Toby Mossop is a born and bred Burleigh charger, who lives for big barrels, massive airs, good times and great mates. Currently fitting his trips and clips around a carpentry apprenticeship, the stylish 25-year-old talks through two significant trips that made him the surfer and person he is. From paddling into isolated bombs in South Oz to getting rinsed at Shippies, Tobes has a pretty clear, core, mission; get barrelled and smile while you do it. It’s no bad way to live.
Shipsterns: Rock Bottom
I love trying out new slabs and when I was younger reefs were relatively new as I’d grown up on sand-bottomed points. So going to legit slabs was fucking awesome and Shippies was high on my list. I went down to Shippies with Wade Clemons — I had about two days' notice. I’d never worn an impact vest or towed into waves before, so I was freaking out.
Board bags by day, sleeping bags by night — strike missions, O+E style.
We flew down, hired a van, and slept in our board bags in the car park. The whole thing felt surreal. The walk in is about six k’s, so there’s plenty of time to think about what you’re walking into. I was seriously rattled, but Wade was frothing — he suited up straight away, and that pushed me into it. I feed off that kind of energy, seeing someone so amped just makes you want to go too.
Once we got out there, it was so fucking big it was basically unpaddleable. We got a few insiders, but I still don’t know how people paddle those proper sets. I ended up towing into a couple of heavy ones and got smoked.
“I hit the bottom, which I didn’t even know was a thing. I smacked my face and my shoulder on one wave and then crunched my foot on the very next one.”
My mistake was that I didn't realise there were two steps. I was so concerned with making the first one, I hadn’t clocked there was another. It took me by surprise every time and that's why I was getting so flogged. I was trying my best to look comfortable, but the footage that didn’t make the clips I put out was me just getting licked, letting go of the rope and eating shit. I was surprised to walk away not in a wheelchair.
Marty Paradisis was a legend down there he looked after me, that was cool, cause the clip of him paddling into a wave behind a tow surfer and getting shacked is one of my all-time favourites.
Pot of gold at the end of the Tasmanian rainbow
South Oz: LOB Life Lessons
Of my Burleigh mates, Lob (Liam O’Brien) and Hinata Aizawa pushed me the most. When we were at school Lob was doing physics and talking about university. He’s one of the smartest guys I know. I hated school. I just wanted to surf. It’s probably down in South Oz though that I've had my most memorable sessions with him.
Just you and your crew
The first hurdle for me down there was definitely dealing with what could be below us — seals popping up everywhere had me on edge. But once I stopped focusing on that and started thinking, "I'm just out here surfing a perfect slab with my mate," it shifted everything.
“I’d be stressing on sharks and be so scared paddling these crazy, isolated slabs and he just doesn't give a fuck. So he’s intelligent, but then in those situations, he doesn’t overthink it, he just swings."
He showed me that if the waves are good you gotta go out in those zones. The waves we scored down there that featured in our edit TOBLOB were probably some of the best of my life. He’s done a new film called Friction of Perception, which I get a few waves in. It’s nuts.
Friendly South Oz line up
You don’t often get to surf waves that good with just your friends. That helped me relax and just enjoy it. Trading waves in those spots with a crew is all-time.
"I got this one wave where I chipped in, hit a double-up bowl down the end, and went through it no-hands on my backhand — something I’ve never really done before. That wave stood out for me."
Backhand no hand scoop
Words by Ben Mondy
Music: TAKAICARDIA - "Nothing They Say is True"
Footage Supplied by: Dav Fox, Stu Gibson, Talon Clemow
Edit: Ben Lang
🤝 TRUSTED by surfers for a lifetime.
🦘 Born in Australia.
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