Storm Surfers
Thrill seekers and champion surfers Tom Caroll and Ross Clarke Jones have far from let their sport fade from their lives since retiring from pro surfing several years ago. Constantly looking for a new adventure and teamed-up with surf forecaster and meteorologist Ben Matson, the guys were on the search for the ultimate wave.
The wave they were searching for on this trip is located on the North Western tip of Tasmania at the entrance of Bass Strait, known only as Dangerous Banks.
Dangerous Banks had never been surfed before or even caught on film so for all the boys knew they were on the search for a mythical wave. The search would see them facing so many unpredictable elements including sea temperatures of 9 degrees Celsius and wind chill factors of -8 degrees Celsius.
With their planned locations being so remote and rugged and the need for so many supplies and various forms of equipment, they chose the hard working Triton GLX-R to perform the task due to its storage space and 4WD capabilities.
With information obtained from local abalone divers and Cray fishermen, the guys loaded up their 3 trusty Tritons with numerous surf boards, various pieces of safety equipment and all of the food and supplies needed for the trip. With two jet skis in tow they headed to Northern Tasmania where they would set up base camp and travel into Bass Strait to tackle these wild swells.
Once out on the water, the use of a chopper and the jet skis opened up new locations otherwise inaccessible and allowed the guys to be towed onto waves too big and too fast to ever be caught by paddling alone. Their trip features amazing swells, extreme weather, surfing speeds of up to 70kph, death defying wipe outs, sightings of sharks and what is a once in a lifetime experience for both surfers.
Tom and Ross managed to face the natural phenomenon that is Dangerous Banks and tackled some of the most insane surfing conditions they had ever seen.
Go to www.stormsurfers.com.au to see some of the actual footage
