camera down to get a couple around the corner

- Hey Mate, tell us how your session was?

The swell was pretty consistent during 2/3 days, south/southeast swell with a solid west wind. I parked my car and had a look for 10 mins from the cliffs and then I saw a bodyboarder going on a bomb and then I jumped in the water. In the water, we can feel that the energy was kind of wild and powerful when the sets were coming, some waves were gnarly but I love those conditions, they push you and give you some adrenalin. The vibe in the water is so cool, everyone is pushing each other, and you can hear people from the cliffs yelling and whistling when the guys get a wave or when the set is coming. I’m looking forward to the next big swell!

- How long were you out there for and how was the energy of the ocean?

I spent 2 hours and a half in the water. The ocean was wild and powerful, some waves were scary, gnarly and big. It’s like a big show to watch and feel and for me as a photographer, I try to capture the best moments, the vibes, the power, the excitement, all the feelings in the water.

- You’ve shot it before, how does it compare to other sessions you’ve had out there?

This swell was consistent for 2/3 days and this spot needs great conditions. I’ve been shooting this spot a couple of times, it wasn’t as big as in 2022 but still pretty solid!

- Is it a hard spot to shoot- what are the elements you contend with current, closeout sections or something else?

This spot is special, as you have the cliffs just facing the wave and one big section where the surfers can get barreled. The current is always pushing you back so you are always swimming and trying to get a better angle. You need to be closer to the section but every wave is kind of different when they hit the section. Not an easy wave to read but when it works, it's worth it.

- Did you have any stand-out moments from the session, waves or particular surfers who were on a hot streak?

Yeah, a few moments. When some guys, surfers and bodyboarders got barreled you could hear the people yelling and cheering from the cliffs. It’s more the atmosphere of the session that I remember. A couple of guys were charging, Tom Myers, Sam Jones, Joey Morto…

- What was your favourite picture of the session?

One of my favourites is that one (see attached). The lip is thick, happy about the angle, we can see the size of the wave and how hard is to surf the spot.

- Where can people find your photos?

You can find me on Instagram robin.corvest.photography and myself in the water around the northern beaches!

Robin Corvest

👇 Checkout these massive waves/ pics below!

The next stop on our East Coast Roast trip was further north towards the border of NSW and QLD. The South swell energy didn’t quite hit it like the punch in the face that NSW provided but boy did the points light up in their own right. Our first stop didn’t quite live up to expectations in a well-known point break just south of the border we were a few days late as the biggest day of South Swell blew the good sand banks out of the water and were left with a misshaped bottom of the point.

Initially feeling like we may have made the wrong call to boost the drive up, we ventured a little further north to Australia’s most crowded point break. Our eyes lit up as 3-5ft perfectly lined up peelers ran down the iconic Australian point break. The stoke levels were high and arriving in the middle of the day after a week or so of pumping surf there the crowd was remarkably chill compared to what it can get like on other swell events. The sweep and current make you work hard for them but when you get a good one it pays off in spades. Over the two days, it felt like you were in a triathlon doing the rock jump off at Snapper to getting multiple waves ending up in Greenmount Beach and then running back around to the rock jump at Snapper.