I really consider myself an adventure photographer, because I’ll be out here regardless of my camera or not. I snapped a total of 10 images between being on the water at 6am and getting off the water at 4pm. Its really about the experience for me and I hope that shows through my photographs.
Big thanks to Chris Turner for the shot of my brother and I. It was a wild ride to say the least.
Front row seats for #titansofmavericks last Friday. My brother Jonathan Cahill and I are in black on the sled in the middle. My brothers been doing water rescue at Mav’s for about 15 years now and this was the first time I was able to get out on something this small. Previously I’ve been on small boats, but being on a ski where your awareness can never be let down is a wild once in a lifetime ride.
It was intense to feel the waves crashing. We were within feet of the moving mountains, a place where surfers outrun avalanches for a change of survival. We were shuttling surfers boards in and out of the lineup to and from the main boat throughout the day.
On the final session of the day the top surfers were dropped into the water to compete for the top spot of the competition. My brother and I took Nic Lamb out into the lineup. We sat on the ski together for 6 minutes or so. I could feel the hyper focus, attention to details, motivation, meditation and emotional roller coaster Nic was experiencing. Turn your head left and you see the same focus for the local Travis Payne, and to the right Carlos Burle.
Nic quietly asked us “How much time until the finals start” as we bobbled 2 miles out in the open ocean with 30 foot swells rolling through. We were in a lull where the swells weren’t big enough to break… yet we were right in the main bowl of the wave when they were big enough. I knew we were 2 minutes out, so I responded “Just over a minute Nic” and he took a couple of deep breaths and jumped in the water. He was off and about to battle the top big wave surfers in the world shoulder to shoulder.
An hour of rigorous, heart pounding, demanding surfing later Nic would take the 1st place title for the Titians of Mavericks.
