No way is this the future of surfing, but shit sure is a whole lotta fun. CLIFF Hobgood, Taj Burrow and cover hero Jules Wilson enjoy one-foot dream rides on the once peaceful Clarence River.
Photos: John Respondek & Mark Onorati
Words by Ron Blakey
The elder Webber brothers, Monty and Greg, are the brains behind trawler surfing. Y’see, back in 2002 Mont and Gregory released a film titled Liquid Time. The idea for the flick was simple. While Greg skippered a small fishing boat up and down the river, Mont filmed the wake as it reached the shoreline and barreled on the muddy shallows. Anyway, watching this Liquid Time film you couldn’t help but dream how delightful it would be if you were three inches tall and able stand in those little caves. While most of us fantasized, the Webber men came up with a far more logical solution: Bigger boat = Bigger wake.
They hired a local fisherman and had him drive his trawler at top speed close enough to the bank to create a wave that was jsurfable, kinda like Snapper on a knee-high day, far from great but still fun.
When Stab spotted youtube footage of Mont and Greg’s younger bro Will paddling into a wake, getting to his feet and then weaving across the thing like a coked-up Adriano de Souza we thought, if Will can rack up a 7.5 on this hot little spinner a couple of A-list professionals will go completely nutso. So we started planning this surf trip.
Calling A-listers
Because the trawler goes up and down the river it churns out lefts in one direction and rights when going the other. We’d need a goofy and a natural footer to make the most of our session. We’d also need guys that could perform on small waves. We put the idea to Cliff Hobgood and he gobbled it up. Julian Wilson’s another human from a wave-starved part of the world and being so in-vogue right now, and because I’m personally ready to hop the fence to be with the man, we figured the young Sunshine Coaster would be a worthy starter too. We decided a third surfer was needed because the trawler only generates one rideable wave per lap and if someone falls off or gets caught behind a section this 200-metre long wave goes to waste. So we called on Taj, our favourite guinea piglet for these types of novelty features and a known magician in the smaller soup.
You’d think after all the perfect waves these guys have had they’d be lukewarm about this glorified wakeboard session but after seeing the footage of Will on Youtube they were frill-necking.
“I love this kind of shit!” declared TB when we sent him the link. “I’ve been on the wavepool trips and done the chopper shoots with Stab and they’re the funnest things in the world. It doesn’t even matter that it’s not the best wave because you have a great time anyway.”
The session
We snubbed clean five-foot waves at Angourie Point to catch the morning river glass. When we pulled up to the Yamba Mariner our thick-set trawler captain Brutus and his equally burly 11-year-old son Frank were on deck filling the ice boxes [where they stick the fish they’ve caught when out at sea] with 4000 litres of water. “It makes the boat sit a little lower out there which means bigger wake,” explained Brutus.
As we left the four-knot no wash zone, Brutus pushed on the throttle and we began to gather momentum. We were just outside the four-knot zone when we got up enough speed to create some wake. Taj called everyone’s attention to the first wave of the set that was about to hit the shallow water of the small island we’d be surfing. The leading ripple started to steepen and spill. Brutus, leaned out of the cabin to check what the wave was doing, spotted it was still a little fat and angled Ashleigh Jayde, his 15-metre trawler, toward the bank. He gave it a little more stick and the 3406 TA Caterpillar diesel engine started to hum. We hit 10 knots and suddenly the lip on the first line of wake, which is the only surfable surge in the set, threw and a perfect little barrel appeared. Everyone on board was losing their minds. Our stars tore their clothes off to get their suits on, they all wanted to be the first to ride it.
Taj, sick and grumpy with the flu, was instantly back and was easily the quickest to get ready. TB plonked overboard as Brutus swung his ship through a u-turn and again leaned hard on the throttle. Taj paddled for position, got to his feet and started to trim. He was conservative to begin with, feeling out this artificial wave that doesn’t feel anything like your typical one footer.
The wall was knee high, lacking punch and it appeared as though it would be almost impossible to do a big turn on but toward the end of the ride Taj had worked it out, throwing down tidy backside snaps, floaters and even a little air.
When the wave eventually bottomed out on the end of the island, TB was dumped on the sand. When he popped up, it was like he’d finished one of the rides of his life.
Julian was up next and started his first go with a run-in off the bank. Jules used the speed from the run-in to aim his board directly at the lip of the heaving right. His first hit was successful and he continued down the line before Cliff dropped in and shimmied along the right Viccy Ribas-style on his backside.
For the next two-and-a-half hours the boys took turns running in, stepping off the trawler onto the wave and whipping in at the section.
Taj had his comp head on and rode the waves longer than anyone, squeezing in the most turns. Jules fell off a bit but he also went for the biggest most creative moves, stomping one tidy shuv-it that ended up on page one. Cliff is a goddam cowboy, he surfed the wave well but after a while insisted he be whipped at the section to get the shot.
To appease the 2001 world chump, we put a tow rope off the back of a tinny armed with a motor harnessing the power of 15 horses. I was driving and Cliff was yelling orders at me to go flat stick and steer this borrowed boat directly at the trawler. “Go straight at it as fast as you can, dooood!” he screamed. “And just before you collide get out of there. You go one side of the trawler and I’ll go the other into the wake. It’ll be awesome, maaaan!!!”
I did as instructed worried that if I did fuck up I might slingshot the young dad into the hull of the Ashleigh Jayde and possibly kill him, or worse, put him in a wheelchair. Ah well, I clutched the throttle and tried to twist it off its shaft… VVVVVVVVVRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!
Luckily, Cliff was in control and let go of the rope flying down the opposite side of the trawler he bounced off the oncoming section with a tidy backside grab. Sweet!
It was at about this time the Maritime fuzz appeared. Obviously some killjoys had tipped them off. The authorities pulled up alongside Brutus and threatened to fine him. But Brutus was outside the four-knot no wash zone. He was breaking no laws. Desperate to end our fun the officer asked how many lifejackets Brutus was carrying. He had one for each of his passengers. He was all above board. He’s untouchable.
At this point the officer turned his attention to the owner of this mag, Sam McIntosh, who was chugging about on his jet ski to give our photographers different perspectives. It was Sam’s unlucky day: his passenger had no jacket on, his ski’s registration expired three days earlier and his PWC license was also out of date. They bent him over and enjoyed a lifetime of forbidden delights.
While the maritime cop emptied his wad on Sam, Brutus, all class, had no qualms firing up his beast and delivering a few more sets to the boys right in the face of the authorities. Half-an-hour later, the shots in the bag and the novelty factor dimming, we called it a session.
Where to now?
“It’s not a very powerful wave but it’s really fun,” says Julian who, ironically, creased his board during the session. “And even though the trawler is big I think a proper wake boat would generate a taller wave.”
Wild man Cliff wants to run a tanker up the river. “Doood, get a ship steaming past this island and it’s on! Man, those little waves are so perfect. Imagine three footers coming out of the deep water and turning inside out along the shore, it’d be awwwesome!”
I ask Brutus what he thinks about the whole river surfing deal, he can appreciate the novelty factor but doesn’t talk up the wave or the performances of the three stars. “Yeah they did alright, it’s not the greatest wave but it’s something different, hey? A bit of fun.”
If the maritime authorities don’t shut it down there’s promise in this river surfing business for Brutus. A good night at sea fetches him around $1500 but there’s no guarantee he’ll catch anything. Diesel ain’t cheap and at top speed the Ashleigh Jayde gurgles 60 litres an hour. That means if Brutus returns from sea without ice boxes spewing fish he’s in the red.
“Doood, get a ship steaming past this island and it’s on! Man, those little waves are so perfect. Imagine three footers coming out of the deep water and turning inside out along the shore, it’d be awwwesome!” CJ Hobgood
Right now there ain’t nothing illegal bout driving a boat up the river making waves. “The maritime guys don’t like it but I’m not breaking any rules.” Says Brutus. “They actually got in contact with me the other day and told me I could buy a three day licence off them to do it. ‘What do I need a license for?’ I said. They didn’t really have an answer for me. I said, “Why the fuck would I want to give you more money than I already do?”
If you wanna try it out Brutus’ services will cost you $600 bucks for a three-hour session. In that time you’ll have the opportunity to surf around 30 waves but remember, these waves are at least 200 metres long. Take into consideration that it will probably cost Brutus around $250 in diesel and you got a sweet deal. Get six mates together and for a hundred skins you could sample this thing. It far from high-performance, it’s a long way off getting tubed, it won’t be the ride of your life but we guarantee you won’t forget it.
Call Brutus on 0427 002 738
Posts: 3
Reply #3 on : Mon October 06, 2008, 17:10:41