Irish Waves

**majortom** · 12-22-2006, 05:15 AM

I'm no surfer, but thought a few people might here might be interested in some of these pics from Ireland...

More here: http://orcasurf.co.uk/carveh30/carve...tos.html%23top

**Ripzalot** · 12-22-2006, 07:16 AM

wow, thanks for posting! i had heard/read of this spot being discovered last year. "aileens" is the name, never been surfed before oct 2005. it's amazing how many such undiscovered spots are stlil out there, waiting to be ridden. it would be amazing enough to just watch it going off.

good article here on the discovery: http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article355952.ece

**ILOVE2SKI** · 12-22-2006, 08:29 AM

How about this one at The Cliffs of Moher:
http://www.dreamcatcherproductions.ie/previewflv.htm

http://www.lahinchsurfschool.com/cliffs/index.html

Aill Na Searrach reaches 35 feet on an average day... WOW!

_________________________________
The text seems to be missing from the page so I found a cached version and am going to post it here. It is an interview with the guys who ride Aill Na Searrach.

THE THEATRE A long long long loooooonnnggggggggg time ago the county known as CLARE was situated a good deal further south. To be exact 310 million years ago the banner county rested right on the equator. A beautiful climate, deep blue seas, bountiful marine life and coral reefs - A 310 million year old paradise. Throw in a couple of water based T-Rex dinosaurs for good measure. And how do we know this? Because these seas lead to the formation of the present day Cliffs of Moher.
- This is when and where the present day cliffs of Moher were formed. Connection to Lahinch Surf School you ask?

THE ACTORS Move on a few years to 1985 - Tramore, Co. Waterford - a particularly skinny freckled boy enters the water a surfboard under his arm - Fifteen minutes later John McCarthy races out - "I'm not doing that again Mum, it's freezing", lacking a wetsuit. Summer of 1988 another boy equally skinny with freckles leaves the water on Tramore beach and turns to his friend "Mac I'd love to do this but I'm not big enough to carry a canoe". Potential Irish National Kayak Champion Dave Blount leaves his canoe and paddle at the water's edge and accompanied by his friend Mac, heads for the ice-cream van....... .....

THE INSPIRATION Enter Hugh O'Brien Moran the father of surfing in the SE of Ireland - a legend. Standing tall next to the ice-cream van is Ireland's first surf school with surfboards and wetsuits for rent. He takes them under his wing and teaches them the art of surfing. Trips up the west coast of Ireland, competitions, trips down the west coast of France, Portugal, Spain, S.Africa, Japan, Australia, South America and - "the proving ground" the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Throw in school, finishing college, a very few girlfriends and the conflict develops - to surf or pursue a career. (result Lahinch Surf School).......

THE STAGE 2005 AD - 325 million years later the ice age and plate tectonics have sculpted those 800ft drops we know as the Cliffs of Moher. An earthquake has moved the rocks pushing part of the cliffs into the Atlantic forming the headland of Aill na Serracht. And at its base where the cliff disappears into the depths of the North Atlantic Ocean, nature has created the perfect platform. The North Atlantic - one of the stormiest stretches of water in the world - the perfect environment to generate the enormous waves - waves that unload with incredible power having traveled thousands of miles onto this platform.

All the elements are in place:- enter the actors - Mac and Dave no longer 10 years old but still skinny with freckles - their part to be the first people to surf this creation of nature ..........

Well Daithi and Mac, how was the wave discovered
DB - You know, its funny, ever since we surfed it, I’ve had so many people say to me. “Aw yeah, man, we’ve been checking that place for years.” But for me the first I’d heard of its existence was from Brendan and Micky Smith and the rest of that Ozzie bodyboard crew. It is pretty incredible the tale of their first attempt at it. Paddling from Doolin. About 4 miles in heavy swell. It getting dark before they could get to it and Micky Smith on the cliffs with a zippo lighter trying to guide them back to Doolin. At first without seeing it I had written the wave off as a myth… another stupid slab wave that was basically unrideable. I’d figured that the only attraction to it was the fact that it was at the base of huge cliffs and that the logistics of getting out there were similar to a lunar probe to Jupiter.

Then there was that huge perfect day we surfed Crab back 2 years ago around Easter time. Probably the biggest I’ve surfed crab and not a breath of wind. After being surfed out totally, I remember going to take a look at it and being pretty gob smacked by what was going on down there. It was pretty impossible to tell how big it was due to the distance away but you could certainly tell the hollowness. It was at that point that I got sold on the idea of a ski. I’d never really been into getting one before, but I could see any other way to attack this wave.

JMC - Yeh, Miky Smith had said to me about that experience the Aussie bodyboarders had of paddling out there, only for the tide to be too high by the time they got there not to mention the darkness. He thought that this wave was really something special. So for a year I watched the wave, ranting onto Dave about it. He was never into getting a jet ski. That day we surfed crab island pretty big and perfect and then we checked Aill na Serracht and it just looked exactly like jaws. I don't know if we have seen it like that again since. It was probably 20 foot and just blowing columns of spray out of the tube into the air.
As regards other people having seen it, so many surfers in County Clare have said it to me since. The funniest one was Hawaiian Patrick in Spanish Point saying to me, 'Oh yeh I've been up there with my girlfriend'. 'She's from Maui, just around the corner from Jaws, we go to Jaws to watch all the time and that wave does exactly the same thing'. I guess before jet ski's the wave never would have been accessible or surfable so no one ever paid much attention to it. We often think now, wow, this wave has been sitting here all this time totally unsurfed under one of the biggest tourist sights in the country and it's gone unnoticed. Amazing.

Tell us about the first day it was surfed
DB - I remember so little from that day. Things just happened so fast. I surfed the dawn session at one of the lefts in Lahinch. It was big, not huge, but certainly the size where you don’t really entertain the idea of checking crab. Crab was maybe 15ft but with huge 2-3ft chops getting blown into it by the wind. We could see Aileens was cleaner but it still looked as though there might be swirling gusts down there. It was hard to tell how much of a factor the wind was at sea level when you are 1000ft up. Having Rusty over really oiled things that day. Having spent time with him and his brother Greg in Maderia a few years previous, I’d known him as a guy who was a charger but not stupid crazy. The type of guy who airs a sense of calm when the ocean is going nuts. Plus the experience he brought to the mix helped give a calm confidence to everyone else. It was Rusty who made the call that we should try paddle attempt it. There was a gurgle boil on the bigger ones that looked as though it would help entry into the wave.

We all grossly underestimated the size of the waves out there with Mac and I splitting a 7-2 (one of us had to stay on the ski- we swopped around), Rusty on a 7-0 and Robin on a 6-9 or something ridiculous like that. The drama of getting the ski fuelled, going through the checks (it was only our third time ever driving the thing) and ferrying Rusty, Robin, Mac and Micky out was kinda draining. The SE wind was blowing about 30 knots and the ski was really hard to control in the wind. The first few sets everyone was kinda feeling things out. A few body boarders from UK had also joined us now after paddling out. At first there were maybe 8-10ft waves breaking. It just looked so perfect. Like the most perfect barrelling 4ft wave you know, but doing it on a larger scale. I was sure we were all going to get some perfect barrels. It was incredible

**ILOVE2SKI** · 12-22-2006, 08:31 AM

Continued...
Mac was surfing at the start, I was on the ski. Rusty snagged a mellow enough one and made it, breaking the ice. I think one of the bodyboarders ate shit on a heavy one. Robin took off on one and seeing what it did faded left to get out of it but ate shit and got washed in for a lap. He didn’t manage to get into another. Mac caught one on the boil. It was about 12ft and set up for an OK entry on the boil. He dropped into it and made it to the shoulder. Unfortunately Micky was dickying about with his camera at that time & missed that shot. I think it was pretty soon after that when Rusty caught that one that made the cover of carve. Made it look easy. Stroked into it on the boil and had the rail engaged throughout the drop when it started going square, pulled up high into it and made it to the shoulder. Micky was screaming as he was shooting from the back of the ski. I guess that wave was the one that really stamped the mark on the wave. Made it legit. Like “hey yeah, its big, its barrelling, here’s how you surf it.” I should make a point here about Rusty’s approach to this wave and how impressive it was. Everyone else out there was scratching for waves as they would come in. (myself included when I got out there). Furiously paddling trying to catch a wave, missing it or backing off it, furiously paddling back out 10 yards, repeating for the next set.

Rusty sat and waited. Waited without paddling for a single thing until one lined up on the peak. One, two, three easy strokes into the wave. Timing. All about patience, wave choice, timing and confidence in your choices. Don’t go until you’re sure. And when you go, GO.At this stage I was chomping at the bit watching waves being not caught and being backed off from and was yelling at Mac to swap over. Reluctantly he did, being bummed at having only caught one wave. (I think Rusty managed 3 the whole session, Robin zero and me zero so one isn’t too bad a count in hindsight).I paddled over to the peak and started making the same mistakes as I’d watched all the others, bar Rusty doing, paddling for waves you couldn’t catch and pulling back from ones you could. By this stage the tide had risen a bit and the gurgle boil was no longer on the peak. All the waves were just going square straight from take off. One of the bodyboarders got another one and ate shit. I guess I drifted in a little bit too far and a large set broke 10 yards out in front of me. There were 2 bodyboarders 5 yards in front of me as it started to break. I don’t remember too much about it. I can remember not freaking too much, chucking the board and starting my dive really early. Ears popped so I know I got pretty deep. Felt the explosion of the wave behind me. When you go under big waves like that there is always that second of nothingness where you are unsure whether you are going to get sucked back into it, or whether you are going to pop up the back of it. During this moment of nothingness I felt the leash snap, not much of a pull or drag from it. Just a simple “ping” and gone. I popped up the back of the wave in green water a second later. Not a scratch. Stoked. Hey hey! Shit. No board. Damn.

Am I going in after it? It’d help if we knew where it went. Board was never seen again.I grabbed the backup board from the ski (a 6-5 of Rusty’s) but I was only codding myself. No way would I managed to get into one on that. All the waves were going square into a barrel from take off now with the higher tide. I don’t think another wave was caught after this.When we regrouped at the ski out in the channel to figure out getting everyone back to shore a wave that was probably 5ft bigger than the one that nailed me rolled through. The barrel on it was humongous. There wasn’t one of us, Rusty included, who wished we were over at the peak for that one.

Getting back was such a drama with handling the ski in the high winds and sea chop. We basically had to do 10 knots the whole way back. Getting the ski up the boat slip was even worse…. When we launched the ski the tide was low. The swells were breaking across the channel at crab so they were dissipaited before hitting the pier. Now with the higher tide, more of the swell was getting through the channel and slamming directly into the pier. There were maybe 3ft waves surging up the boat slip.Getting the van and trailer down the slip enough to get the ski on without the whole kit and caboodle being washed away was going to be difficult. We had Micky on the storm wall shouting for sets, me in the van reversing it down the ramp, Rusty on the ski still out in the lagoon, mac and robin manning the trailer. A yell from Micky and I reversed the van as rusty gunned the ski straight up onto the trailer along with a wave surge, mac and robin racheted it on and I took off up the slip. I’d say we went from having the ski 50 yards out to see to being 50 yards inland in the space of 6 seconds. I spent the rest of the day surfing fun 6ft waves in lahinch trying to get the adrenaline out of my system.

**ILOVE2SKI** · 12-22-2006, 08:31 AM

And one more due to the character limit...
JMC - Ah it's classic reading Dave's response, I had forgotten so much of this stuff from that day. A couple of things I really remember in no particular order.. When we had finished the session I drove Rusty and Robin back to Doolin Pier. Couple of things were really scary. We went around the back of Crab Island which was just huge and breaking way out to sea and the wind and the chop with 3 people on the ski was terrifying. The ski was almost refusing to ride perpendicular to the chop toward the pier. What seemed like an eternity later, we came into the bay. I saw an over head sized wave breaking off the pier. I just thought to myself, Oh no, now we're really in trouble, keeping in mind that we still had to go back for Dave and Miky. As Dave said we had only driven the ski on 2 or 3 occasions before that, but it all worked out ok in the end, it was just a freak set!

As regards surfing it. Dave asked me 'do you want to surf first or last'. I was adamant I wanted to go at it straight away. It took me quite a while to figure out what was going on out there. I paddled for so many waves, but side chops or something made me chicken out at the last second. I knew Dave wanted to swap over so for 10 minutes I was just thinking, I don't care what happens, I'm just catching the next one that comes to me. Finally I got a wave and at that stage I was like, right I can do this, I'm on a roll, I know what's going on. So when Dave called me back over I was like, surely one of the other boys can sit on the ski instead. But no we were designated photographer cadi's that day. Ironically that set rolled through onto Dave's head only minutes later. It seemed the swell just pulsed right before it stopped breaking and to be honest Dave hadn't a chance of getting a wave at that stage. Right before we left there the biggest set of the day rolled through and closed out the peak and the barrel section. Thank God I wasn't on the peak for that.. It was fantastic to have Rusty Long there with us that first day. Surfing with himself and his brother Greg in Madiera a couple of years previous was an education in surfing big waves for sure. When that wave washed over Dave, he went so deep under water and then came shooting back out towards the line up. As the wave broke I watched the white water and waited for him to pop up in it, not knowing he had already surfaced. After 10 or 15 seconds and not seeing Dave surface I started shouting at Miky to jump off the jet ski with his 5,000 pound camera so I could go rescue Dave. That wave was so incredibly heavy, I was very happy to see him swaning around in the line, I really did think something bad was happening.

Photo above courtesy of Al Mackinnon.

So how does it work, can you washed up against the cliffs, theres no way to exit from down there
DB - Its funny. The wave breaks to the right, so, like most rights you’d expect your exit route to be to the right when you wipe out. You actually get swept around to the left of the wave when you wipe out. It’s a bit of a minefield in the impact zone, the reef is not very flat, it is erratic slabs that you get bounced through. Also out on the peak there seems to be a rip running into the peak, heading in the direction of the Aran’s. That’s why I reckon that you could be in a spot of difficulty if you lost your board. I think that swimming against the rip from the left side of the peak the whole way around to where you can get to the shale beach at the base of the cliffs might not be an option. I can do 14 minute kilometres in a pool, swimming flat out, and I think that translates to about 4 knots. I’d guess that this rip runs at about 2 knots. It is easily a mile round trip from being caught inside to getting back to the shale beach, swimming against a rip that is moving at half your swimming speed, in swell, and after getting a severe beating in the impact zone. It’s probably do-able, but I wouldn’t like to have to try. Swimming for Doolin might be a better option. I might check it out in the summer and see.

JMC -I think this is the worry, that someone will go down the suicide goat trail, thinking, yep no worries I can paddle out there. Then they get out there, get a set on the head or go over the falls, loose or break their board and your facing a swim into Doolin. 4 miles with an offshore breeze against you! I can't see many people being able to swim back to the goat trail. The current is heavy duty trying to get back to the beach. Even the pro bodyboards wearing flippers were getting us to drive them back in there. But we've had a couple surfers try it, when the jet ski wasn't out there. Sure enough one of them, who's a full time pro surfer didn't get a wave, got wacked but luckily didn't loose his board. I'm not into it anyway, some people will try it though. Since we got the jet ski in August we had been down there a couple of times looking at the rocks, the reef and the cliffs just checking it out. Possibly the less you know about the tennis court the better.

Photo courtesy of Shaun Nicholas.

And what about the rocks on the inside of the break
Dave I hear you got rolled over a slab the size of a tennis court
DB - Ha! I think that rock now has a name! The tennis court! Anyone for tennis? Yep, Like I said the impact zone bathymetry is pretty erratic. That particular slab sticks up about a foot out of the water at low tide. It sits right at the end of the wave. If you wipe out at the end of the wave you’re heading for it. That’s what happened me that day. I’ve seen a shot Tom Gillespie has of it from above and it looks pretty nuts. Again I got away without a scratch.

Photo courtesy of Miky Smith.

Genuinely did it surprise you that there was a wave like this in Ireland or did you think
there was something like this somewhere in Ireland
DB - Blew me away. I know we have plenty of hollow slab waves, but to be honest I’m blown away that there is a wave like this in the world, let alone Ireland.

JMC - Absolutely. Myself and Dave have been looking for a big wave spot in Ireland that you can paddle into for about 5 years now. But instead we've got this wave. I really believe that this wave is one of the best waves in the world. I think it will come to a stage on a particular swell where it's not going to be myself and Dave out there but it's going to be Tony Ray and Ross Clark Jones. That's where I think this is all heading. On the biggest days of the year it's for Shane Dorian or someone, not the shams from T-Bay, no disrespect to T-Bay! But there's more, maybe not barreling perfectly as this wave, but there's loads of Belhara style waves in County Clare for anyone who really wants them. Photo courtesy of Roger Gale.

How does the wave compare to other big waves you have surfed like
DB - I don’t know. It doesn’t. Its more of a barrel wave than a big wave.I cant compare it to Todos Santos or big Sunset or small Waimea because its way more perfect than that. They don’t barrel as mechanically as this wave. I cant compare it to backdoor or Puerto because they do it at a smaller size. If Aileens is under 8ft it just doesn’t break. Backdoor is starting to get out of control at 10ft. I don’t know I cant compare it to anywhere. Brendan, the Australian bodyboarder who surfed teahupoo a lot, reckoned that there was as much room in the barrels in Aileens but I’m not sure. Teahupoo looks a hell of a lot gnarlier. I don’t know, I’ve never surfed anywhere like it.

JMC - I've said it to Dave a few times after surfing Aill na Serracht. What would it be like to go to Hawaii after surfing out there for a few days, as in, would Hawaii be a cake walk. We've both been to the North Shore of Oahu two or three times, so we have an idea about the scale of this wave. The wave is so much heavier than your sunset beach or madiera or your typical big wave spots. It's top to bottom. Sure height wise it's not as tall as mavericks or waimea or any of those waves, as Dave said it's probably more of a Teahupoo, but it does have that big wave aspect aswell. Somehow we have a Tahitian pass wave in Ireland.

So when you surf a new surf spot it has to be given a name, how did you decide on it
DB - I’d actually figured “vertigo’s” might be a good name for it, because the sensation of the cliffs around you gives you a slight sensation of vertigo, but when Ailleen in lieu of the headland “Aileen na Searrach” was suggested it was a winner.

JMC - I was pretty quick to give it a name that had relevance to the Irish name of the headland. Miky and crew of maniac bodyboarders who have redefined what is surfable on some reefs in County Clare, had renamed a couple of spots for example Crean Point became bumbloids. They're well entitled to call it what they like, they're the ones charging it. So I was just making sure Miky's crew didn't name it something freaky, thus 'Ailleens' from Aillenasharach which is the english version of the headland. We've since found out the real Irish name and the significance of the name and the history that is associated with it, 'Aill na Serracht'. Gavin's movie will cover this. It's an amazing story.

**ILOVE2SKI** · 12-22-2006, 08:32 AM

Have you surfed out there a lot, when did you surf it last
DB - Maybe 6 times now. We had one day in January that was comparable in size to the first session, but a bit more “wintery”. We snuck up on it, got a few and managed to get out with our skin. I nearly killed mac on one through poor driving of the ski. Left him in no mans land with a 25ft wave face unloading onto him. I think the most stoked I’ve been out there was when I realised that I hadn’t killed him. So much when you are towing in is down to the driver. It is up to him to get the surfer in the right spot. Get that wrong and it all goes pete tong. We’re still trying to figure it out really. We had 2 days straight in November where it was not too big but just perfectly lined up. Sunny, no wind. Good crew out.

The top irish bodyboarders came out that day and charged it. Tom and Fintan Gillespie and Shambles. Those guys are really on a mission at the moment taking on the craziest waves they can get their hands on. Some of the stuff they are doing at Bumbloids and other slab waves is really groundbreaking stuff. Last time we surfed it was last weekend, Feb 19th. It was very disjointed and hard to get good ones. Still some sizey waves coming through in the triple overhead range. Mac got an absolute corker of a barrel that day. Wide open, flying along at 100mph. I really didn’t expect him to make it.

JMC -The last session we had out there, I felt like we are finally starting to figure out what is going on. As Dave mentioned the worse case scenario is when you are left at the bottom of the wave with no speed, that's leads to aweful problems, but we avoided that in the last session anyway. I'm kind of focused at getting into the barrel out there and we've only just started to figure out which ones have the biggest barrels. For sure in the barrel is the safest place to be, if your outside of it getting the lip on the head it gets dodgy. I think I got the best wave of my life there last weekend, just a absolutely massive barrel, in the back of it and your standing in a tunnel. It didn't feel like a tube, it was definitely more a tunnel.

I hear there are some pretty incredible photos from the session last month,
when can we expect to see them
DB - Ask Al!

JMC -Yep Al Mackinnon is this really very cool photographer we've become friends with and he's got two or three photos that the european magazines are very interested in, so they may show up in the Surfers Path or Surf Europe in the next few months. It will be good to see photos of Irish surfers on it for a change. There's some photos of another paddle in session we had with Mitch from Australia and Marty where Steve and Jeff came out on the boat. It's so much more fun when there's a crew of people out there.

Then the session that's on the dreamcatcherproductions.ie video show reel was that the best day
DB - Certainly the cleanest, most lined up we’ve gotten it, especially on the Saturday. On the Sunday there were very few waves coming through. That was probably the smallest that we’ve surfed it.

JMC - It's funny the first day (the bigger day) didn't seem that big until we saw the video footage. On my first wave on the video, which was the first wave I got towed into on, I went for an off the top, thinking the wave was only six foot. When I saw the footage afterwards I was thinking, what the hell was I doing. But certainly those two days were so perfectly lined up, it'll be interesting to get a day like that again cause recently we've just been surfing it slightly skewed or even windy. I remember the two waves I got that day, the sound effects behind me, I don't think I've ever heard a wave make that noise. That picture on the left, was the dropping back in after the off the top!

I towed Dave in for the first period that day and the waves were really average, then when it was my turn it just really turned on. That's the reason there's only one of Dave's waves in the video but actually there was another reason also. Once I'd had a few I pulled Dave into another few but he got axed pretty much immediately as he describes below. I think that rattled him pretty bad so for the rest of the session he was quite prepared to play it pretty safe, ad all this to the fact he hates my tow-in board (his went missing)!! Up until that point I had managed to avoid getting wiped out. But I've had some pretty good thumpings off the bottom since which has taken mystery out of it a little bit.

So sounds like you have a full on film crew watching your every move.
How did Gavin get involved.
DB - Fuck man, I don’t know, but he’s a sound fecker to have involved in filming it.

JMC -Gavin set up a production company in Lahinch last year by the name of Dream CatcherProductions. He's studied and worked in film for the past seven years so he is quite the professional which is pretty evident from the show reel on www.dreamcatcherproductions.ie He's got all sorts of interest from RTE, TG4, the Irish Film Board and Wind Mill Lane producers, directors, the list is endless, there's even been a surf film distributor calling him from Byron Bay in Australia.

Have things gone wrong out there, have you had any wipeouts
DB - Yeah, after losing the 7-2 on the first day, I maned to lose a Baron tow board getting caught inside on the sunny Saturday in November. A wave a full 5ft smaller than the one that was in carve mag caught me and beat the crap out of me. Slammed on the reef and rolled through the slabs. Held down for quite some time. Snapped the leash. Board disappeared again. Gone. Vanished. If anyone sees either of those boards can you let me know?

JMC - Definately the worst experience and I think it was my first wipe out out there, was when Dave towed me in to the bottom of the wave and I had no speed and just had to dive through the wave. I think this was the biggest day we've had it. I got through thinking, wow I got away with that only for the next wave a really big set to land on my head. I got held down pretty bad and started thinking of Dave's board disappearing on the previous session, so took off my leash and swam up. After a few more on the head I got washed into the beach under the sheerest part of the cliff and managed to find my board. But then I couldn't get back out to Dave and the jet ski. I was in there for half an hour figuring out a way to get back out. The channel doesn't go all the way to that beach so there was an 8 foot shorebreak onto the boulders to get through. We were both starting to get slightly worried but the 30minute set finally gave us a break.

Do you think it is possible to catch the wave without using the jetski
DB - Ah yeah. Rusty proved that. Mac proved that. Its possible, but hard. Without it being big enough to gurgle on the boil though, I think it’s super hard. Which means that it has to be triple overhead or bigger to catch it. Double overhead waves don’t even break out there. Triple overhead and its going square, when it gets bigger than triple overhead I think that’s when the boil starts gurgling and gives you an opportunity to get into it.

JMC - At certain stages of the tide and when it's really big it probably is possible. If the best surfers in the world come to surf it, it would be amazing to see if it's doable for them on the hollow days. For sure if it's breaking the way we saw it two weeks ago (the biggest day), there is no way in hell you could paddle into it. Maybe every half an hour if you weren't cleaned up by a set and your a pro surfer you might get one but I don't think your going to get the set waves. We haven't seen it as approachable as the day Rusty was out since then. It's been way hollower since then. As Al Mackinnon said, the barrels in Carve Magazine were oval, the barrels we've seen recently have been very much round or oval in the other direction.

Have many other surfers from europe or around the world expressed interest in surfing the wave
DB - Well I know that Mr Slater and Dorian have seen the shot of someone with their arms raised in the channel looking into the barrel and were frothing at it. Gabe told me that Slater thought it looked like the best wave in the world. Those guys are pretty busy though, it would require a lot of waiting to get it good.

I know the belharra crew have expressed an interest in coming up and showing us how to surf the wave.I’m sure that some of the UK chargers like Battrick are amping to get it working too.

JMC - I'm really interested in chargers like Ian Battrick coming over and giving it a go paddling in. I know he's up for it but the question is, is it do-able. Duncan Scott from South Africa came over and just got ramaged and didn't get near getting a wave. I haven't spoken to him about it so don't know exactly what happened to him but by all accounts it all went pretty wrong. I can't wait to see it with Dorian or someone like that on it. I'm up for trying to paddle into it when there is other surfers out there if the tide and size is right, but as I said for most tides and sizes it's doesn't seem too feasible.

The media are extremely interested in your exploits, do you think the wave could become crowded
DB -I think there will probably be crowded days there, where it is obvious from a week beforehand that it’ll be good and it gives people time to get their shit together, but there’ll always be days when it’ll be pumping and empty. The English bodyboard cew (Danny wall &c) and the irish crew (gillespies and Shambles ) will be chasing it every time it breaks. I’m sure more surfers from the UK will be coming over. Al Meannie will be into it if he forks out for another ski. It’s not the kind of wave you want to surf every day. There’ll always be days for anyone who wants to surf there alone. Personally, I prefer company J

**ILOVE2SKI** · 12-22-2006, 08:33 AM

JMC - I know there's 10 lads in Lahinch who are interested in giving it a lash. I think a lot of people may come down and look at it and go, ok, now I understand what's happening out here when they see it from the water. What I think is if you can't surf 6 to 8 foot crab very comfortably and get barreled your not really going to do yourself any favours under the cliffs. For sure I can see it getting crowded some day soon but the wave is worthy of the crowd. Whoever comes along and can throw their hat at this deserves a go. Even on the smaller days that are on the video, the Aussie bodyboarders had friends who just sat in the channel and wanted no part of it. I do think there will be a lot of people not coming back. We've already seen that. For sure on the biggest days there will be only a couple of people out. I'll be watching from the safety of O'Briens Castle sipping on a hot cup of tea, no sugars! Worth watching out for is next months riptide (Australian Bodyboard magazine). The photos from that session should be on the cover and all over the magazine.

What about the setting with the backdrop of the Cliffs of Moher,
it must be quite magical down there
DB - Too tired and worn out to keep typing.

JMC - About 2 weeks before the first session, myself and Dave drove around to the wave to look at the setup on a small Day. Back then just to be there and look at the cliffs was so daunting. When you line yourself up you are looking straight in at one of the tallest and sheerest parts of the cliff. To your right is the sea stack under O'Briens Castle. Out to sea is the Aran islands and that's all you can see. 'A scene from Lord of the Rings', that kind of gives you an idea, not a house or chimney stack to be seen. Amazingly now, for example the last session we had out there last weekend, I was half way through the session before I sat back and said, ok take a second and actually look at what's around you. Your pretty much straight back into the awe of the first experience again. When you combine the striking location and one of the best waves in the world, there is no other surf spot like Aill na Searracht in the world. I've said it to Dave when we've been out there on our own. We're two very lucky surfers.

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I doubt many of you will read that... but if you do, it is actually a pretty good article to read (or skim for that matter)

**warthog** · 12-22-2006, 10:37 PM

I don't know if you were joking, or if this is just a case of the worst reading comprehension ever, but that is the same wave.

**Vince** · 12-23-2006, 12:49 AM

Originally Posted by ILOVE2SKI

blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahbl ahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahbl ahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahbl ahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahbl ahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahbl ahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahbl ahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahbl ahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahbl ahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahbl ahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah

HO BRAH!

Bettah you SHUT YO MOUTH befo' I shut it fo you Barney

SPLIT KOOK! GET DA FUCK OUTTA HEA!!!!!

**ILOVE2SKI** · 12-23-2006, 12:44 PM

Originally Posted by warthog

I don't know if you were joking, or if this is just a case of the worst reading comprehension ever, but that is the same wave.

Not joking... is same wave though as you mentioned...

Aileens = Aill Na Searrach

**Shorey** · 12-30-2006, 01:09 PM

I was feeling quietly proud that UK waters could produce such world worthy waves, but then, it's not new. Newquay has the Cribbar reef which also goes off big, St Agnes has it's nice big days too, and I wouldn't bet against Scotland producing some big days.

My local breaks are all north Cornwall - say, 3 - 8 ft. It will go up to about double overhead, but I won't do it because I'm not king brave yet.

Would I ever encourage anyone to come over to the UK to surf?

....nope

Way to unpredictable. It's been about a month since we had good water. Also, I've only had one day in the last two years that rocked totally, 4ft clean with no need for a wet suit..... mind you, that day was one of the best in my life.