From a dark cloud of calamity emerges a swell like no other. This is the story of Cyclone Gabrielle …
It’s a bittersweet tale for the surf community. While Cyclone Gabrielle tore communities apart throughout the North Island, days later its swell brought communities together.
The ominous sight of Cyclone Gabrielle, and it’s possible paths, did little to ease the pit of gloom in the stomachs of those in the firing line. And every surfer knew the unusually high water temperatures around New Zealand’s coastline were like fuel to the cyclone’s ire.
On Tuesday morning news emerged that a house had fallen off a hillside in Muriwai. We were watching Northland and the Coromandel battle the giant weather system, so it came as a surprise to hear the West Coast of Auckland had been hit so hard, too.
Paul Moretti is one of New Zealand’s best surfers and an absolute champion of a character. I soon learned that his house had also collapsed.
“Things are pretty surreal up here,” he told me with his voice shaking. “We are okay, we are safe – we managed to get out about half an hour before it happened. Everything is gone. It’s gutting but we are safe and well, which is the main thing.”
Weighing heavily on Paul’s mind at the time was his friend, firefighter Craig Stevens, who was lying in a hospital bed in critical condition after being caught in a landslide. Fellow firefighter Dave van Zwanenberg was missing. Muriwai is a small coastal community where everyone knows and helps each other.
Paul, who works at nearby building company, didn’t have contents insurance and has lost all his belongings. He tells me how he had to line up at WINZ to get emergency funds to buy new undies.
“I never thought I’d ever be doing that,” he tells me.
Later news comes in that Craig Stevens’ has passed away, leaving behind his wife, Lucy, and two young sons.
Gabrielle Smashes The East Coast
On the East Coast Cyclone Gabrielle continued to rage as it swept through the already weather-battered communities of Northland, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay. In its wake, a trail of horror stories and destruction unlike anything New Zealand has seen this century.
As we published this story the statistics are frightening: 11 people have been confirmed dead, 1131 are yet to make contact and 10 of those have not been located.
Artist and surfer Brett Summerlee lives in Wainui, Gisborne. Thankfully his home in Wainui was okay, but he has been out in the community helping others.
“The whole community has come together to clean up and help out,” he told us. “It’s heartening but also tough to see houses filled with silt and the smell is terrible. Everything that was supposed to be underground is mixed in with the silt and floodwater.”
Brett, who teaches art at Gisborne Boys’ High School, is organising his students to help with recovery efforts.
Surfer Andy Sutherland, who lives on the coast near Wainui, is married to De-Arne. She was involved in the emergency response and the preparation.
“De-Arne hasn’t stopped or slept for four or five days,” he told us when a local Starlink service eventually came online giving him contact with the outside world.
Together with many other members of the community Andy has been going to homes to help out with the clean up – including stripping walls of sodden Gib board. That’s a task that looks widespread throughout Tairāwhiti and Te Matau-a-Māui.
Anticipation
Given Cyclone Gabrielle’s track not many surf spots even showed a glimpse of a silver lining to the darkness. The East Coast of the North Island was also the epicentre of the system and storm surges and surf were kept to a minimum. A few spots along the Coro Coast came to life for moments, and a novelty wave of the side of Mt Maunganui broke about as big as we have seen it, but still raw and stormy.
Further south Otago and Canterbury surfers waited to see if the system hooked off the East Cape. If this happened then the swell would arrive a few days later to coincide with a forecast light southerly wind flow. Reports varied wildly, but it was hard to ignore the days of fetch coming straight off the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
If reports were true, it would arrive by morning on Wednesday and peak around midday at 3.6m at 12 seconds. The big question was where along the coast to greet it?
Big Wednesday
My gumboots squelched through the dew-sodden grass. I had chosen a big-wave point break, but even in the half light I could see the swell was not yet exploding off the headland the way I’d expected.
I found a good spot to shoot from and waited for more light to reveal what was happening out at sea. Every 10-minutes a set would run down the walls and not one surfer in sight. The swell looked raw, which wasn’t helped by the glassy conditions. It was hard to estimate size, but maybe 5-6 foot. I watched a large fishing boat outrun a breaking shoal way out beyond the entrance to Otago Harbour. Then it disappeared behind a swell and was gone for 40-seconds. It reappeared and continued to give the shoal a wide berth. The shoals appeared bigger than I had seen them before.
On a nearby headland I could see three jet skis appear and start to surf another wave. From the back it seemed surprisingly solid and hollow. The wind coming off a mountain and across the inlet created a light offshore, which was helping to iron the kinks out of the swell. I had that sinking feeling I had chosen the wrong location. My jet ski partner had changed plans the night before so I was strictly documenting this wave land-based unless I went for a swim.
By mid-morning, as the tide filled in, a few surfers had paddled over to surf the wave I was hoping to shoot. And six jet skis were hustling on the wave in the distance. Most of the other waves on the coast were either maxing out and not able to hold the swell or doing something funky instead.
I eventually decided to quit my position and check a high-tide wave closer to the harbour. On the way there I saw a myth of a spot breaking almost perfectly. I rubbed my eyes, took a closer look and tried to understand what it was I was seeing. No one was out and I wondered if it was a mirage of some kind. I considered having a quick surf in what I thought was a 4-5 foot right. But, with no one keen to join me, decided to document the swell instead.
I later found out that the right was breaking at about 8-10 foot. That accounted for the feeling of watching a wave break perfectly, but in slow motion.
Novelty Surfbreaks Alight
The high tide novelty waves of the Otago Harbour entrance were lighting up. A crew of six surfers took turns getting barreled on a backwashy left in the corner. It broke from 2-6 foot and occasionally looked incredible. Luke Rogers and his father Dean were making the most of it along with a handful of other barrel hunters.
The wedge off the Mole was also working while Aramoana looked like a washing machine with one in every 20 waves looking slightly rideable. That was enough for Karne Gabbott. He paddled out solo, in the peak of the swell, and surfed a handful of ridiculous waves before chasing another reef further up the coast.
The Peak of the Swell
As the tide started to drop for the afternoon the swell cleaned up a notch and I went through this dark place of wanting to be everywhere all at the same time. With the lay of the land and many spots requiring some walking to get to – it can take an hour or more to check different places. It was a strange kind of FOMO that was doing my head in. Not everywhere was working – some popular spots never broke properly with the swell angle clocking around the compass so quickly.
I decided to pop in to check one spot I was sure would have something decent and I was right. But I didn’t count on the swell actually improving during the evening.
This particular righthander had broken for pretty much the whole day and through the tides. The morning group of surfers were calling it 6-10 foot … and I met one solo surfer who met me on the track in with eyes wild with astonishment as he described 15-footers breaking across the reef. He was scurrying away to a less intense spot and I didn’t blame him at all.
By the afternoon the wave was more like 5-8 foot, but as round as it was high at times. Davy Wooffindin and Nick Smart had been towing it all day along with Joe Dirt and James Cross, Dave Wild and Mike Dorking, Richard O’Keefe and James Streetley, and Kyle Davidson and Gordy. Five tow teams were at times too much out there, but the waves just never stopped coming.
I heard a story that at one point Joe had missed a tow into a wave, but didn’t let that stop him paddling his 6’1″ board down the face of the very next monster set wave and somehow managing to catch the thing. He wasn’t even sure he was going to chase this swell and then his instincts kick in and he blows everyone’s mind.
The tail end of the session saw some incredible waves going down. Davy and Davo found some great lines through the sometimes warping walls that didn’t always run nicely. Joe was chasing the bigger ones and got scuttled early into one. I thought he’d wash up on to the rock I was perched on after wearing a two-storey high wall of water on his neck. He eventually popped up way down the point thanks to the rapid-filled river that would flush through the inside with each set.
That meant there was no chance to swim out there with the camera and the slabbing nature of the peak made me think any paddling in would be impossible.
Just as that thought went through my mind Will Fraser turned up (he often appears on the big days and paddles into some of the best waves). Sure enough he stroked into one of the bigger sets and the tow teams let him have it. He got swept up the face as he paddled hard down it – I thought he was a goner. But no, cool as can be, he popped to his feet and free-fell a very long way without even once questioning the ability for his tippy toes to bring the drop under control. He compressed and set his rail and whipped around an impossible section to ride the wave to the end. It was the best wave I had witnessed being ridden all day.
For his efforts Davy gave him a ride back to the takeoff zone.
Eventually just Richard O’Keefe and James Streetley remained in the lineup. They traded barrels and found a couple of impressive rides when another paddler arrived from the beach around the corner. Two others had tired to paddle out through the keyhole on the west side only to be washed in way down the beach.
Felix Dickson is no stranger to waves of consequence and immediately went to town a few hefty paddle in waves. Somehow he and Will were managing to paddle back against the torrent … at least a few times. It was probably the lesser evil compared with having to run a kilometre down the beach to try to punch out through the beachbreak.
The Super Session
Felix later came to where I was shooting and the look on his face was incredible – like that of a man living his best day ever. There was a good reason for that. Felix went on to tell me how him, Todd Robertson, Neil McQueen, Leroy and James Rust had stumbled across a bank that was taking a direct hit from the swell. The bank usually does not exist but after a summer of small easterly swells and winds it had grown into something significant.
When Felix turned up Toddy was coming in holding two halves of his 6’10”. Luckily he had a 7’0″ back-up. They paddled out and surfed perfect 8-10 foot plus barreling rights until Toddy snapped his second board and Felix broke his leg rope.
“I got the wave of my life out there,” Felix tells me, with his wild eyes concurring with his story. “It was so perfect and … I still can’t quite believe it.”
Felix, who had walked paddled a few km along the coast to where In was started to make the trek back. I later heard he decided to go back out at the fickle bank, which was still working right into dark.
“I couldn’t resist it,” he told me afterwards. “It might not ever break like that again.”
A few days later I spoke with the quiet, unassuming hell man, Toddy Robertson. He pioneered many of the big wave spots around Otago and has surfed throughout the world chasing big waves. He described the session they had as “the best waves of my life”.
“I still can’t get my feet back on the ground,” Toddy admitted a few days after the swell had passed. “They were hands down the best waves I have been amongst in my life. I’ve surfed all around the world – pumping Mexico and that was even better. It was a whole other level.”
He admitted it wasn’t for everyone with the super fast take-offs and heavy, heavy fast sections.
The last time Leroy had seen a swell of this size he was a kid.
“I remember being a young teenager and my dad took me to this spot and it was about three times overhead and way too big for me then,” he recalls. “I will never forget watching my dad swooping down these giant walls. It was graceful and scary at the same time.’
Leroy, who surfed it this time with his brother James, reckoned that was at least 20 years ago.
An Act Of Kindness
On the road and making a beeline for the coast was Dave Lyons, of Kaikoura, and Dan “Delta” Smith, of Christchurch. They would be the last tow team to arrive … just a few hours before dark having travelled such a long way. But their excitement would be cut short by a ski that refused to fire.
Dave, who uses his ski for fishing also, had recently had a marine sound system installed. It seems the wiring was draining the battery and after half an hour they realised it would be too risky to take the ski into that environment.
That’s when James Cross stepped up. He’s the full safety guru out on the water and has transformed the South Island tow teams and their practices. He offered his ski instead.
And with that Dave and Delta were on their way.
They took a slightly different line to the others and turning up on the sweetspot of the tide meant they didn’t have to navigate the lumpier backwash sections. They were dropping each other in right at the very top of the wave – a section that was unmakeable just an hour earlier.
It actually caught me by surprise when, out the corner of my eye, I saw Delta pull into a huge cavern that I was convinced was a closeout. I then decided to shoot the spit as it was a large compressive cavern. As I pressed the shutter, to my astonishment, I saw Delta burst out onto the face. He must have ridden at least 80m inside this thing. I’ll run the photo here, even though it is blurry (camera operator error).
I was excited to hear Delta’s story on what I imagined must have been a pretty amazing view.
“I couldn’t see a thing,” he laughed. “There were three big sections and each one would spit and obscure my view. I was just holding on, completely blind trying to feel my way out of it.”
The pair surfed to dark with Basil and a few others paddling as a bunch of onlookers gathered on a nearby hilltop. The last rays of light revealed waves in all directions as the swell mellowed slightly.
Day Two of the Gabrielle Swell
The next morning I was heading to a fickle wave that I thought might have been on. As I drove there a friend called and my foggy pre-coffee brain switched across to Aramoana instead. And so I made my way to Aramoana where at least I’d get a good read on the swell for the day. Directly out the front the waves were still chunky and hollow, but a lot more makeable ones than the previous day.
Ollie Charlesworth, Luca Brunotti and a handful of others paddled out and started to drop into some hollow waves. They were making it look way easier than it actually was. I was settling in enjoying the show and preparing for a swim with the camera when a friend called and told me the original spot I was aiming for was actually working.
I literally threw everything in the car and did a small calculation as to how many sets I’d miss on the almost 1-hour drive there. It was a lot. Worse still the tide was not in my favour.
To my relief I arrived to find some 4-5 foot waves still running along the bank. It was a quick change and out there – luckily, to get a ride through the shorebreak courtesy of Davy and Gordy who were towing in.
The lineup was a big arena and lining up for a decent photo was super tricky thanks to the end of each set serving up a nice wide peak that unloaded right where I needed to be. Jeff Patton, Leon Hendry and Sam Lucas were paddling it. Davy and Gordy felt bad towing it with them out so they headed off to another spot to try their luck.
The session quickly revealed the last few gasps of the peak of the swell. All the paddlers got some great waves and a few beatings in between. I was thankful just to be finally in the water amongst it all.
The tide eventually soaked up the energy and that was the end of my day and the end of the full fury of Gabrielle’s wake. Sure, the next three days Gabrielle made herself known as the swell clocked right around to the south east and eventually drifted away.
Aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle
There is no question this cyclone, and its swell, are rare events in New Zealand. The swell will long be remembered by all who gave chase and managed to scratch into a decent wave.
It also leaves behind a trail of destruction and some unfathomably broken families who have lost loved ones. It has destroyed communities and will rewrite how and where New Zealander’s build homes and communities well into the future.
We were lucky to experience the silver lining of Cyclone Gabrielle as its swell met our shores. It created many different memories for the surfers who got to experience that energy firsthand. But it will always be tinged with the sadness that comes with the loss of life and desperation from those communities most affected in the North Island.
Donate
Want to help? Of course you do … and you know its good karma. Our friends at the Red Cross have launched the New Zealand Disaster Fund … and they already have a cool five million in donations thanks to you awesome Kiwis. Or you can read some of the personal stories of those affected right here and donate to them also. Or give to Paul Moretti’s friend, Craig Steven’s, wife and children here.
Arohanui. Good waves coming your way soon …