“Nathan ‘Hog’ Hedge came up to face a massive set intent on breaking on his head. He duck dived a couple and then had to ditch his board, perilously close to the dreaded rocks the break is named for…”

What a place of contrast and power the North Shore is! After a balmy day yesterday, with sunny skies and mild wind, as well as very nice 6-8ft Sunset and perfect 4ft Velzyland, the collective vibe, as well as the mail from the buoys and forecasting gurus, was positive for today. The word was that conditions would be similar to yesterday until about midday, after which the swell would fairly rapidly kick until it would be maxing out Sunset right on dusk.

North Narrabeen’s Laura Enever up up and away at Sunset.

This morning however revealed huge storm surf, with Sunset already a seething mass of foam, and the outer reefs and Waimea breaking from the get go. The N/N West direction led to the usual calls of Honolua Bay, the epic right point break on Maui that many say is the world’s best right. In fact, I had a ticket booked after seeing Sunset, but after talking to my mole on Maui (sounds like a reality show!) and getting the good oil that the Bay was a mere 4-5ft, I pulled the pin and shot a few pics at 12 ft+ Rockpile instead.

Gabriel Vilaran grab and gaff.

Once he was outside, the tow boys, impressed by his balls and have-a-go attitude, promptly towed Hog into a real grower. It started off at about 4 ft, and ended up 10 ft and running off unmakeably down the line.

After getting through that episode, Hog came up to face a massive set intent on breaking on his head. He duck dived a couple and then had to ditch his board, as he was perilously close to the dreaded rocks the break is named for.

To Hog’s later relief (he didn’t know until he came in afterwards) his beloved Tokoro 7’3″ missed the rocks and was recovered unscathed by his brother Damien. Hog then faced a radical swim back outside, the plan being to force his way west towards Haleiwa and get washed in on a sandy stretch of beach a couple of hundred metres that side of the rocks.

He was well on his way to pulling it off too, until Shawn showed up like the lone ranger, and with his superlative ski riding skills powered Hog into the beach and deposited him in the shorey.

He then flew back outside into deep, safe water to get back into it. Tomorrow looks to be still solid with a slight drop, and being Thanksgiving Day, there will be no start to the Oneill World Cup at Sunset, as events can’t run on public holidays in Hawaii. If Sunset is good I plan to shoot it from the water, so stay tuned for some gold–hopefully.                                                 

North Shore reef.

Words and photos by Dave Sparkes.

Kalani Chapman surfing outside Log Cabins.