Back in 2001 there were rumours of a very heavy have breaking down in Tasmania named Shipstern Bluff. Eager to see what all the fuss was about Tracks organised Mark Mathews, Kieren Perrow and Drew Courtney to go and check it out. What they came back with changed what was considered surfable at the time, and also kick started Mark Mathews love of big waves – a romance for the surfing ages.
However, it wasn’t only the lives of the surfers on the trip that would be changed. On hand to witness the session was a fourteen-year-old kid by the name of James McKean. So blown away by what he saw, the wave became an obsession for James, and he quietly set about becoming one of its most skilled exponents.
This short documentary by Simon Treweek focuses on the special relationship between James and Shipsterns that was forged on that special day 17 years ago.