Gallery: Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson, Dean Morrison at pumping Kirra Point

Kirra yesterday? Yeah, it was firing. We had photographer Phil Gallagher break down his day, which was spent on a ski shooting into the action from the shoulder. All photos and words by Phil Gallagher / AquaTech

Who was best out there? Thats a hard one. It’d have to be a tie between Mick and Dingo. They both got the kind of crazy ones where I’d give up on them and somehow they’d come over the shock wave and fly past me. The crowd was super thick and aggressive so if the guy down the line thought for a second you weren’t making it, most times they’d take off. These two seemed to command some.

It turned off and on loads during the day. The wind would go from gail force to glass in the space of 30 minutes. The swell was peaking so the big sets would wash through and cause huge rips, which would clean the line up of people in minutes. The pick of the day would’ve been around midday, when the tide was dropping and the swell was peaking.

This will piss a few people off I’m sure, but if you owned a ski or had a buddy with one you scored yesterday, plain and simple. The sweep and pure length of waves meant ski assist was critical if you wanted to get waves.

Mick seemed to have the best luck with getting bombs at times with light winds and little to no rip running through the banks.

The banks are a little straight but it’s the best I have seen it in a few years, f’sure. It was handing a few big sets. The best section was off big groyne.

Its a pretty hostile dog on dog vibe in the water to be honest. Guys are getting burnt every wave and some pretty dangerous moments also which make you cringe watching. Guys are getting tired and frustrated paddling against the sweep and then they look out to some guy recalling his 30 second tube to his mate on a ski heading back for another run and their blood just boils. Sitting on the ski shooting, you just hear guys yelling all over the place and little hot spots flaring up. I try to just document the wave and not get involved with it all.

I shot for 10 hours. Calling it a test of stamina is an understatement for sure. When we launched the ski it was pissing down rain and just crazy weather. There was a lot of waiting for the right moments but I knew it would light up during the day at times. There was nowhere else surfable really, so I knew I wasn’t missing anything being out there for the day. All the best waves could be boiled down to about one hour but let’s face it, theres worse places to be, really.

You tend to question yourself when you’re driving and shooting and sitting out the weather at times. I love shooting good waves so you tend to forget about the 40 minutes you might’ve spent sitting in the rain and wind watching waves and not reaching for the camera as soon as it clears and one good waves rolls through.