I completely lucked into this session. One of the biggest swells of the winter was coming with the main pulse expected to arrive on Saturday afternoon. It did not disappoint.
Unfortunately, with that main pulse came a southerly wind strong enough to ruin all my go-to spots for filming. Fortunately, I know of one heavy shore break in town that’s nicely sheltered from these exact winds.
I expected nobody would be surfing it but decided to go anyway, planning to film huge chunks of water detonating onto nearly dry sand. I picked a spot and set up to shoot nothing but empty caverns.
After 20 minutes of shooting the shore break, I noticed two jet skis heading my way. I’d heard there was a slab just around the corner of the same bay I was shooting but had never seen it working, let alone anybody surfing the place. Could I have just lucked into such a thing?
My curiosity took me away from the empty shore break. The crew was now watching this fabled slab and sure enough, the tow boards soon came out. The first surfer to take a swing at it would be Kerby Brown.
If you’ve ever seen footage of Kerby, you’ll know he doesn’t shy away from heavy waters. It was go time as soon as he was in the ocean. Sets poured through and Kerby didn’t hold back. The intensity I felt, even from behind the lens a few hundred meters away, was memorable. I can’t fathom the feelings and emotions riding waves that intense must conjure up. After half an hour of Kerby tackling this slab solo, another ski arrived with another willing surfer, Liam Carter. The pair traded off until last light, back and forth on waves I had only ever seen in psycho edits.
This was hands down the most memorable session I’ve had filming.
Editor’s Note: Find more on Alasdair’s YouTube channel here and on The Inertia here.
