Cape Solander is world renown for being one of the heaviest and most dangerous waves on the face of the planet and not without good reason. This notorious reputation is largely thanks to unpredictably thick heaving barrels that break over a stupidly shallow and razor sharp rock ledge that is conveniently positioned directly in front of an equally sharp cliff face for good measure. It’s clear to say that if you don’t make the wave then you are not going to have a good time, you really aren’t. This perfect chaos to create some of the biggest and most dangerous barrels you will ever witness with lips often as thick as the wave is high breaking on a waist deep rock legde. These factors make it one of the best waves for surf photography in the world and thus why it has been on my bucket list of spots to shoot for a long, long time. However, the stars never seemed to align for me… well, until now. [Continued below]

This was my first time shooting water out there and as the saying goes you never forget your first time and it definitely was an experience I will not be forgetting in a hurry. The roller coaster started with when the harbour was rapidly engulfed by thick fog as I hitched a ride on a jet-ski from the Kurnell boat ramp with fellow photographger from the Canary Island Jose Garcia @joselo_aqua (cheers for the ride legend!). Visibility was limited to around 20 metres which created an eerie vibe as we could barely see the lineup on arrival. As the fog cleared we were greeted by solid, very solid chocolate foam covered slabs, just like a chocolate milkshake only it might kill you. Fog, dirty brown water and thick dirty foam… as if the Cape wasn’t sketchy enough already but hey it’s been that kind of year! [Continued below]

The thick foam was to prove a menace as I soon found out when I swtiched shooting from the ski to shooting water. I got caught a little too deep on the inside after a set wave came through. As I attempted to scramble back out to safety I was engulfed by a massive foam ball and I soon found myself struggling to get my breath as the massive mountain of foam was well over the height of my head and preventing me from getting the oxygen my lungs so urgently required. If a set wave had come through at that point I definitely would have been in trouble but fortunately I was able snavel a sneaky lift on a ski to escape the danger zone. Thank f@%k for that as I really didn’t want to be plastered across the cliff face on my first session out there to be deadly honest, pun intended. [Continued below]

It was a little slow out there but there were definitely a few very solid bombs coming through sporadically. No one in the surprisingly small line-up was holding back with the like of Dylan and Summa Longbottom, Zac McMartin, Fletcher Brown, Kipp Caddy, Max McGuigan, Maxime Rayer, Wayne Cleveland and a host of unidentified riders all going hard with barely a wave going unridden. It was a solid swell from the East/NE which caused many of waves to double, even triple up on the chunky end section and many of which would violently clamp shut without mercy. This inherent unpredictability made the waves incredibly hard to read and at time it felt like the riders were playing Russian roulette with this widow-maker of a wave. Some solid and unnerving wipe outs went down as riders got violently washed over and pinned against the sharp and unforgiving rocky cliff face on the inside. Definitely not for the feint or heart or weak of lung. [Continued below]

The well drilled tow teams were always quick on hand to ensure everyone’s safety by lending assistance if needed and everyone surprisingly seemed to escape relatively unscathed despite some ridiculous beatings. After experiencing wipe-outs us mere mortals would class as the heaviest of our lives they just calmly and casually shrugged it off and paddled back out like nothing happened often laughing with a big smile across their dials. Definitely a next level mindset that is clearly a prerequisite for charging life threatening waves like this. The level of barrel riding on display at one of the trickiest waves in the world was truly mind-blowing.. [Continued below]

So there you have it, my first experience at Cape Fear and a hell of an experience to say the least in what was with some crazy conditions that you don’t see every day. Some amazing ridding went down in some truly crazy waves. With my Cape cherry finally popped while emerging relatively unscathed and gaining some valuable experience I am frothing to get back out there again soon to give it a serious nudge as it’s a hell of wave. Stay tuned! [End]