Unsung Heros of the Surfing World : Dr Tony Butt

How many people do you know who are just built to contribute? In 'normal' life (non surfing), people who are interested in bettering themselves in some way but not necessarily looking for reward? I think we all know people like that, and for some reason they make us feel uncomfortable, maybe intimidated, maybe ashamed or sometimes possibly inspired...

I first heard of Tony Butt when my wife grew tired of hearing my ramblings about surfing, forecasting, refraction, and thought my 'artistic licence' was getting out of control. She felt that perhaps I should have some kind of factual foundation on which to spread my loose truths. I was presented with a book that was to inspire and change the way I looked at and understood the ocean forever. Tony Butt was the author of this book.

Tony was born in the surfing mecca of Kinson which, for those of you who have not heard of it, is a less salubrious suburb of the world renowned surf town of Bournemouth in the UK. It seems then only fitting that Tony would go on to be a big wave charger, spreading his time between the north coast of Spain and the hell pits of Dungeons in South Africa. You probably know who I am talking about now, no? Well maybe if I mention that he is a trustee of Surfers Against Sewage, or written countless articles for the Surfers Path, is involved with surf charities all over the world, has a PhD in Physical Oceanography and of course is the author of a book all surfers should read 'Surf Science'.

No, still don't know, feeling a bit ashamed, intimidated maybe uncomfortable, well prepare to be inspired. Tony has very kindly agreed to spare us at Surf Bunker some time to answer a few questions.

SB: Hey Tony, thanks for sparing us the time, how did you first get into surfing and then on to big waves, and oceanography?

Tony: I started surfing when I was 10 in the early to mid seventies around Bournemouth, I had to wait until I got a car to escape down to North Devon and Cornwall for the weekends, then I quit my job and lived in a van down there full time. From there I took a few trips out to South America, to Peru, Eciador and Chile which was a novelty for an English surfer at the time. After 10 years of being a drop out I decided to go back to college in 1993, and studied Oceanography at Plymouth University, and I had always been into low pressures and weather patterns since I was a boy. At that time I had almost given up surfing in Cornwall and used to take the ferry from Plymouth to Santander when I had a few days free and I did that right up until the late 90's.

SB: How did you get into surfing big waves coming from Bournemouth in the UK?

Tony: First of all I knew I wanted to do something different maybe that was the biggest motivation. It is something that you work up to, you don’t just paddle out on your first day and also you don't know where your limit is, you don't know when you are going to start not enjoying it any more. You might get to the point where you are so scared that you are not enjoying it and you decide you like smaller waves, it happens to everybody.

So I knew I wanted to do something different and in the late eighties, early nineties not many people were surfing big waves in Europe. There was a crew at Menakoz in Spain who were the first big wave surfers I met and a crew at Guethary in France of course, but apart from that it was not very well known to surf big waves in Europe. I thought it would be cool to do something different. I remember reading about the renaissance of big wave surfing, just before Mavericks was discovered, there was Ken Bradshaw and Mark Foo at Waimea and I started reading more about it and getting really interested. This was all back when I was still living in England. Then I started to surf bigger and bigger waves and I realized, you know that I wasn't scared and in fact I quite liked it.

The big thing was getting people to understand what I wanted to do, I mean getting a board the right size was difficult. The first time I went to Hawaii in 1990 I was sold a 7'4 and I was told I would never need anything bigger than that, maybe because they knew I was English so it was like a self fulfilling prophecy, I was never going to be able to catch anything bigger. I remember I paddled out at Sunset Beach and it was quite big, Waimea was just starting to break. The 7'4 was hopeless and I just went over the falls on the waves I did catch. Then I started seeing these people with 10ft boards and I had never seen boards like that before. A few years later I was able to get my hands on my first big wave board from Adrian at 'Fluid Juice' in Cornwall who is still making boards now, it was a 9'6. From there I went to Pico Alto in Peru a few times which is a really good 'user friendly' big wave spot and then I ended up at the Basque country at Menakoz. That was when I really learnt how to surf big waves. I was there for nearly 10 years but don't surf there often now as it is a bit crowded. About half way through my time there I started going to South Africa which is a great place to surf big waves and you have an experienced crew of the best big wave surfers in the world, not just Twiggy but people you have never heard of who don't go in for competitions or anything.

SB: What is your opinion on paddle or tow?

Tony: Ha, yes that’s a big thing, especially in Europe, it went away pretty quickly in South Africa. My personal opinion is that I am not really into tow in, never have been right from the beginning. The difference is how the waves look, if you are paddling, the board is bigger and the wave looks smaller, so it does not look as good on a photograph, but they are different sports really. Tow is more like water skiing and you have to know a lot of stuff you don't need to know for paddling and vice versa. One of the big things that tow surfing brought in was the jet ski rescue, and sometimes just to get out there. Some spots you just can't paddle out when it that big so we need a jet ski to get out. I don't really want to insult anyone who tows as I know some English guys who are into that up at Nazare and Mullaghmore. (laughs)

SB: Have you had any particularly bad injuries surfing big waves?

Tony: Yes, I have had injuries on every part of my body. I think my right ankle and my left knee (laughs) are the only parts that have not been injured. I have had about 50 stitches in my head. The worst one was breaking my neck at Menakoz, I had to have an operation to fuse the two vertebras in my neck back together, it took about a year to recover from that. Menakoz is a pretty bad place to take a few on the head because it just drives you into the rocks and the waves get more intense as you go in, in comparison to Dungeons in South Africa that backs off into a channel. I have never really thought I am going to drown, I think its more of a mental thing of being able to relax under the water.

SB: How and when did the idea for 'Surf Science' the book come about?

Tony: That was published for the first time 2002 and it was really all to do with the the articles I had written for the Surfers Path. I started writing for them in 1997 and every chapter in Surf Science is based on an article that I wrote for them. Its not Harry Potter or anything but I sold a few thousand copies. People think ooh you have a book you must be a millionaire, its not quite like that. (laughs)

SB: How much do you think Surf Science would help the average surfer?

Tony: That's what the book is for, the average surfer, there was a lot of stuff out there as regards to the actual information, but it was all too complicated and if you didn’t have a mathematical background it didn't mean anything, it was all just full of equations. The idea was to make the information accessible to everyone. If you like the experience of being out in the water and you like trying to predict waves then seeing how the knowledge you gain translates into actual useful information on a surfing level, its really good tool. I have recently developed a series of animated drawings to help explain things like wave propagation or the Coriolis force, they are available for all platforms, apple, Android etc. Have a look on www.surfscience.org.

SB: How much work to do you do with Surfrider Foundation, Surfers Against Sewage?

Tony: Well I do a bit of work with Surfrider Foundation every now and again but I work continuously with Surfers Against Sewage. I am actually a trustee which is kind of like being on the board of directors, they call them trustees now though. I am in contact with them all the time.

SB: Do you have any views on the most efficient form of renewable energy? Wave/wind/tide?

Tony: Well I did a bit of research on all that, tidal energy and off-shore wind farms, a lot of it seems to just be a research stage for ever. For example there are these things called Pelamis developed by a Scottish company for tidal energy. They are like big snakes 300 metres long, they were deployed just off Peniche, out there for 3 years and then they just brought them in because they did not work. Another example is a big wind farm planned just off Bournemouth, its a huge project and all the things that have to go with it, each one has to have a huge concrete base and all the cables and the rigging support to be stable in the sea and it just seems to me to be too big to be practical. The future really, the way forward and one thing that is lacking is small scale projects, like solar panels on the roof of a house and small windmills in back gardens and using less energy from the grid. In some countries in Europe you are not actually allowed to keep that energy, you have to sell it back to the energy companies which is no good. That's when it all becomes political problem and I have to let go.

SB: What is the biggest thing we can do to be more sustainable as surfers?

Tony: Well really it is not throwing things away, plastics are the worst. Sustainable boards are more of a symbolic thing, perhaps we should not be throwing away our old boards, getting them repaired instead. Wetsuits are quite bad as they are not built to last these days, they are more of a fashion item and a lot of people throw their old ones away. Maybe we need to look at wetsuits that will last like Patagonia's.

SB: What was your first surfboard? Have you still got it?

Tony: Well at that time obviously the internet did not exist, so I spent my time cycling around Bournemouth looking in yachting and sailing shops to see if they had ever heard of a surfboard (laughs) but I couldn't get one anywhere. About a year later my father had a friend at work whose nephew had a surfboard and he worked for a guy called Bob Groves in Boscombe, he must have been one of the first surfboard builders in England, he had been doing it since the early 60's. So I went there and there was this guy blowing his own foam for the blanks and he sold me this board for £15. It was an Infinity (a US brand made under licence) and it was a twin fin. It was just the most ugly impractical thing, it used to nose dive all the time and had the fins right on the tail in the corners, horrible board. No I have not still got it.

SB: Can you describe how it made you feel the first time you got barrelled on a big wave?

Tony: Well surfing a big wave, taking the drop, its like skiing down a mountain except the mountain is following you. There is like a smooth, silent motion. Getting tubed is like being in a big explosion except you are safe. You are in the middle of all this energy all around you but you are in a safe place.

At the time of the interview Tony was in South Africa waiting for the swell, in fact he was calling from a friend's surf shop as the internet had gone down at his house. We could have talked for longer but he had an impending Portuguese lesson to go to which just goes to show you how some people just have a drive in life to better themselves and experience all the world has to offer.

Hopefully now you are felling inspired and maybe just a little intimidated.