Big wave thrills a barrel of fun for Geraldton filmmaker Cian Salmon

Cian Salmon’s idea of fun is probably not the same as that of most people. The Geraldton filmmaker loves nothing more than finding the biggest, scariest waves on the planet, and swimming right up to them. He’s shot The Right, Tombstones, Monuments and other deadly slabs off WA. And it’s all for the love of the adventure. “Nobody pays you to do this kind of thing,” he said. “It’s just for pleasure.” Growing up, Salmon was influenced by movies such as the Tension series, created by Perth-based bodyboarder Chris White whose team was famous for their heavy waves and pranks. “I wanted to make my own films, of big waves set to punk music,” he said. One of his craziest experiences was being “pretty much kidnapped” by friend Zach Haynes to travel 4km offshore to Cowaramup Bombie, a big-wave break, in 6m of swell and 7m of sea with 30 to 40- knot winds. “I was pretty convinced we were going to die,” Salmon said. “I didn’t tell my parents about that until a couple of years ago.” He plans to make three movies and then get out of the scene. He has already released two, On Board and Overboard. With the third movie delayed, he’s releasing YouTube footage under the name Thirdlink Films, and says it’s just a small part of what’s out there. That includes multiple sessions at The Right, one of the heaviest waves in the world, frequented by big name tow-in surfers but also home to local bodyboarders who often paddle into the wave. A session at the break, in WA’s south, can include battling 1m chop while powering a jetski up a 7m-10m wave face, and dealing with immense amounts of water washing over the reef. “The scariest aspect about it is probably you have to swim at the wave, or you won’t be close enough,” Salmon said. “There’s that much water getting dumped on the reef, and the reef’s tiny.” Salmon also films skateboarding and said Geraldton was a good spot for skating and also for surf for when the winds died down. “The town’s churned out some of the greatest Australian surfers ever,” he said. “Jake Osman has had some of the best waves ever out at The Right.” While the big-wave scene involved egos, like the pinnacle of any sport, a sense of community had developed and people looked out for each other at places like The Right, Salmon said.