Day Two of the Gabrielle Swell
The next morning I was heading to a fickle wave that I thought might have been on. As I drove there a friend called and my foggy pre-coffee brain switched across to Aramoana instead. And so I made my way to Aramoana where at least I’d get a good read on the swell for the day. Directly out the front the waves were still chunky and hollow, but a lot more makeable ones than the previous day.
Ollie Charlesworth, Luca Brunotti and a handful of others paddled out and started to drop into some hollow waves. They were making it look way easier than it actually was. I was settling in enjoying the show and preparing for a swim with the camera when a friend called and told me the original spot I was aiming for was actually working.
I literally threw everything in the car and did a small calculation as to how many sets I’d miss on the almost 1-hour drive there. It was a lot. Worse still the tide was not in my favour.
To my relief I arrived to find some 4-5 foot waves still running along the bank. It was a quick change and out there – luckily, to get a ride through the shorebreak courtesy of Davy and Gordy who were towing in.
The lineup was a big arena and lining up for a decent photo was super tricky thanks to the end of each set serving up a nice wide peak that unloaded right where I needed to be. Jeff Patton, Leon Hendry and Sam Lucas were paddling it. Davy and Gordy felt bad towing it with them out so they headed off to another spot to try their luck.
The session quickly revealed the last few gasps of the peak of the swell. All the paddlers got some great waves and a few beatings in between. I was thankful just to be finally in the water amongst it all.
The tide eventually soaked up the energy and that was the end of my day and the end of the full fury of Gabrielle’s wake. Sure, the next three days Gabrielle made herself known as the swell clocked right around to the south east and eventually drifted away.
