WAY OF THE OCEAN

A fun right sandbar that formed and hung around for a bit and kept us busy.  Speaking of busy, new website and trailer are almost done! On top of that, we’ll be on the road for the next seven weeks to wrap up production so there is plenty coming your way . . .

Top To Bottom : Skewed Skyline, Jordy Smith, Adam Robertson, Josh Kerr, Kelly Slater

Kirra time-line

• Prior to 1840 — Kirra is not known by its current name and is rarely visited by white settlers.
• 1840-1910 — The first white holiday-makers start to visit.
• 1910-1920 — Holiday-makers increase, making Kirra a popular recreational beach area.
• 1930s — The opening of the South coast road increases the popularity of the southern Gold Coast as a holiday destination. Camping was very popular for families because Kirra had a long beach and a low-lying dune system.
• 1960-early 1974 — The Tweed River breakwaters combine with a series of low-pressure weather systems to result in serious sand erosion. This brings the high-water level to just below the coastal road.
• 1970s — Big Groyne built at Kirra’s south end.
• 1995 — 30 metres taken off Big Groyne to help fight erosion at Greenmount Beach.
• 2001 — Start of Tweed River sand bypass project.
• 2003 — Little Groyne completely buried in sand.
• 2006 — Project launched by Griffith University Coastal Management Center to restore the beach
• 2010 — Kirra remains a mere sliver of its former self but can still provide a perfect racing barrel on its day.

Some waves are perfect, others are flawed and this wave is somewhere in between.  No takers this day so Asher Pacey jumped at the chance for a few empty caves.

Every surfer dreams of finding a new spot or a secret wave they didn’t know existed. The thought of such a thing is what keeps us searching in spite of the recent technology that has made it easier for everyone to search from the comfort of their home computer. Sometimes its doesn’t take an epic wave to satisfy this notion, just a good old wedging beach break with a few friends. That’s exactly what we found when we set off for a hike down a long path none of us had been down before.

The great thing about Australia is that there are so many headlands and little nooks all along the coast to explore. Being from Southern California, where any bend in the coast is likely to have 44 friendly faces bickering over who had the last set wave, this option to explore untouched places is extremely refreshing.  As we headed down the long slippery, rocky, winding trail, we encountered lots of big hairy spiders and a few snakes. We knew something good had to be at the end of the road with all the hazards involved. There wasn’t a whole lot of swell at first light and the headland we were scoping appeared to stick out a bit like a catchers mitt, hopefully acting as a swell magnet.

After a good 45 minutes of ducking under webs, we got a glimpse of the ocean and to our surprise there was actually some whitewater down in the small cove.  As we got closer we could tell that there was a pretty good right bouncing off the rocks and dumping on the shallow beach. Its hard to tell how big a wave is when you see it from a distance and there is no one out, so we could only guess that it was surfable.  Down on the beach the delightful sight of spitting tubes came time and time again in the same spot and we had a session on our hands.  Exploring can be fun.

Waves are not only in the ocean. Looking out towards the front of a thunderstorm where different temperatures and winds meet, a perfect cylindrical wave is formed in the sky.

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Although we have seen thousands of perfect waves peel off during the last year of filming, it never gets old admiring the different forms of unique perfection the ocean can create.

New wallpaper images from the making of the film: WAY OF THE OCEAN.

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One day of left over footage during production. D’Bah was pumping and Asher Pacey found the goods. These clips didn’t make the cut but soon you will get to see a glimpse of the ones that did. The long awaited official WAY OF THE OCEAN trailer is coming soon, stay tuned . . .

A look at two turns that happened thousands of miles away from each other. Ryan Hipwood throws buckets on a tropical wall in Queensland while Adam Robertson slices through a cool South Australian wedge.

The Southern Ocean, also known as the Great Southern Ocean, the Antarctic Ocean and the South Polar Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean. It is regarded as the fourth-largest of the five principal oceanic divisions. This ocean zone is where cold, northward flowing waters from the Antarctic mix with warmer sub-Antarctic waters.

Sailors know this area as the “roaring fourties”, “furious fifties” and “shrieking sixties” due to high winds and large waves that form as winds blow around the entire globe unimpeded by any land-mass. Sea-temperatures vary from about −2 to 10 C (28 to 50 F). Cyclonic storms travel eastward around the continent and frequently become intense because of the temperature-contrast between ice and open ocean . The ocean-area from about latitude 40 south  to the Antarctic Circle has the strongest average winds found anywhere on Earth.

This combination creates powerful storms that frequently send  perfectly groomed long period swell to the many beaches of South Australia and Victoria.  Winter months bring frosty mornings with offshore winds and corduroy lines stacked to the horizon as far as the eye can see.

One person that knows these conditions as well as anyone is Adam Robertson. After placing 2nd to Joel Parkinson in the 2009 WCT Bells Beach Classic, Robbo showed that growing up in this region of the world can prepare you for any type of conditions and when its on, its on. His style is a perfect example of the type of waves he grew up surfing, clean, powerful and explosive. While we spent some time filming in this cold raw and unpredictable region, we were pleasentley surprised with classic winter time conditions.

A look at what has been keeping us busy. As winter swings into gear, Australia has been lighting up on all coasts.

We have once again seen the seasons change and with Autumn now in full swing, early morning sessions mean crisp offshore wind and clear skies. As the days get shorter, the dawn sessions become more frequent as do the  deep low pressure systems that come swirling through the the southern ocean and  roaring 40′s.  Winter swells are only a short time away and as we cling to the last few drops of warm water and enjoy the beauty of Autumn, have a look at why this is such a special time of year.

There is always down time when relying on the ocean for swell. The trick is to make the most of the down time and find something fun or productive to do. With the combination of a small wind swell and crazy morning light, Josh Kerr took to the water and then to the air to make something out of nothing.  Its always good to have a few down days to make you appreciate the good stuff and build up anticipation for the long range forecast.  The fact that the ocean can change dramatically overnight is part of the allure that keeps our heads filled with hope and intrigue.  What will tomorrow bring . . . .

Australia is swept by a number of major ocean currents. The East Australian Current (EAC) runs south along the east coast. The Indonesian Flowthrough flows westward from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean. This in turn provides a mass of warm water to the Leeuwin current off Western Australia as it sweeps south along the west coast and east along the south coast.  South of this, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current flows past South Australia from west to east on its continuous clockwise journey around the globe.

The water is still warm on the East Coast and there has been plenty of swell around the last few weeks. When an east swell combines with sunshine and  Easter holidays, the crowds that follow can be a bit much to handle. Luckily there was plenty of surf and smiles going around. Here’s a look at what went down last weekend.

Australia’s ocean environments are as rich and varied as any on earth. They are linked to three of the world’s large ocean basins, the Pacific, Indian and Southern Oceans and encompass all five of the major climate zones, from tropical and subtropical through to southern temperate, subpolar and polar.

The ocean is in constant movement from heating and cooling and the influence of tides and winds which stir waves and currents. The main Australian ocean currents are the East Australian Current, which brings warm equatorial and Coral Sea water down the east coast, and the Leeuwin Current, which transports warm, low salinity water down the west coast. These meet the Antarctic Circumpolar Current in the south. There is also the periodic influence of the wind-driven Southern Oscillation, known as El Niño which influences ocean surface temperatures with far-reaching effects on the weather.

At any one time conditions in the upper ocean are governed by many factors, such as solar radiation, rainfall, river flow, evaporation, sea-ice formation and tides. Occasional strong winds and storm surges can also have a major effect. Across the shallow continental shelf wind patterns largely determine the speed and direction of water currents and the resulting wind-driven waves are the major source of changing currents in most of Australia’s shelf waters. This includes the Great Barrier Reef, the New South Wales Shelf, Bass Strait, the Great Australian Bight and the North West Shelf.

Our recent journey saw us drifting up and down the east coast hunting some left handers to change things up a bit. With a solid forecast on the horizon we set out early and got a few fun days of surf before the swell was due.  The first few days were spent at a thumping beach break with a nice tube section on the take off winding down to a perfect ramp on the end section every time.  Changing up the scenery from time to time is a great way to recharge and look at the bigger picture.

The Australian coastline is over 16,000 miles long and with plenty of options for surf along a good portion of it, we took to the road again. A road trip is always a gamble, but usually the rewards can be far greater than the risks involve. After a few weeks of the Gold Coast ‘s crowded right points, we searched for something completely opposite and within a few days we were on to it. The beach breaks in Australia are up there with the best in the world, and a few of the smoking left-handers we found were holding true to that statement. Content with our current surroundings, we will be posted up for a few more days of dark emerald caves.

New wallpaper images from the making of the film: WAY OF THE OCEAN.

Click one of the links below to download this desktop wallpaper. enjoy-

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1680X1050 (widescreen)

Sometimes when there is a fresh new swell you can almost feel it first thing in the morning. There seems to be more salt in the air and more energy in the crisp off shore breeze. The feeling of walking up to get your first glimpse of the newly stacked corduroy lines is like having a 2nd cup of coffee. Each and every wave has traveled hundreds or thousands of miles only to show its power,beauty and unique form for just a few seconds and for our enjoyment.

This particular morning we were early for the swell’s arrival and at first light there were small clean lines all the way to the horizon. There was a small right tucked away in a sheltered cove for a quick go at first light. Within an hour or so the swell more than doubled in size as the wind kicked up hard offshore. By mid morning all the outside bars were absorbing most of the swell and there was a fickle wedge that proved to be nearly impossible to line up. Once the swell fully filled in, it was clear we needed to relocate and doing so proved to be a smart move as that evening turned out to be one of the best days we saw. For that you will have to wait for the movie but in the mean time here are some images to highlight the first signs of the new swell.