21 Jun 2022

The search for a wave never surfed before

From Nine To Noon, 10:05 am on 21 June 2022
Savage Waters film

Photo: supplied

Matt and Suzanne Knight were inspired to sail to a remote rock in the Atlantic in search of a never-before-surfed wave after reading a 19th century treasure hunting seafarer's journal.

The couple from North Devon, read a book by E.F Knight - no relation - written in 1894 which told the story of his search for plundered gold on the Savage Isles.

The group of islands, which are also known as the Selvagens Islands,  are in the North Atlantic Ocean - 280 kilometers south of Madeira, and 165 kilometers north of the Canary Islands.

E.F Knight and his crew never found the gold, but surf adventurers Matt and Suzanne were drawn to several paragraphs which vividly described a huge, perfect barrel wave.

And so a plan was hatched to find it and surf it. Director Mikey Corker has made a documentary about the journey, called Savage Waters, which is screening here as part of Doc Edge online until the 10th of July.

He, Matt and Suzanne tell their story to Kathryn Ryan.