Cyclone Seth: Decadent And Depraved
Stace Galbraith’s dispatch from the lineup.
I’m not from the Goldy.
Been there once. Only forty minutes. Told my friends about it. They wouldn’t remember.
“Snapper was sick, perfect mechanical tubes on repeat.”
Eyes dart, someone interrupts me. Conversation moves on.
Everyone knows your average punter is not getting mechanical tubes on repeat at pumping Snapper.
Cyclone Seth just came, it’s in the process of went-ing. Swell’s dropped, backs ache, chafes burn, it’s overcast, windy. Someone coughs.
Carpark coffee sounds good.
The past two days around the QLD/NSW border have been pretty fun. Two low pressure systems collided out to sea as the new year ticked over, one from the Coral sea, one from the Tasman. Wind blew offshore on the 2nd, and then the 3rd. Met with double-overhead swell. Briefly.
“What an incredible couple of days we just had. Welcoming the new year with what might have been the best swell the Noosa points have seen,” said Jules Wilson on Insta re: Boiling Pot.
Jai Glindo stuffed a couple out Snapper too.
The A-grade surf highlights will trickle out over the next day or two. But more important than highlights perhaps, are the lowlights you won’t see anywhere on socials.
“Everyone sees an Instagram and says, fuck yeah, I’m going to Kirra. But these east coast swell events are usually shithouse. It was pumping, for sure, but it came and went pretty quick. And then one top of it you had 30 ski’s in the water by 7:30AM and thousands of people scrapping for waves. It’s absurd how many people have warped expectations about getting quality waves,” says CUSP host and Tweed-native, Stace Galbraith.
“If there’s any takeaways from this swell, it’s just how much better the pros are out there. 50x better. Mikey Wright air dropping into an eight-footer and driving through it is pretty special to watch. The next best local guy can do a similar thing but the difference is how critical and deep the CT guys positioning is.”
Joel Parko on Sunday afternoon got about four waves in four minutes behind the rock at Snapper while Cooly cackled and hooted from the pub. A handful of punters lucked into gems and got the wave of their life.
Most got stuck in the sweep, getting frustrated at a never ending queue.
And around the corner at Tugun and Palmy, empty freight trains railed off down the sand with not a soul to ride them.
So that’s it folks.
The waves were really good, for a little while, but the pie accrued to a select few. You could have walked across the heads of surfers from Snapper down to Kirra without having to take a leap. A couple of punters got lucky. And a shipping container containing kegs of beer got swept onto the road at Currumbin.
Enjoy this highly non-random sample of the highlights of the 1%ers getting drained and book yourself a ticket to Cooly next cyclone.
Promise it’s worth it.
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