Surf - 16 Apr 2020

Mia Mccarthy takes on The Box

The Box is one of the trickiest waves I have ever come across. It breaks 1.5km off shore so is a mission to get to. There is a really small window for error on this wave so everything has to be a calculated risk. There’s bubbles and steps and breaks over not very much water at all. If that isn’t scary enough, all of the best surfers from the Margaret River/ Yallingup region are out there which makes it super competitive to get a good wave!

I woke up the morning of Good Friday and knew it was going to be a good day of surf but was a little unsure of where I was going to go. I got a text from a local photographer saying that ‘the box’ was starting to look good. I have always wanted to surf out there but have just been waiting for the right day. It’s such a fickle wave and is only good/surfable a few times a year so I knew I had to jump at this opportunity.

I made my way down to the beach I knew it was going to be a long day so I had a big breakfast. A bowl of curry & rice, big drink of milk and a hot cross bun of course haha.

I saw a local guy get an absolute smoker when I just turned up. That was enough for me to quickly chuck my wetsuit on, grab my board and get out there. I had super low expectations paddling out as it was my first time surfing this well known treacherous slab of granite reef. I really just wanted to check it out and watch how all the best guys out there surf it.

When I got out there all the local guys couldn’t have been any nicer or more encouraging of me to get a good wave which made me feel a lot calmer.

I sat for about an hour in the lineup before I took off on my first wave. It turned out to be a pretty fun one nothing unreal but was a good little confidence booster to get me going for the next one. I then waited for it to be my turn again to take a wave, and I actually had two massive wipeouts where I hit the bottom (which isn’t hard out there because of how shallow it is! haha) then did about 20 scorpions/360s underwater & ended coping the next few waves right on the head.

I made my way back to the take off spot and caught my breath. Luckily a gem came my way - a perfect looking wave. Everyone was calling me into it and I was lucky enough to make this one to the bottom and make it to the end :-) I couldn’t help but smile! You get one of the biggest adrenaline rushes after a wave like that, a feeling that’s super addictive & makes all the wipeouts worth it!

Mia xxxx