Mick Short Indo Adventurer

Comment Share Posted on Tuesday November 17th 2009 at 9:56 a.m. Tweet

At 24 year's old, West Australian Mick Short has carved out a groovy niche for himself as a professional freesurfer doing things on his own terms. Following in the footsteps of our earliest Indo adventurers, Shorty shuns the pampered big money boat trip and swell forecasts to go overland for months at a time just to see what he can find. Sometimes he scores, sometimes he doesn't but every adventure is culturally saturating and more often than not he ends up surfing perfect waves all by himself.

THE SHORT WAY 'ROUND : Why Solo Shacks in Indo Are Mick Short's Investment For a Happy Future

Interview by Vaughan Blakey | Surfing World Issue 298

 

How did it come to be that you'd find yourself at the ripe old age of 24, brushing the comforts of modern surf travel to explore the globe on your own terms?

I guess it began for me back when I was doing the junior circuit. Having grown up in Margaret River with Yadin Nicol, Dino Adrian, Brodie Hawker and those guys we did the junior series basically as an excuse to travel around and party and meet new people. None of us really excelled in the contests and early on we didn't really care. I was on the Junior Series at a very young age in comparison to most of the guys but even early it was clear to me contest surfing wasn't going to be my thing. So I quit the comps and did a carpenter's apprenticeship with my Dad. I decided to save up money working and travel whenever I could.

Ironically you ditched the proven career path and your profile instantly started to rise.

I made a commitment to surf really good days and that resulted in getting a few photos in the mag. Lincoln Ether was working at Reef at the time and he put me on an incentives deal. Next thing I know we find that big left ledge, massive below sea level drainers with no backs, and we scored a couple of really good days on it and suddenly there were photos all over the place. With the extra money I was able to go to Hawaii and Mexico and the waves were pumping everywhere.

And around this time you scored the cover of Surfer?

I was in Mexico with photographer Scott Aichner and he gets off the phone one day and says, "Hey Shorty, you're on the next cover of Surfer." I was like, "Huh?" Our plane stopped in Mexico City on the way home and the newsagent there had a whole wall of em. I was just going "Holy Shit!". I got back to the Reef office and they had this huge billboard of it in their office. I was going, "Shit, I was building a garage wall in Margies three weeks ago. What's going on!" Heath Walker just started to back me after that. He gave me some travel money and that's what I've been using to get around since.

Your travel choices hark back to another time though. It's not all five star yachts and team promo jaunts. What made you decide to start going it alone?

To be honest it's easier. You make your own decisions, there's no stress, there are no hassles or arguments and best of all when you're in the line-up and a wave comes, it's all yours. I just want to surf the best waves I can because I love surfing.

"It's been my experience that lot of people who have the good fortune to surf for a living don't really love it."

Not 100 percent but a high percentage. It's almost as if they do it for the reputation or the image. I've had crew come over to WA while the comp was on and they'd get knocked out and then a huge swell would turn up on the charts and I'd be like "Change your ticket boys it's gonna be on in a couple of the days," and they'd just make excuses and end up leaving. I'd just be there scratching my head. How do you turn your back on pumping waves? I don't get it. It's another reason why I like to do my own thing. I don't have to worry if someone isn't into the plan. I can just do what I like.

In the past year or two you've been doing a lot of overland stuff through Indo and surfing a lot of waves that are a bit off the map. What inspired those journeys?

I'd talked to a lot of older crew on my first trips through Indo, not well-known Indo legends but just Indo Warriors who took off under their own steam and scored waves all over the place. It's heavy. They just didn't know shit about where they were going or what they'd encounter other than a looking at a few maps. It sounded unreal. The other thing is my dollar last a lot longer in third world countries. Once you get out into the backwoods you can live on absolutely nothing.

How is the quality of life in these areas? Is it true third world or did you find the living standards acceptable?

I can only speak for the places I visited or went through but from what I've seen the quality of life is right up there even if the living standards aren't what we'd call even remotely comfortable in the first world. I stuck to roads and stuff like that so food wasn't really a concern and on the coasts you could always find fresh fish and chickens and stuff like that. Mozzies and bugs are a bit of a problem. The dogs don't look too healthy but all the people seem happy and pretty content. A lot of the areas I went through were heavily Muslim and I'd heard stories that it could be a bit gnarly traveling through on my own but everyone was as open and friendly and accommodating as anywhere else I've ever been, maybe even more so. There's a lot of cruising going on. People do a lot of fishing and there're random bits of development happening but mostly crew just lie around and sleep.

"Getting plenty of sleep is the secret ingredient to a happy life in my opinion. It's easy to do in Indo and much harder to do at home."

Tell us about some of the waves you surfed?

Well, I don't like jumping planes to chase swells. I prefer to travel overland at a pace that allows you to get to know the country and the people. I usually plan all my trips at the beginning of the year based on good swell windows and take it from there. A few years ago I did a trip with Shorty (the photographer) to this area of Indo and we found this insane left in the very last hour of our trip. It was out of this world, crazy, crazy roping barrels. I knew I had to go back so I told Russ (Ord) about it, he told the Fire Station he was taking a month off and we hit the road and camped out there. We didn't get it as big but every day was super fun and with nobody around. You can't argue with that.

Did you come across any other surfers on the same program?

Everywhere! Not to the point where it'd ever be crowded but at one wave we stopped to surf two South African lads who'd been camping in the jungle paddled out and they were so stoked to have someone to surf with. They were really cool characters and we shared the surf for a bit before they went in and left me to it. You'd come across crew here and there and they were always stoked.

Does it ever cross your mind that if you hurt yourself in these places serious medical help is a long way away?

I've got travel insurance but you're right, it wouldn't mean much out there. I guess the excitement outweighs the fear. I don't paddle into the surf worrying about if I'm going to fall off or not. Barrels are a good incentive to put worry aside.

Any close calls on this trip?

Not really. We had to catch a fishing boat out to the main break and it was one of those dug out canoes with a couple of out riggers and on a few occasions we had to punch it through a keyhole about two meters wide in 6-8 foot swells (laughs). That was pretty hairy. I think Russ was shitting himself (laughs).

Do you find yourself longing for home when the surf goes flat or shit starts going wrong?

I could easily live in Indo as long as it wasn't in Bali. I don't really own anything back home, no house or money. I just have surfing and carpentry and that's about it. Maybe one day I'll end up living in an Indo village building houses and surfing but the reality is I'll probably have to settle back in Margarets once the surfing money dries up.

I remember bumping into Garth Dickenson in the line-up at South Narrabeen one day after he'd been living in relative isolation on the NSW South Coast for a few years and I asked him what brought him up to Sydney. He said, "Well, I discovered a man can actually get too many barrels. There's more to life."

That's definitely true. I can see how that would happen. I don't want to die alone. I'd like to have a wife and kids some day. The way I see it what I'm doing now allows me to see the world and get plenty of barrels. Barrels are my investment for a content future. These are my young years so I want to make the most of them, then hopefully when I'm old I'll be one of those guys down the pub the young guys want to talk to cause I'll have so many stories. The more barrels I get now the happier I'll be in my old age (Laughs).

Surfing World Issue 298 out now in New Zealand.
www.surfingworld.com.au