Jerome Forrest Prepares For A Smooth Descent, Western Australia

Late last week, after a wave-starved period that consisted of icy onshores and generally painful weather, one stretch of sand in the south-west of Western Australia lit up. Jerome Forrest had received a tipoff from Taj Burrow that the banks in that particular area might have shaped up after the recent turbulence. He was right. The group split sand-bottom peaks as good as they get until their tired bodies physically couldn’t scratch their way back into the lineup. Photographer Tom Pearsall, using borrowed gear after flooding his housing a few weeks before, swam through the treacherous inside section and did his best to capture the occasion in frames.

“After the endless days of finger-numbing onshores we were greeted with a perfect winter’s day; medium ground swell, offshores and sun… finally!” Said Mr Pearsall. “After having our first desperate glimpse at the ocean the excitement boiled, ‘We’re on here, WE ARE FRICKIN ON HERE!’ It ended up being one of the most unforgiving inside sections I’ve ever had to swim through, but so worth it, the vibe in the water was electric.”

“It’s probably one of my favourite waves around here, but it’s rare to get it on.” said Jerome Forrest. “We got down there about thirty minutes after the boys and just saw tepees everywhere, it was about six-to-eight foot perfection. It was one of those sessions, screaming and hooting each other into every wave.”