On the morning after winning The Oakley ASL Bwa I went over to fox sports for a couple of seedy early morning interviews. Here’s the one for Fuel Tv airing currently..

30th March 2013 was the day after i turned 30 years of age. It was also a real fun day at shippies spent with my friends. Here are some clips thrown together. Water footage was shot with an Ion camera. I did get a few better clips but saving for a project im working with. “Ion The Barrel”.
land footage shot by Misty Shipway and Mick Cannings. Thanks misty and mick

Shippies Session March 2013 from marti paradisis on Vimeo.

On February 13th 2013 i was awarded “Biggest Wave” in the oakley ASL big wave awards. This was a massive honour and something which had eluded me for many years. To finally walk away with the big one felt like an amazing achievement.

The final consisted of five surfers. Myself, best mates Ty Hollmer cross and Danny Griffiths, and big wave legends Camel and Antman Pato. It was an awesome night and super close final. Everyone got super loose and had a hell time including an entourage of Tassie crew making the journey to support us all.

Thanks to Jimmy Hollmer Cross for whipping me into the Pedra bomb and to all my family , friends and sponsors (Haydenshapes, Volcom, Ocean Earth, Futures, Electric, Shednine) for all the support and encouragement…

YEW

“Solid swell from the southwest, light winds, lets hit shippies”……

This is the usual scenario that my friends and I are used to. I mean, if shippies is breaking, your guaranteed big pits. So how hard is that to turn away and go looking around at possible other breaks. Knowing that its pretty much impossible we will find a wave that comes close. But sometimes something different can be a good thing, refreshing, adventure.

So a little blob headed towards tassie and we decided to head opposite directions to shippies and try our luck. We had a few options up our sleeves and knew the worst scenario would be sitting on a boat sipping on some tassie brews with ya best mates talking shit, and crusing past some of the most amazing scenery in the world.

The crew consisted of Zeb, Wombat, Hollmer-cross Bros, Rudi, Chiza, myself and Dave the captain. The wind was meant to be the lightest at mid morning so we left port at around sunrise. It seemed like a pretty nice day really, the sun shining and inside the cabin it felt quite warm. But as we scoped out a good looking beach break and seen snow capped mountains in the background we were met with the grim reality of what awaits once we set foot outside this place of comfort.

The beachbreak we steamed past looked like it was pumping from behind, we watched one wave spit three times. However we were on a mission to find something a bit bigger and thought it would be a great backup spot for the way home. In the distance we could see the bombie break. It looked big, but the swell was messy and the wind was still light onshore. It seemed like a a-frame take off, the left being longer but more of a closeout. Every now and then the left would heave a gaping pit but when we got side on, it was collapsing unmakeable. We decided to go try paddle the right, just to get a few waves under the belt.

Once out in the lineup we soon realised how big a takeoff area there actually was. The first two big sets cleaned us up but there didnt seem to be a consistant spot we could stay in. There were plenty of waves breaking on an inside shelf but then these 15ft clean up sets would just sweep through the lineup. We got a couple waves each and decided to move to another spot, a long right pointbreak just down the coast.

The point was pretty much pumping. No it wasnt open wide barrels. but long 8ft walls was enough to put smiles on our faces. It felt so nice to be able to lay rail on a bigger board a few times as the wave peeled down the line for a couple hundred metres. After an hour or so it was time for lunch. WOmbat manned the barbie and i introduced a few crew to the “Bridgewater Satay”. Peanut butter on bread with a snag. Shits gold im telling ya. As we ate, we steamed back to the beachie but by the time we got there the wind had swung and the surf was dogshit.

On the drive home reports of shippies floated in…. fifteen ft, glassy, no one out.. I admit it did hurt knowing we could of had that. But thats all part of the game. A week later a similar scenario, except we ended up getting the goods…… Soon to come

All photos Andrew Chisholm www.andychiz.com

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Well no it wasnt all time any of the days, but to score it three times in a week after spending over two months out of the water, makes me a pretty happy lad.
Monday was quite a solid swell around 10-15ft, but sets were slow and the wind wasnt ideal, making many chandeliers. Tyler and Danny got the bombs.
Tuesday was smaller around 10ft, but cleaner and some great paddle waves.
The swell then stayed a fun size all week for the local beachies and on saturday we got another spike and back down to shippies we went. It was 6-8ft super clean with clear blue skies. A really beautiful day, but definitely woulda been nice if it was a bit bigger. Follow these links to see what went down…

http://www.surfermag.com/photos/tasmanian-ledges/
Andrew Chisholm’s shots from Monday and Tuesday

http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/progression-update-chapter-four_75496/

http://www.surfline.com/surflinetv/sixty-seconds/60-seconds-marti-paradisis_74089

http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/marti-paradisis-sequence-at-shipsterns-bluff_73805/

http://www.thecollective.net.au/too-west/
Stuart Gibson’s Shots from Saturday

Shot below – A nice one from the Tuesday session Photo: Barry and Eliz http://www.justgosurfing.blogspot.com/

After two months out of the water, finally got a taste of that salty juice the last few days….. On a nice new HaydenShapes “Hypto Crypto”, a little wedge a short drive from my house provided a few barely surfable bowls before the sun went down. All photos Stu Gibson…….

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Last week Shippies turned on, “BIG TIME”.

I try to live my life , to make sure im in a position so i never miss a swell at what my mates and i call “the most amazing place on earth”.

I remember being on a surf trip in the Mentawai Islands a few years ago. Here i am in a tropical paradise. Surfing in boardshorts, surrounded by beauty, clear blue skies, travelling with a good crew of mates and scoring 6-8 ft HT’s. For nearly all surfers this was as dreamy as it gets. And for a while there i was also loving that dream. But one problem, i had access to the internet. And me being me, i couldn’t help myself. I had to see what was going on swell wise back home. As soon as i noticed the huge blob of purple and yellow heading towards Tassie, my heart sunk. I couldn’t control what i was feeling. No matter how good or how many times you’ve surfed your favourite wave, when you miss a pumping session, it cuts deep.

When last weeks swell started shaping up things seemed to be heading in a positive direction. My knee injury got the all clear from the “doc”,well not really, but thats how it translated in my head. All i could think about was surfing shippies, it was like nothing was going to stop me. On the lead up to the swell, i tried to use my knee in all different situations to simulate the pressure id put on it while surfing. It hurt a bit, but i still had confidence.

Who was i fooling? the night before the swell, my knee was well and truly buckled. I couldn’t even stand on one knee and support myself and the pain was excruciating. So now I was in two minds about it all, I thought I could sit a home and not put myself through the torture of watching it, or I could go down and try get some clips of my mates. I chose the latter, and headed south for two heavy days of Shippies action.

I saw the swell coming a week and a half before it was due to hit. There’ve been a few swells over the last three weeks, each swinging a little more to the southwest. When i saw this system fire up down near Antarctica i kept an eye on it. Jack Scollard had been wanting a redemption session out at ships since it busted his eardrum 8 months ago, so gave him the heads up and the kid flew into town the day before the swell..

On wednesday 30th may 2012 Chiza (local photog) and myself left the boat ramp in our little inflatable 13footer and proceeded to make our way to the shippies channel. All the swell indicators on the way round were firing up, thats when i started to wonder what id gotten myself into. I was going to have to sit there and watch my favourite wave pump out some of the biggest, meanest barrels it had to offer.

I tried to change my mindset. I concentrated on the filming aspect, i really wanted to get some clips for the boys. All my mates were out there, and they were fucking charging. At times it was almost uncomfortable watching. No one was making the waves. Every set that came through, Chiz and i would sit there cringing and silently hoping our friends would resurface after each wipeout. It was one of the most epic things vie witnessed. But to tell you the truth, i don’t think i could do it again. It hurt so much to have to sit there and watch. I mind surfed every single wave that broke that day.

On that wednesday i witnessed some gnarly shit, the worst involving two of my best mates. Just after midday Chiz and i started tucking into our lunch between sets when all of a sudden we seen the horizon go black. The crew on the rocks started whistling and the skis out the back started positioning themselves. When the first wave came through, it hit the reef on the weirdest angle, with 0 percent chance of it being makable. Jimmy McKean took that thing on without hesitation. As he dropped over the first ledge the thing contorted into the definition of evil. He proceeded to go below sea level, then becoming engulfed in the wave, he was in the oceans hands and old “Poseidon” had a wild ride for him. But we knew the next wave was the big one. I seen Zadda (Alex Zawadski) let go of the rope and start dropping into the beast, but at the same time i was trying to see if i could find Jimmy. Zads wave seemed to just grow bigger and bigger. He hit the step halfway down the face and as the board tweaked out sideways, i knew she was game over. As Zadda tumbled into the most horrific wipeout id ever witnessed, i looked towards the rocks and just got a glimpse of Jimmy surface for a few seconds before copping the two storey wall of whitewater from Zaddas wave square on the head. Those two wave put both the boys in hospital with head, knee and groin injuries.

The next day was smaller, but still throwing out 12ft clean bombs and all the boys cleaned up getting some amazing pits and also a few more really horrific wipeouts. The two days of surfing down there produced more injuries and carnage than everything in the past combined. Im thankful none of my mates got really seriously hurt. And although it hurt like hell to not be out there trading bombs with the boys, this injury has given me a new fire inside. Ive set new goals and want to reach new heights. Its all about finding a positive way through any obstacle. I know where im heading, and “fuck” i cant wait to get there yeeeeeeeeewww

Stern Late May 2012 from marti paradisis on Vimeo.

2days before a Tasmanian winter from Mikey Brennan on Vimeo.

Shipstern Bluff from Laif Johannesen on Vimeo.

This winter ive decided to mostly escape the cold and try hunt some warm water perfection in Indonesia. After being here for one week a juicy lookin swell hit the charts… My brain straight away hit overdrive, fifty differnt destinations went through it and brainstorming possibilities kept me on edge and anxious. My dad was due to fly over a day before it hit so i decided not too venture too deep into the jungle.
Nias was the call. It looked like it wasnt going to cop the brunt of the swell, but the direction was good and the season was early, so crowds were gonna be minimal. Saffa grommet Matt Bromley was on the program and Buddha flew in a day later with Alley Cat bandit Natedogg. This is a glimpse of what went down. Shots were taken By the old man “Jimmy”……… check out more stuff on http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/return-to-nias—and-beyond_69185/

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A couple of weeks ago a storm system provided swell for the whole east coast of oz. I was hoping it would produce conditions for a mythical wave down home to come alive, so i proceeded to book and plan my adventure. Due to my usual companions being busy travelling and working, i was to do the journey solo, teaming up with a couple of mates at the destination. Landing in Hobart at 9pm the night before the swell, my old man Jimbo picked me up and headed straight home for some sleep. 5hrs later im packing the wagon, hookin the ski up and starting my 200km journey. I arrive at my destination just as the sun was rising, but am disappointed at what i see. Its half the size of what was predicted. Still plenty of fun waves about, but the gold mine wasnt producing at all. we ended up hittin a mini slab round the corner for a few hrs. After getting a few flat bottom tubbs i hit the road again, driving 250 km to the sth east tip of tassie. The surf wasnt much better down there. It was pretty much pumping, but when your after the gold and get the bronze, its just not quite the same….. Cheers Charles Ward and Mat Tildesley.

Been a while since i updated on what’s been doin sooooo:
ive spent the last month kickin it in my favourite part of the world in remote Pacific getting tubbed off my head with good mates mike brennan, andrew mooney, simon treweek and jimmy monie. It was one of the best trips i’d ever been on, finding new set-ups and living with the local people was amazing. Tropical infections followed after numerous run in’s with the coral bottom and our feet littered with urchin spines. The photos are from Mikey and Jimmy’s cameras and some frame grabs from Treeksy’s film clips.

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