Pedra Branca, James Hollmer-Cross and the omen at Eddystone Rock

Big wave surfer James Hollmer-Cross should have taken this scene as an omen. Because what happened next was shocking.

TWAM-20151121 EMBARGO FOR TWAM 21 Nov 2015 NO REUSE WITHOUT PERMISSION Eddystone rock Pic : Andrew Chisholm

Perhaps James Hollmer-Cross should have seen it as an omen.

He and his mates, all big wave surfers, were on a boat at Eddystone Rock, a monolith that rises from the Southern Ocean 30km off the Tassie coast, when the water around them suddenly started roiling. A school of baitfish was being smashed by predators – kingfish and tuna attacking from below, seals piling in from the side, birds spearing out of the sky. The rhythms of life and death beat loud and fast in this wild place. The unlucky get eaten. Perhaps James should have taken it as a sign. Because an hour later, the ocean ate him.

Heart of our nation

The wave that breaks here is known as Pedra Branca. It’s a monster – fast, heavy and entirely unpredictable. James was among the crew who first dared to surf it in 2008; since then he’d made seven trips here to test his skill and mettle, without incident. On this day, though, his luck ran out. A video clip – see below – shows him being towed into a wave that rears up behind him like something from the underworld. Just as it peaks, he topples off his board. The clip is so compelling it features in the remake of the movie Point Break, out in January.

The 35-year-old father of three, a painter and decorator from Hobart, had an out-of-body experience as he was smashed and held down by that wave, clinging to life. The broken bones and mental trauma kept him out of the water for eight months; then he “jumped back in the deep end” at Shipstern Bluff – another big, scary wave – and broke his arm. He’s been out of action for 18 months now.

It’s been a crash course in mortality; he cherishes his family even more now, he says. Still, he’s itching to get back on Pedra Branca again. Slowly, slowly, this time. “I’m going to surf my local beach break for a month first,” he laughs.