Main Stream or not, this one GOES.

My Front Yard 11/12/11 (Boyle Photos)

The "G-6"

The winds have been East for about 2 weeks now, and there has been plenty of medium sized ground swell to generate some insane barrels. Shit, I even had a few fun days at the Maverick. Tuesday was one of those special days at Mavz, light off shore winds, not a drop of water out of place. The waves were in the 15-17 foot range with a few (about 5) sets hitting the 18 foot mark.

A MASSIVE storm is developing in the NPAC, and all 3 of the Northern Hemi Big Wave events are running out of time on their scheduled holding periods. After speaking to a number of people, the word on the street is that they are to hold all 3 events on the SAME SWELL! Has this ever been done before? A Tri-fecta? sounds gnarly. The top of the field have chased swells along the same path before...They seem to have the advantage. The Eddie, The Jay at Mavericks, and then finishing up at Todos. I feel bad for the winner of the Eddie, no after party? straight to the airport? Well actually I don't feel that bad.... Anyway, enough with the bull-shit. Keep your eyes on the horizon. looks like thing should get pretty interesting in the next few weeks.


Im excited because I get to surf in a Qualifying heat at the Jay. I believe the top 2 finishers are automatically invited to the 2011-12 event. Here is the qualifying heat to run in between the semi-finals, and Finals.

1. Tyler Fox
2. Josh Loya
3. Danilo Couto
4. Nic Lamb
5. Colin Dwyer
6. Travis Payne
7. Ion Banner
8. Shawn Rhodes

THE "G-6"
Inspired by the time I spent in the barrel the last couple weeks, I created the "G-6" Its the 2nd board I ever shaped. Its made just for getting shacked. 6'1/2" x 19 x 2 3/4 Quad. Looking forward to putting this one in the water. Hand shaped, none of that computer bull shit!!!

Winter so far.

Wednesday 10:32 Am. Wind is 20+ knots from every direction other then off shore, and the ocean looks similar to that small nasty area you see behind the toilet at your local bar or pub. I coach Frank Solomon on the proper way to hold an Xbox 360 controller, and how to properly take out snot nosed little kids playing Call Of Duty online. At this time last year we had several good sessions under our belts at Mavericks. Story’s of bad wipe outs, and good rides were plentiful. This year we have had to replace the wipe outs with rough city night’s, and the good rides with small bar tabs.

The North Pacific has produced a decent amount of swell so far this year. The big wave season started some time in early October, with a few 12 – 15 foot swells and decent conditions. Things were starting to look even better as November came around. A monster popped up on the charts headed directly at Northern California and Oregon. They ran the Nellscot big wave invitational in Oregon on this swell. It was big, really big, off shore, and mean. A few of the Hawaiians were calling mini Peahi, and said it looked like 25 foot V-Land. Back at home the swell was a bit more organized, however scary long interval, and with a slight south bump in the face. Any sort of south wind out at Mavericks can make your worst fears come true very quickly, and any interval over 20 seconds will make your 10 foot gun feel like a 5’11’’ in a hurry. A few of the big wave elite, such as Greg Long, Twiggy, Healey and others ran a secret squirrel mission down to Cortez Bank that evening to tackle the same swell.

Things settled down after that, and never seemed to pick back up. It’s been about 2 months since we have had anything of real significant size hit California. Opening ceremonys were held for both The Jay Big Wave Invitational, (formerly known as the Mavericks Big wave invitational) and the Eddie Aikau.

As I type this the local swell forecaster posts “2 solid gales form off the coast of Japan” Maybe to hit January 1^st. Hoping this will jump - start the second half of the winter. As for now, keep your fingers crossed.

Travis Payne

Some of my photography

Sleepless City

















One of the first times I ever experimented with slow shutter speeds.
















Twiggy showing Ian and Ryan how to take the high line.

















Devils slide bridge work.


















Mark with the wave of the swell at Puerto.

















Cool lights, New moon.

















Cold water. Oregon

















Tree's are cool?

















Derek Dunfee

















Nothing better in 100 degree Mex, after a long day of barrels.

















Our view from out hotel in Oregon, prior to the first Nellscot contest.

















HWY 1

















Love this shot. HWY 1

















Night before the Nellscot event.

A FEW SHOTS FROM OREGON

RUN DANILLO!

Lone soldier in the bowl. I think Tim West. No he is not sitting inside either. This thing will back off then reform with 20 second energy.

NOVEMBER LIGHTS UP EARLY

2010 Nelscott Event

With an invite to the Nelscott Contest, and a young, green big wave career (if you want to call it that) It wasnt a hard choice to head up the coast away from Mavs. 13 hours later we pull into a stormy, wet, and windy Lincoln City Oregon. After the contest meeting it was one last look at the buoys and lights out.
Contest morning was damp, and hazey from the ocean's energy. No one could see the reef, but from the washed out launch ramp, and 15 foot slabs on the beach, we all knew it was big. After navigating through the beach break we get to the line up first. Even though the tide was maxed out, it still looked to be 18 foot with a few bigger.
As the day went on the swell filled in untill about 11 o'clock when it finally peaked in the 20 to 22 foot range (30 - 45 foot faces). I surfed in the 3rd heat and was able to get one smaller wave in the 18 foot range before taking a 25 foot slab to the head, resulting in a broken leash and no board. For some reason my back up board never made it to the buoy, so I was stuck riding a 9'0 Brewer, that felt more like a 6'8''. I wasn't able to get another wave in the remaining 30 minutes.
I figured my day was done, but apparently Tim West suffered a pretty bad wipeout that took him out of the event. I was the next highest score, so it pushed me through to the semi's STOKED!
The Semi final was mental, low tide and 20 second energy flooding the reef. The view from the take off zone looking out is a little intimidating. Waves capped on the 3rd reef and steam rolled into a double up (that was the take off zone).
In the End it was Kohl Christensen who took the Event! He was rushing it the whole day, and is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet!!!
Standouts included
Pete Mel, Rusty Long, Dave Wassell, Kealii Mamala, Anthony Tashnick, Jamie Sterling, Carlos Burle, and Chris Bertish.

RIP ANDY IRONS, Always one of my favorite surfers. He will be missed greatly!!!