Billabong XXL Ride of the Year Entry.

Just received the good news that a wave I rode at Mullaghmore this winter has been entered into the Ride of the Year category. Im so stoked and honoured to have been considered for this.
The cold, bleak waters of Mullaghmore feel a long way away from Sydney right now.

I owe a big thanks to this Atlantic onion, and also to my brother Dave for filming that day, and finally to Dylan Stott for driving me into this drainer...http://xxl12.billabong.com/roty/index.html

One final mission.

Its was a fitting way to end the trip.

Rain smashing the windscreen, driving at snails pace around tight turns and braking for tractors, all the way to the secret beachy.
It was a nice walk in, well timed between squalls, and we found a cosy cave of bushes to light a fire beneath, toasted the wetsuits before donning them and paddled out into some heavy wedges.
Its been a fun trip back "home", definitely wouldn't class it in the epic category but there were a few diamonds in the rough.
So now, its time to pack my bags, scrape the cold water wax off my boards and hit the road for the Southern Hemisphere, Sydneys Northern Beaches will be home for the forseeable future.
Ive got a feeling I am the sacrificial lamb for the surfers who will be staying in Ireland, once I go the surf will pump. So enjoy it guys, catch you next time.
Baaaaaaaa.

The Wild Wesht...erly

Opening car doors, going for walks, fixing surfboards, hanging up wetsuits, washing the jetski, cycling down the road are some of the things I would have taken for granted two months ago but now seem like a distant memory.
The wind has been howling for so long its actually like a cruel joke at this stage. Blame it on El Nino, La Nina whatever but we've been living in the North Atlantic jetstream this season and hell Im sick of it.
Ive seen so many days of solid waves smeered by this relentless gale.
Huge seas that have travelled so far to grace our shores only to be watched by red eyed surfers through windscreens of Transits and Transporters countrywide.
Its a shame because I cant remember the last time the charts dropped below 4 meters.

Oh well, time to put another log on the fire. Another shovel of coal. Turn up the volume on the radio to drown out the rattling of the window panes. It can only get better from here!
Thanks to Richard 'Stix' Johnson for the shot.

Unreal Realm

Aye we've had some good sessions over the last 2 or 3 weeks, Christmas just around the corner, fire roaring, waves coming..Cant complain.

Mullaghmore was pumping last monday, it kind of blew me away how many perfect waves I saw that day. It was a day of mental snapshots and adrenalin. I went through the barrier of just being plain cold and thrived on waves alone, they kept me warm and also kept me out there longer, cooling me down. I could'nt come in though, it was too perfect to waste.

 The shot above shows the size of the playing field out there, and how heavy the first bowl is. Theres two, the next one is way out of the shot to the right, and on 9 waves out of 10 you cant make it through both.

This is the end bowl, once you get to this stage of the ride its nearly done..but not without one last shack.

The footage from this day is available to watch at http://vimeo.com/33652914

Its been an awesome end to the year for me, just so stoked and blessed to be doing what I love.

A big thanks to Michael Waters for the shots.

Mully Hill Crew

We've almost been here a month now, and its starting to feel like home.

Some solid swells have rolled around the corner in the past week, but we've been plagued by howling winds and stinging rain. It hasn't stopped us though and spirits have been high. 

The phone rang one night and it was Tom Butler, he wanted to come over from the UK for the week and has managed to weasel himself into our house, sleeping in front of the fire on the lounge floor. That kid is amped to ride heavy waves, whether its paddle or tow and his energy has been relentless. 

One image I wont forget is Pig driving Tom into a solid ,windy ,grey beast out front. It was the biggest wave of Toms life he said afterwards.

Tom also took a pretty bad fall, not an especially big wave, but it sent him pretty deep and pulled his hood over his face. Whilst he was wrestling his wettie underwater I was on the second wave of the set, and just as I approached the end bowl I saw Tom surface right next to me. I managed to shout "watch out!" to him as the bowl exploded on his head and sent him down for round two.

Its been strangely quiet out there with just us and Paul Okane every session. I cant really blame the others for not coming out because its been more like sea survival than surfing. 

Paul has come up with a nick name for us "The Mully Hill Crew" and comes by to drink our coffee and mess up our kitchen before and after most surfs. He also uses the toilet.

Pig is nabbing a few bombs, learning quick and is quiet content to chill by the fire most evenings warming his hooves.

 Last minute running repairs

 Gotta love it

Home

Life on the hill is great, just sitting watching the wild atlantic going through its various moods is pretty special, and we are definitely leading a blessed life out here on the west coast.

  

Sydney to Sligo

It was a long trip, 30 odd hours of missioning through 3 countries but finally I arrived at Sligo Train Station with good mate Pig in tow. Two days earlier I was chugging across Sydney Harbour on the ferry, on my way to the airport when I decided it was time to check the charts for Sligo bay.
A big red blob coming with favourable winds, perfectly timed for my arrival, as if ordered from Huey himself.
Plane travel isn't easy at the best of times, but with my nerves twanging away I tried to get myself mentally prepped for this first proper swell of the season.
After bunking down for the night in Strandhill we got the keys to our new rental house in Mullaghmore, its a lovely place on the hill beside the wave.
We surfed four good sessions over the next two days. Lots of sick barrels, as the wind was super clean. It felt so good to feel the power of Ireland again, in and out of the water.
The last few days have been peppered with fun paddle sessions at some local reefs, just cruising and getting back into the swing of things.
I suppose Ive never been as ready as I am now, so bring on the waves and adventures.

Heres a little clip I just made for Tiki...They sorted me out some warm rubber and a sweet board whilst I was in Oz. The Feather Foil has a really cool feel to it, the bamboo somehow dampens that "Epoxy" feel and the diamond tail has a very cool "drift" through turns. All round it was a rad board to have in my quiver and when surfing the beachies it was the first board I went for.

Anyway..watch the video.

Thanks

No such thing as coincidence.

This trip to Oz has been more about work than surf..a first for me.

Since leaving Eliz at Sydney International Airport 3 weeks ago, Ive been trying to get some work under my belt.
I drove 2 tanks of petrol away to get down to a farm job near Canberra that promised great pay and good living conditions. When I arrived I found that we all had to stay in a dirty, run down caravan park. I was living in my van in the rain and generally hating life but the allure of earning $1000 a week kept me there. It took me 3 days of pruning vineyards to realise that everyone at the job was being seriously screwed by the company and there was no way humanly possible to earn more than $400 a week. A 7 day work week.
So after much deliberation I started the van up at 4am and drove away, I had no plan and nowhere to go. I just drove East, to the coast and into the closest National Park.
I needed a surf, I needed to wash away the dirt of the last 2 weeks, and I needed a place where I could park the van up for a while and formulate a new plan.
Murramarang National Park is an amazing place. I quickly started meeting the local surfers through van life. Got to know and tow a few of the heaviest waves down this way, and really started to feel happy and focused again. Ive been mountain biking, doing yoga and also had a few days work on the go.
I did some Wwoof'ing (Willing Workers On Organic Farms) on a beautiful farm in the area, got my own cabin in the bush for a week, and met some really cool people.

Ive lined up work for the next 10 days painting a house and the swell forecast is looking pretty good.

Yass Caravan Park. Dont ever stay here.

 Worth the drive

 Nothing shitty about this

Such a fun wave

My cabin in the bush

I cant help thinking that surfing has helped all this positive stuff fall into my lap, just when I needed it to and that theres no such thing as coincidence.