Appendix 2: Waves article

(The Aussie Carpenter Building a solid big-wave rep)

At 42 years-of-age Ulladulla surfer Shaun Dickson is only just picking up his first sponsors; and whatever deal they’ve got him on, he’s worth more.

Five years ago, Shaun, on another of his frequent OS surf adventures, wound up on Maui perched on the cliff that looks down on Jaws. What he saw Laird Hamilton and his gang of giant-figged pals doing on those 50-foot waves, he thought, was way out of his league.

Fast-forward five years and Shaun’s out there amongst it, towing in with legends like Ken Bradshaw, pulling into bigger caves than most of us will ever dream of and receiving kudos in the form of nominations for the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards.

So how did an Ulladulla carpenter become a Jaws regular? “It all started when I met Robby Seeger [Maui local, veteran Jaws tow surfer and Cheyne Horan’s former tow partner],” explained Shaun when Waves caught him in Maui. “I rented a room off him on Maui and one day he approached me and said, ‘You’re gonna be a tow surfer.’ I was like, ‘Okay’.”

After Robby trained him up and whipped him into some ridiculously large sets, he was hooked. The Aussie’s big-wave addiction has become so intense that he’s hardly spent any time at home since. Says Shaun: “I’ve been living and working here on Maui for three years now, training with Robby and waiting for the good swells.”

On January 17 one of those swells arrived and Shaun and Robbie were all over it. Waves photographer Himani shot the entire session and was adamant Shaun rode one of the biggest waves on the day. “Jan 17 was great,” smiles Shaun. “I was lucky enough to get into a couple of good tubes out there so I’m stoked.”

So what’s it like inside those big pits? “It’s insane!” psychs the old man. “There’s so much wall and from the inside everything is just so giant. It’s incredible!” And the wipeouts? “Yeah, I’ve had some huge ones. On one I

got sucked over the falls on a 40-footer and got driven into the bottom, which is 30-feet down. When I popped up a 50-footer broke right on my

head. Then I had to go and rescue my board from the 15-foot shorebreak which dumps straight on the rocks.” Like we said, whatever they’re paying him, it ain’t enough.

Shaun rides for Ocean/Earth and Red Rhino Adventures.

Appendix 2: Waves article1