I have a friend who says that ‘you can surf nearly every day of the year in Victoria’. If you have the right boards, an understanding of tide, swell and wind directions, you should be able to scrape some form of mission together. Most people would disagree, but most people are lazy and don’t search for the moments outside of perfection. Lucky for me, my mate (lets call him Bruce for the sake of the story) had plenty of time during the Covid 2020 break to scout the coast.
Bruce and I were on day 3 of a pretty straight, strong SW swell that had most punters pretty surfed out. I knew there was a slight chance that the SW wind could swing NW during the morning, which paired with the tidal movements, was perfect for the 2 spots that I had wanted to test the board in.
We arrived at spot 1 nice and early, knowing that no one really likes to surf it on the fuller side of the dropping tide. We suited up, rock hopped and paddled into the first fat one of the morning still with dry hair. It was slow going, but the fact that we were the only two in the water was enough to keep the vibe up and the mediocre wave count high. But as the tide started to drop and the kelp started to expose, the board started whip into action. Slowly but surely the right hand point showed why she is so highly revered and the board sang with joy. A fast take off into a faster section followed by a wall to work which eventually wrapped into the bay. Do as you please. Stay high, tuck low, cut the face, look for an almond cover up. Spot 1 doesn’t need many to feel like sardines, we took our cues and got the last runner in before the herds arrived with a multitude of craft that aren’t fit for shoulder high waves.
No need to change out of the suit as the next set up is literally 4 minutes drive.
Bang, there it is, spot 2. Slightly onshore but lining up nicely thanks to the slowly swinging wind. 6 guys out, plenty of waves in the set, we are out there.
Paddling through the spread out line up, it was clear to see that spot 2 was going to bring the juice compared to the cleanliness of spot 1. The board felt comfortable in the noticeably different water. Instantly you could feel the deck plane when taking longer strides to get into the ski slope style take off. With the fin set slightly back, holding through the bottom turn was a dream, giving you plenty of time to climb the face and set your line for the ‘sand pit’ inside section. After 3 hours, the arms were cooked and the call to return home was welcomed.
Changing out of my now glued to my body wettie, I looked at the board on the ground, then looked at Bruce and said ‘we could have written today off and not bothered, but that was sick to surf 2 spots within 4 minutes drive of each other on 1 board’.
Now I am not saying this board is a quiver killer or is going to be the one and only, what I am saying is you can surf nearly every day in Victoria if you have the right boards, an understanding of tide, swell and wind directions and a mate like Bruce.
