By Jason Polakow and Scott McKercher
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[Scotty] For years, Jason and I have talked about him making it over to WA. We've been on Sylt looking out at Bolt onshore and raining, wishing we were somewhere else that was down the line and sunny.
In my PWA life, I usually set aside the first 10 days of September to make it up North so I could get my fix before heading off to Europe. But now focussed on full time development, I bounce between up north and Bangkok like a demented yoyo. (but I get to catch pretty much every good swell).
Jason's also free from World Cup commitments, and now has his eye cast over a far greater playing field (the Pacific and Indian Oceans). Ready to pounce at a moment's notice, he scours the net for waves that make me nervous.
Anyways, the point is we finally got it together...
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[Jason] My first impression of Gnarloo was being awakened in the very early hours of the morning by the constant chatter of Scotty's car, as we flew down the corrugated dirt road. Dust had consumed the inside of the car as I laid vacuum sandwiched between the equipment in the back part of the car.
"Are you guys not choking to death from all this dust", I said.
"Nar mate, all good here", Scotty replied.
At that moment I knew that Scotty had been immune to such insignificant trivialities. He had done this exact trip just days ago; a total of 3000 km.
In my opinion, Scotty, is definitely an anomaly amongst other sailors. His passion for chasing great waves is unrelenting, with regular 12 to 15 hour trips a way of life for him.
Scotty's car was in for its weekly 10,000,000-mile oil change, which I think, worked in my favor as we had to borrow his mumâ??s commodore wagon for the trip, which had air conditioning and all the trimmings.
The best way to tackle the great plains of the NW coast would be to rent a light plane. The only drawback is not being able to fit a jet ski inside. I've learned from past experiences that when you're chasing big waves with a team of photographers and video guys you need a jet ski, period.
Our trip up this year was joined by one of my best mates from NZ, Campbell Farrell who had made a very last minute decision to join us on this little adventure.
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