The Next Level

EARLIER this week the charts ticked hard into the red off Tasmania as a 30ft swell chugged up from the Southern Indian Ocean. Arriving complete with offshore winds the game was on. The Collective, those loony Shipstern boys, took the opportunity to scope an outside bommie known currently as Wyatt's Reef. From my perspective this looks like a shifty bastard Tasmanian version of Teahupoo, complete with cold water and sharks. No dramatics, it looks potentially deadly at that size. Shame no one can tell you whether that's true of not until the first crash test dummy steps up. If a wave can make a paddle session at Shipstern feel like a cop-out then you get the idea of the magnitude of this discovery. And you also have to worry at the sanity of those who having seen this behemoth will not feel satisfied until they've given it shot. © 2013 TheCollective.net.au

Open ocean swell in the 30ft range coupled with a classic low versus high pressure chart = high surf advisory and offshore winds.

Shaun Wallbank writes: When Dave Wyatt started Southern Ocean Adventures I think he envisaged the kind of day that we had on Monday. His sixty foot cray boat Velocity and skipper Nick Harris took us out to Pedra Branca in hope that the winds would be light enough to surf the eight metre swell we knew was out there. On sunrise the weather looked so gnarly we thought there was little or no chance of scoring but after throwing a tuna lure out the back for half an hour we motored past the break and saw a set that was hard to comprehend. © 2013 TheCollective.net.au

Photographers Stu Gibson and Andy Chisholm were aboard to capture the moment this wave awoke. "It's the biggest, heaviest waves I've ever seen," Gibbo said. The waves were so big that by the time they broke, the four foot wind chop across the face was invisible. We saw four waves that had to be 40 to 50ft, some said two were rideable, some said one... ...None were makeable.

If the take off was 50ft the end section was pinching at a solid 25ft. Brook Phillips used his recent glory at the XXL Big Wave Awards to channel the enthusiasm needed to get out there. It was a pity that the same man then spotted a six metre White Pointer (Great White) only moments after making the call he wanted to go for a look at the waves on the ski. © 2013 TheCollective.net.au

The swell lines would warp around the reef then just totally bottom out into huge barrels. James Hollmer-Cross was clearly in deep deliberation with himself. The conditions were at best 50/50 for survival but the one or two close to perfect barrels we had seen had us all re-thinking what was possible. We cut out losses and steamed to Shipstern, the boys got a few but it seemed somewhat of a consolation prize.

Timmy Stevenson got his first barrel at Shippies after breaking his leg there a year ago, Gibbo and Chiz nailed some sick sunset shots and the cascade started to flow. Here's James Hollmer Cross swooping into a solid Shippies paddle wave.

Tasty arvo light at Shippies, so clean it looked like liquid ice.

Rudy Swartz slotted in a fun Stern barrel.

Shipstern Bluff -- an unmistakable headland throwing an inviting pit.

Victorian Tim Stevenson preparing to be smashed...

...And Tim cops an earful.

Sandy Ryan puts on the brakes.

And now Sandy, casual as you like.

Shippies is the ugliest, most beautiful place on earth.

Sandy is in a real bad situation here.

James Hollmer Cross tucked neatly in a perfect stern pit.

Sandy Ryan flys around the stern bowl looking for the pit.

The jump off spot at Shippies, time it wrong and you're in serious trouble.