Home water: A night by the break with European champion Gearóid McDaid

Gearóid McDaid is a nine-time Irish national champion, the first Irish surfer ever to win a European title, and about as local to the north-west coast as it gets. He grew up in Sligo, tucked into the north-western edge of the Wild Atlantic Way, and has spent most of the years since chasing swell around the world, most recently to Peniche, Portugal, as his sponsor’s guest at a World Tour event.

This autumn, between trips, he stayed home: a few nights with a couple of boards on top of his TentBox Cargo a bed on the roof and the Atlantic close enough to hear.

Home water

Gearóid was five when his dad, Ray, a competitive kneeboarder, first took him into the sea. Surfing, in other words, is the family business. He grew up twenty minutes from Mullaghmore, one of the heaviest waves in Europe, was surfing for Ireland by 13, and won the first of those national titles at 16.

He came away from the 2023 Europeans with silver, then went back two years later for the gold. Now his sights are on LA 2028, and as this goes live, he’s at Punta Rocas, surfing for Ireland at the World Surfing Games.

All of which adds up to a lot of airports. When he got back from France and Portugal in October of this year, he wanted the opposite: no jersey, no hooter, no twenty-minute heat. His own coast, on his own terms, at the best time to be on it.

“Autumn in Ireland is so amazing,” he says. “It’s when the swells start to arrive, the crowds are quieter, and there’s no better time to go out and explore.”

The setup

Well, it’s simple. The TentBox Cargo roof tent sits on his Ford Ranger with boards strapped to the Cargo Bars above it. Wetsuits, boots and gloves go into the TrunkBox in the back, so the cab stays warm, dry and mostly free of sand. Nothing to pitch, nothing to unload when you arrive.

“Camping and surfing go so well together,” Gearóid says, “because surfing is all about being in the right place at the right time.” On a cold Atlantic coast in autumn, what stops you being there is rarely the surf. It’s everything around it: where to stay, when to leave, how far to drive in the dark.

First stop was a stretch of sand up the coast, the kind locals keep to themselves. He parked up, suited up, and paddled out for an afternoon session.

Sleeping where the surf is

The second break was where he’d stop for the night, as close to the water as the road allowed. He unclipped the Cargo, and the bed was open before the boards were down. “Having everything with you means you can just stay at the surf spot,” Gearóid says, “and be ready when the waves are good.”

With camp already made, he spent the last of the light in the water. Last off the beach that night, first back on it in the morning.

Then comes the part every cold-water surfer knows. “It’s wild and wet outside sometimes,” Gearóid says, “but once you’re out of the water, into dry clothes and tucked up in the TentBox, it’s actually pretty cosy.” The evening goes on checking the day’s clips, with the swell building in the dark a few metres away.

Pull quote: “Falling asleep to the sound of the ocean, there’s actually no better feeling. It rocks you to sleep.”

First light

He didn’t need a forecast or a webcam. He’d heard the swell arriving through the night, and the first thing he saw when he unzipped the door was the break, just past the stacked lobster pots. Breakfast happened under the Side Awning while the light came up and the wind dropped.

In a contest, priority goes to whoever is in position. Out here there are no judges, but the same rule applies. By the time the first cars pull into the car park, Gearóid is already out back, with the best of the morning to himself. “Being out there with no crowds, paddling out first thing,” he says, “it’s a pretty mental feeling.”

“No crowds, just you and the waves. It’s a pretty special feeling.”

On to the next

One hand closed the Cargo roof tent, the boards went back on top, and he was moving again, along the road to the next break. No wet tent to roll up, no armfuls of kit to carry. And if the next spot wasn’t working, that was fine too. “If it’s not good, you pack up and go to the next,” Gearóid says. “You’re always there at the right time.”

You don’t need a European title

The surf was the reason for the trip. Sleeping beside it is how he got the best of it.

Right now he’s in Peru, back in a jersey, back on the hooter. Home water will keep. It’s been there since he was five, and it’ll be there when he gets back. “Being a surfer, we’re so immersed in nature,” he says. “You’re always in the water, chasing the weather, the storms, and then camping just adds another level to that.”

In a time when most of us check the surf cam from bed and talk ourselves out of it, knowing Gearóid’s out there sleeping beside the break, well – may we all find our own home water, and sleep a little closer to it.

Watch the full film on Gearóid’s YouTube channel, and take a closer look at the TentBox Cargo.