Sometimes you have days when it all comes together and everything seems effortless. This was one of those days. I’d had a wild week, chasing mysto waves and getting kegged with mates. Conor Maguier and I had launched the ski, and been awed by the hoards of sea birds taking flight from the cliffs in the dawn light. We got so distracted by the birds we almost missed the tide! But the epic morning combined with the week before had me floating and laughing as I joined the tense line.
This wave was my second of the day. I’d already had a smaller wave so it wasn’t my turn to go, but as the wave stacked up I could see no one was going for it. I put my head down and paddled like feck. I was pretty late, so all my attention was on making the drop and getting my rail in. I didn’t even look up at the wave until I was halfway through the bottom turn. When I did, I was already locked into one of the biggest, roundest and most perfect tubes I’d ever been in. There was a moment of silence as the wave drew breath. The cliffs were perfectly framed by the crystalline blue water all around me. I glided through perfection. The wave heaved me into the channel in a gout of spray. In disbelief, I looked into the whooping faces of my brothers in the channel and stood stunned.
Filmed by Clem McInerny
