Last week, East Coast locals were warned to stay away from the water due to huge storm swells. One group of experienced Gisborne surfers did the exact opposite and headed for the biggest waves they could find.
At a usually dormant spot on the Mahia Peninsula, they came across a gigantic wave roller coaster with huge five-metre tubes only seen in that area once every few years.
Surfing a huge storm swell at Mahia on May 27 Photo: Damon Meade https://www.damonmeade.com
Blair Stewart - one of the surfers who tackled the huge waves - tells Jesse Mulligan the last time the waves were that big was two years ago.
“We’ve surfed this a place a few times over the years and just the other day it was the first time it had broken in a couple of years.
This time, Blair says, the waves were worth the effort.
“It was epic, mate. It was solid, it was big, definitely had the heart rate going. We were stoked to be amongst it, eh?"
The waves coming in were around five metres high, he says.
“They don’t seem overly big when you’re riding them but when you’re laying on the surface after coming up from being trashed by one of them and the next one’s about to land on your head you get a pretty good indication of how tall and powerful they are coming at you.”
The surfers needed some mechanical help to reach the big, breaking waves, though.
“We used our jet skis to get out there which definitely helps because it breaks a little bit off-land and there’s a lot of current, so paddling off the shore would be pretty tough work.”
The group surfed for a solid seven hours that day, Blair says.
“The adrenaline gets going and hey, you just want the biggest and the best one you can get out there and the excitement takes over and you just go.
“By the end of it I was pretty broken, a pretty tired man on Friday, that’s for sure.”
Surfing a wave that size is intense, he says, and when they’re big like that the safest place to be is inside the barrel.
“It’s a pretty crazy feeling, especially as the wave gets bigger, because it’s so intense in there and the vision you get. It does seem to slow down and the next moment you’re out on the shoulder and you’re like wicked! You’re underwater tumbling around getting a thrashing.”
Coming off a wave that big can be interesting, Blair says.
“That day we were wearing buoyancy vests just to give us a bit of extra flotation because it does break out quite a long way into deepish water, so you get pushed down pretty deep."
And is it scary?
“Definitely … every wave is a box of chocolates, you don’t know what you’re going to get, sometimes they’re good and sometimes they can be a spicy one maybe.”
To see more of Damon Meade's photos of the huge swells at Mahia go to his Instagram or Facebook page.
