How good has the school holiday swell been!!
As I write (Monday night) Tropical Cyclone Fili still has plenty to offer, so I’ll hold off on a full report until next week, but for now let me simply say that this old surf rat has aches all over his ancient body and a smile as wide as some of the barrels we’ve seen on all of the points these past few days.
A couple of rides from the gum trees at the Nationals car park all the way to First Point left your columnist shaky of knee but absolutely stoked. To celebrate I’ve grabbed a shot off social media from very early in the swell by favourite female shutterbugger Fenna de King. The pristine lineup somewhere in the Noosa World Surfing Reserve typifies what we’ve been waking up to and going to bed with so often in this magnificent summer/autumn season. Thank you, Huey. (And check out Fenna on Instagram and Facebook for more great examples of her work, which is available for purchase at fennadeking.com
Meanwhile, down south has had its share of waves too, although some days have been totally off the Richter. Some of the monster slabs ridden at Deadman’s, Manly these past couple of weeks defy comprehension.
They say fortune favours the brave, and that certainly looks like it’s going to be the case in this fine shot of Noosa favourite Matty “Waxhead” Chojnacki, taken by big wave videographer Tim Bonython. As the Waxhead told Swellnet: “When that wave came at me, I aligned myself, knifed it, and everything was going to plan. I was ready to pack it all the way to Winki. I was a 100 percent ready to go! But the wave just steepened up, and it showed me who was boss … which it does from time to time.”
The board, incidentally, is a G3 gun, packing the volume of a 10-foot gun into a 9-2, the clean lines of which could come only from the master shaper himself, Bob McTavish.
And speaking of Tim Bonython, as we were, the veteran picture show man is on the road again next month with his 15th Australian Surf Movie Festival, featuring The Big Wave Project II. The ASMF will hit Noosa Cinemas on 23 May, so don’t miss out. Tickets available at event.asmf.net.au/asmf15th/asmf15-tickets/
Kirra Teams title comes home to Noosa
I mentioned this breaking news in a footnote to the Brine column two weeks ago, but the excitable Dean Brady won’t shut up about it so we’d better dig deeper into the extraordinary victory of Noosa Boardriders Club at the Kirra Teams Challenge after almost a quarter century of trying.
“This feels so good!” says former pro and top surf instructor Dean. “It’s coming back to Noosa for the first time since 1998. We tied for first in 2006 but lost on a points countback to Byron Bay, and the same again in 2019 to Point Lookout, so this feels amazing. Personally, I’ve been trying to win this title with NBC since 2000, but Mitch Peterson and Darcy Dwyer won it for the club on their first attempt!”
Tears of joy streaming down his suntanned face, Dean continues: “So proud of these guys, so many clutch performances, it all came together for NBC in 2022, so huge thanks to our support crew, especially coach Graham “Eggy” Endersby, Pauly P and Chucky! And this is how we did it.
“We were only the third club in 38 years to finish on 31 points, with seven wins and one second. I was the second after an interference on a surfer who split the peak with me and went left after saying he was going right. I would have won the heat otherwise so we almost set the new record with eight from eight. We took a risk and surfed two 13-year-olds in the Under 21 pro junior division (Darcy Dwyer and Mitch Peterson), and the gamble paid off with two victories. We also surfed Tim Bain in the Open division although he has four years left in Pro Junior. Tim won his heat with 35 seconds remaining and needing a high score. He absolutely killed it.
“Connor Lyons went from third to first in the last minute with the highest wave score of the heat, knocking Mitch Parkinson from Snapper Rocks into second, which three days later ended up being the difference with Snapper. Noah Stocca (21) led from start to finish, as did Hayden Cervi (26). Cooper Davies (21) was our last surfer of the event and had to win to guarantee victory, which he did.
“Life Member David (Chucky) Cervi turned 60 on the final day and could not hold back the tears when we won. He was there in 1998 as club president when NBC won the last time, and this time watching his son Hayden in the team.”
A tale well told, thanks Deano, and congratulations to NBC who are on a roll now, firing at all levels of competition.
Farewell to Stuart Scott
The surfer, author, historian and collector who grew up on Hastings Street and rode his first waves on Noosa’s points will be farewelled with a paddle-out at First Point on Wednesday 27 April. Friends, family and fellow surfers are asked to gather at the Park Road car park by 4.45pm for a 5pm paddle to scatter Stuart’s ashes beyond his beloved waves.
