Amongst the entire surfing population there is only a small sample who are fortunate enough to be able to get in the water whenever they wish. The lucky minority is usually made up of pros, paid free surfers, the retired and the odd self-proclaimed digital nomad or two.
On the other hand, many have to juggle work, family and social commitments alongside a burning desire to ditch everything and go surfing.
Occasionally, the stars align and some find themselves with a free schedule just in time for a swell. No one knows this better than Lincoln Taylor who found himself deep in a dredging thick Kirra tube (pictured below) last week while he was off work and his kids were at kindergarten.
Photo: Simon ‘Swilly’ Williams
The paramedic, who usually works four days on saving lives and gets five days off, found himself with a golden ticket for a ride on the Kirra freight train. He said he was ‘super lucky’ to make the most of the swell which lit up the Gold Coast’s fickle gem for a short period of time.
Last Monday a building easterly swell woke up Kirra for the first time in almost a year. It happened unexpectedly, but by the time Tuesday afternoon came and the tide started to drop, word had got around the Goldy and everyone who wasn’t stuck at work, or is lucky enough to call surfing ‘work’, was queuing up to take a ride on the Kirra train.
The likes of Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson, Josh Kerr, Mikey Wright and the GOAT Kelly Slater were all in the mix.
Lincoln explained that the bomb he caught was a super wide set and said he was lucky enough to be further down the line and in position for it.
“When I took off, I could see how hollow it was going to get and it felt like a pretty good one, but it wasn’t until I kicked out and paddled back out, a few of the lads mentioned how sick it was and that’s when I realised how stoked I was with it. It is definitely the best photo I’ve had out at Kirra, it was nice to be able to show my boys too, I’ve got 3 and half-year-old twins and I just want them to get the same stoke out of the ocean that I do. Luckily for me, they are loving it and are already using pillows as pretend surfboards in the house.
“Other than that one wave I didn’t get much more, I felt I’d had a good one so I sort of took my ticket back in line and just floated around waiting for another.”
Lincoln said that he felt ‘lucky’ to score the swell and added that he doesn’t get the opportunity to surf Kirra often due to work commitments and how infrequently it works.
“It all kind of aligned with me being off work and the boys being at kindy. I don’t always get the opportunity to surf these swells as there’s always a chance I’ll be at work, so I was glad I made the most of this one. I’m pretty much a midweek surfer now, I can’t deal with the crowds here on the weekends. Luckily the conditions were solid so it helped spread things out a little.
“The atmosphere on the coast changes during these swells too, the majority are just super stoked for each other and we all want everyone to score. So many people were getting good waves, Mick and Joel were out there, Jay Davies was dominating and I saw Dion Atkinson get some sick ones.”
While Kirra has gone back to sleep for the time being, Lincoln is back to work and on dad duties again.
He added: “I remember sitting on the couch feeling so cooked because it’s not often I get to surf for hours on end, for a couple days in a row – it made me feel like a grommet again.”
