Being worried about filling the ski twice in the same day, making sandwiches the night before instead of frequenting the pub with the sponsored for lunch — it’s how Irish slab-seeker Barry Mottershead keeps grounded and seizes every session he has the opportunity to suit up. Following the inspired firefighting ways of fellow Mullaghmore Head charger Peter Conroy, This and Nothing Else returns with another glimpse into the tradeoffs “blue-collar” big-wave surfers make to slide the heaviest slab the world over. Mottershead’s love for after-school Travel Channel during his childhood in South Africa led him north to Ireland where he now calls home, feeding his hunger for Mullaghmore Head and other coastal crankers with kayak tour business.
While he is always aware of the carefree attitude his peers are able to bring to the swell, for Mottershead, it’s simply about the waves: “It’s not about getting the shot, or going the deepest, it’s more just about keeping everyone safe, getting some good lives, and live to ride another day. Do what you love. If you can have a choice, why not do something you really love and find a way to make it worthwhile. Don’t let anything get in your way. If you want it bad enough, you’re going to get it.”
