Risky Business, Chasing Storms

By now Ireland is bracing itself for another massive storm, some are saying it will be more intense than the one dubbed Hercules which wreaked so much havoc along the Irish Coastline last January. Hopefully with the storm coinciding with smaller tides that damage will be kept to a minimum. In the surfing world this storm has been on the radar for well over a week but has only begun to hit headlines in regular news for a couple of days.

Big wave surfers have been anxiously watching the charts, tracking the low as it formed over the Atlantic. If there is a surf god, they've been praying all week that the winds will swing in their favor in order to catch a window at some of Ireland's big wave spots.  Its still undecided as to whether the wind will be favorable for Big Wave Spot Mullaghmore but as it stands a gale force westerly wind is forecasted to arrive with the storm and its not looking good.

Despite this, there will be certain headlands and sheltered bays all along the Irish Coastline that will throw up some gems that only work on these massive swells. So without doubt, there will be surfers searching tomorrow. The coast guard has warned people to stay away from the coast and this is good advice for the ordinary surfer. For the Big Wave surfers, it is times like these that their training and knowledge comes into play and although risky, the preparation and dedication to their own safety and to the safety of others in the water has to be commended; for the most part this comes down to a small group called the Irish Tow Surf Rescue Club.

Here's a short video, shot by SaltieSouls, showing an open training day organised by Big Wave surfer Peter Conroy a few weeks back demonstating that dedication to Safety. Peter puts it best himself when he describes themselves as being self sufficient in water rescue.

Irish Tow Surf Rescue Club Spanish Point from Fusionshooters on Vimeo.