This storm chase was a particularly stressful one. The Irish storms are so volatile and constantly changing that they make it almost impossible to chase. It will change from howling offshore to straight onshore overnight or the swell can just disappear on a new forecast update.
The storm looked really good for Mullaghmore, but kept changing. I waited til the morning of the last flight that I could possibly fly out on to make it in time…and then the swell upgraded and the wind dropped so I booked. 5 hours later I was racing onto my plane and headed over.
When I landed in Ireland it had downgraded considerably, however we still scored some pretty sick waves! Benji Brand and I were the only dude’s who suited up and headed out, with another guy who quickly jumped in, Robbie Goodwin.
When we got into the line up, it seemed too stormy to paddle, with the wind absolutely pumping side shore. We stuck it out, and eventually the tow guys gave us our chance to grab some bombs.
It was so cool surfing with Benji….he’s never really surfed on a gun before but I knew as soon as he got his head around all the new elements, he’d be insane out there at Mully. Sure enough, he got the bomb of the day!
I was ready to fly home when a bonus swell popped up at a wave I’ve been longing to surf for years. I extended my ticket and paddled out with Nate Florence, Russ Bierke, Tom Lowe, Conor Mcguire and a few other local shredders.
It was absolutely pumping.
I fell on a wave which could have been the wave of my life… It was an extremely intense beat down, and I came up pretty broken but it’s fired me up to head back there soon and hopefully one day get another crack at one of those beasts!
Written by – Matt Bromley
