G’day world, like a fresh pair of socks on a marathon runner is the odour-friendly weekly wash, proudly brought to you by AKWA Surf keeping you informed with all the surf happenings locally and on the pro tour.
Hello darkness my old friend... the depressing sound of diminutive waves slapping upon the sands across our coastline created plenty of upside-down smiles and bitter growls from agonised surfers this week. Beside the amazing run of weather where the birds sang happily, t-shirts and thongs were the uniform for most but sadly the main spice to the weeks we live for was almost nonexistent and that particular ingredient we all crave was surf. A very weak passage of weather failed to produce anything eclipsing the three-foot mark, even more upsetting is the forecast for this week with nothing really significant on the horizon until next Monday.
With beaches more wave starved than Lake Eyre, only the very keen persisted with the flaccid swells we received. Friday morning was possibly the biggest day of the week when a nearly two-foot sea rose out of the depths and discarded itself upon Rennies beach early in the morning. This was enough to ruffle the loins of one surf-crazed voyager Matt Stewart. Big Matty was still soaking up the Indo vibes which he and son Sam recently returned from and stroked out into the crisp conditions. Luckily for Matt he had with him a secret weapon in the form of a short, super wide and thick grovel board which allowed his 120kg frame to float in the tiny waves and ride some which would generally leave him in struggle town.
Ulladulla Boardriders held their monthly event in very minuscule waves at Rennies. With a lacklustre one-foot swell lazily reaching the sands, it gave surfers a different type of challenge as our members who eclipsed that 80kg mark really had to work hard. It was a fantastic role up though and great to see new members continually signing up. Even a full-grown seal showed up and put on a display literally metres off the sand whilst chasing a large school of salmon (for full results check the paper).
Competitors in the final Subway® Surf Series Pro Junior for 2016, battled through a day of small waves at North Cronulla as Macy Callaghan claimed the World Surf League (WSL) Australasian Junior Qualifying Series (JQS) title, as well as the women's event division. Callaghan has had a stellar beginning to 2016, claiming her fifth pro junior event this year in addition to the WSL Australian JQS championship. In a wave-starved final, Callaghan managed to make the most of the limited opportunities, posting a nine-point ride, which left fellow finalist Kobie Enright chasing an elusive 7.51. As a result, Macy also earned a spot in the upcoming World Junior Titles.
"My biggest goal this year was to win the JQS series and a few Pro Junior events, so I'm happy that I achieved them," Callaghan said. "It's a bit of a bummer that the waves dropped so much by the finals, but my dad just told me to get whatever I could and fortunately I got that nine-point ride. This whole series has given me the best platform to go onto the Qualifying Series next year and to have my name on the same list as some of my heroes is a great feeling."
Stay classy Milton Ulladulla. If anyone would like to add to this column: call into AKWA surf, call 44545222 or kurt@akwasurf.com.au.
