I recently spoke to Rob and Di Conneeley in Margs about a big day at The Bombie Margaret River in 1995. Rob told me local surfer Gary Gibbon was also out at The Bombie that day and he can be seen paddling over a big wave in one of Mick Burnside’s pics. So, I followed up the story and obtained Gary’s recollections of the big day.
Gary Gibbon moved from Queensland to Southwest WA with his surfing mate Andy Jones in early September 1975. They planned on a month-long trip to WA, but the boys met and married local girls and are still living in the Southwest 😊.
1976 Gary Gibbon, Andy Jones & Ronny ‘Ratshit’ Jeffrey at the late Peter Dyson’s place on Yallingup hill. Photo by the late Sue Ware (later Nicholson RIP). Andy’s VW Beetle, Sue’s black Mercedes and Gary’s blue EK Holden can be seen in the background.
These are Gary’s recollections of the epic big day he shared with friends at The Bombie Margaret River in 1995.
Yes, that’s me in the channel on the reddish board watching Rob Conneeley take off….see photo below.
It was rather an epic day for me, as I essentially led everyone out and ended up having something like a 5 – 6 hour surf out there.
Story is it was May 1995 on a weekend, I think (otherwise I would have been teaching at school). I went down to the Point and though it was really nice, it was a bit more crowded than I normally liked. I looked across to the Bombie and it was lining up beautifully, solid and no one out.
So, I drove down to the Narda car park, Prevelly and paddled out. Surfed it for an hour totally by myself and sure enough, it was excellent quality Bombie.
Then another local guy and friend, Chris Selby, paddled out and we surfed another hour by ourselves with the swell picking up all the time.
Chris ended up snapping his leg rope and losing his board, leaving me out there again for at least another hour solo.
Then a few guys paddled out together. Among them, Neil Mattinson, John McTaggert, as well as Dave McCaulay, who had Mick Burnside following him around shooting photos. Mick was shooting from the water, which I thought was gutsy, but a bit sketchy, as the rip sweeping out between the Bombie and Boat Ramps channel was becoming rather intense. There were some very large sets coming through.
Later Rob Conneely Bob Pett and Russel Hughes all paddled out. These guys were very well prepared for the surf as it had developed during the day and were all riding 9’ – 9’6” boards. It was super big, super clean Bombie, the biggest and best I’ve (still) ever seen. In fact, I can unequivocally say, it was the biggest surf I’ve ever been out in and I have been out in some pretty large surf in my time. Rob later said to me, it was akin to surfing very large Sunset (Hawaii).
I ended up paddling in via the channel on the Bombie right and it took an eternity. By this time those guys I’d mentioned two paragraphs above had all come in. Pretty sure Dave Mac had copped a board in the head, even though luckily, he was wearing a helmet. Anyway, on the way in, I could see Mick Burnside, a fair way away from me, struggling against the current even with flippers and laden down with all the camera gear. So, I told Dave Mac, who ended up attaching an extra board to his leg and paddling it out to Burnside, who later told me back on shore, he’d been trying to get in for ages.
Some of the photos of that session, later made The Surfers Journal and were used to illustrate an interview with Rob. But you know it had to have been good, because even now, when I sometimes see Rob, he always brings up that session and he’s told me, it was the biggest, cleanest surf he’s ever had in Australia. Now I reckon that is saying something, coming from the legendary Rob Conneeley. So yes, I was stoked to be out there and it was one of those sessions I’ll never forget. Lucky enough to have had shared some very good sessions over the years with Rob, in big, small and medium size surf.
I believe (not totally sure) on the same day; Jack McCoy was filming a couple of pros out at big Yallingup for one of his movies Bunyip Dreaming or The Green Iguana.
Anyway, there you go. That’s how that day went down.
Regards,
Gary
Margs Bombie photos
2011 The Bombie Margs from Surfers Point car park. Photo by the late Loz Smith. 1995 Water shot by Mick Burnside of Rob Conneeley (age 48) surfing a 18-20 ft screamer at The Bombie Margs on 9ft Rusty surfboard by GL. Gary is on reddish board on the left. For Rob’s recollections of the day see Related Content below.2002 Water shot by Mike Burnside of Damon Eastaugh surfing The Bombie at Margaret River.
Footnote
I asked Gary why he moved south to Margaret River when he had previously spent the best part of 15 years mainly surfing the northern end of the Southwest Capes coast.
Gary. “For me, I did have a choice back there in the day (around 1990 in fact), of whether I wanted to stay living in Yallingup, or move to Margaret River. And certainly, one of the reasons that contributed towards me making the move is that I wanted to surf bigger waves more frequently than I had been doing. And I figured that was more likely to arguably happen at Margarets, rather than Yallingup. So, I (we … Rosa and I ) made the move. And much as I’ve missed regularly surfing Yallingup and Bears over the years since (and I have), I’ve never regretted the decision. I guess it’s the same sort of mindset, that saw Kevin Merifield coming down here so frequently when he was younger.“
Thank you, Gary, Rob and photographers the late Sue Nicholson (nee Ware), the late Loz Smith and Mick Burnside for sharing your material
I recently spoke to Rob and Di Conneeley in Margs about a big day at The Bombie Margaret River in 1995. Rob told me local surfer Gary Gibbon was also out at The Bombie that day and he can be seen paddling over a big wave in one of Mick Burnside’s pics. So, I followed up the story and obtained Gary’s recollections of the big day.
Gary Gibbon moved from Queensland to Southwest WA with his surfing mate Andy Jones in early September 1975. They planned on a month-long trip to WA, but the boys met and married local girls and are still living in the Southwest 😊.
Andy’s VW Beetle, Sue’s black Mercedes and Gary’s blue EK Holden can be seen in the background.
These are Gary’s recollections of the epic big day he shared with friends at The Bombie Margaret River in 1995.
Yes, that’s me in the channel on the reddish board watching Rob Conneeley take off….see photo below.
It was rather an epic day for me, as I essentially led everyone out and ended up having something like a 5 – 6 hour surf out there.
Story is it was May 1995 on a weekend, I think (otherwise I would have been teaching at school). I went down to the Point and though it was really nice, it was a bit more crowded than I normally liked. I looked across to the Bombie and it was lining up beautifully, solid and no one out.
So, I drove down to the Narda car park, Prevelly and paddled out. Surfed it for an hour totally by myself and sure enough, it was excellent quality Bombie.
Then another local guy and friend, Chris Selby, paddled out and we surfed another hour by ourselves with the swell picking up all the time.
Chris ended up snapping his leg rope and losing his board, leaving me out there again for at least another hour solo.
Then a few guys paddled out together. Among them, Neil Mattinson, John McTaggert, as well as Dave McCaulay, who had Mick Burnside following him around shooting photos. Mick was shooting from the water, which I thought was gutsy, but a bit sketchy, as the rip sweeping out between the Bombie and Boat Ramps channel was becoming rather intense. There were some very large sets coming through.
Later Rob Conneely Bob Pett and Russel Hughes all paddled out. These guys were very well prepared for the surf as it had developed during the day and were all riding 9’ – 9’6” boards. It was super big, super clean Bombie, the biggest and best I’ve (still) ever seen. In fact, I can unequivocally say, it was the biggest surf I’ve ever been out in and I have been out in some pretty large surf in my time. Rob later said to me, it was akin to surfing very large Sunset (Hawaii).
I ended up paddling in via the channel on the Bombie right and it took an eternity. By this time those guys I’d mentioned two paragraphs above had all come in. Pretty sure Dave Mac had copped a board in the head, even though luckily, he was wearing a helmet. Anyway, on the way in, I could see Mick Burnside, a fair way away from me, struggling against the current even with flippers and laden down with all the camera gear. So, I told Dave Mac, who ended up attaching an extra board to his leg and paddling it out to Burnside, who later told me back on shore, he’d been trying to get in for ages.
Some of the photos of that session, later made The Surfers Journal and were used to illustrate an interview with Rob. But you know it had to have been good, because even now, when I sometimes see Rob, he always brings up that session and he’s told me, it was the biggest, cleanest surf he’s ever had in Australia. Now I reckon that is saying something, coming from the legendary Rob Conneeley. So yes, I was stoked to be out there and it was one of those sessions I’ll never forget. Lucky enough to have had shared some very good sessions over the years with Rob, in big, small and medium size surf.
I believe (not totally sure) on the same day; Jack McCoy was filming a couple of pros out at big Yallingup for one of his movies Bunyip Dreaming or The Green Iguana.
Anyway, there you go. That’s how that day went down.
Regards,
Gary
Margs Bombie photos
Footnote
I asked Gary why he moved south to Margaret River when he had previously spent the best part of 15 years mainly surfing the northern end of the Southwest Capes coast.
Gary. “For me, I did have a choice back there in the day (around 1990 in fact), of whether I wanted to stay living in Yallingup, or move to Margaret River. And certainly, one of the reasons that contributed towards me making the move is that I wanted to surf bigger waves more frequently than I had been doing. And I figured that was more likely to arguably happen at Margarets, rather than Yallingup. So, I (we … Rosa and I ) made the move. And much as I’ve missed regularly surfing Yallingup and Bears over the years since (and I have), I’ve never regretted the decision. I guess it’s the same sort of mindset, that saw Kevin Merifield coming down here so frequently when he was younger.“
Thank you, Gary, Rob and photographers the late Sue Nicholson (nee Ware), the late Loz Smith and Mick Burnside for sharing your material
Related content
1975 Qld to WA road trip – Story and Photos by Gary Gibbon posted 12 June 2019
Rob Conneeley profile posted 22 February 2023
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