I was sooo looking forward to this one as I saw it appear on the charts. Its hard not to get too excited, I always remind myself it could drastically dissipate, change course or disappear completely.
Unfortunately as the first lumps arrived the weather wasn’t good, it wasn’t bad either but it was typically Cornish with what we call “Mizzle” (a mix of mist and rain) the worst possible combo for amazing pictures with the Atlantic just looking like a grey puddle.
As it all started to hit there were some hearty waves with a nice height as well as some gaps in the clouds. It was quite deceptive and if you were just walking about you would maybe have missed a big set because of the long periods between them. This scenario carried on throughout the next couple of days.
The photograph above was taken on the 31/01/21 Just as the second onslaught of swell hit our shores. I took it almost by accident. I had just been standing watching the swell with Rob Fowlie who was sizing it up for a potential Cribbar paddle out just before lunchtime. We both agreed it was looking more like North Beach in Nazare than Fistral Beach in Newquay. I was on my way back to the car to dry off my equipment and decided I wanted a shot from next to my mums memorial bench which is situated near the Atlantic Hotel. It is an image myself and many other photographers have taken many times before but this spot now has an even more of a special meaning to me.
I started to set up my camera and before I was even looking through the viewfinder I noticed these absolute mountains on the horizon that transformed slowly into one of the biggest sets I have ever seen in the UK rolling straight into Little Fistral. I think this shot shows just how big and powerful this whole event was. Remember this is not the Cribbar, that was still doing its stretches and warming up for the day and getting ready for what would become a legendary afternoon session the following day.
Monday the call went out. The cribbar was ON. Despite the Mizzle waves were very big, clean and consistent. Dom Moore broke his gun and took what must have been a two story fall due to sheer exhaustion from back to back mega sessions making the most of this rare window. A few good rides and fun stories made this a very special day. Although positive at the same time it was a little scary to see 200 (socially distant) people on the headland instead of the usual 20.
I have seen the Cribbar itself larger (not necessarily cleaner) on several occasions and have the photographs to prove it but remember I am looking at it from a very different perspective to someone who surfs it.
Couldn’t be more stoked that this image was picked up by magicseaweed and not only received 6 thousand+ likes but made the coveted “photo of the day”
PS. It’s a hearing gull on the left in the mid ground of this shot not a surfer in the water. Anyone in the ocean would be the size of a pin head, just look at the size of the cars!