Some of the sets that caught surfers inside were simply gigantic. Patience created more danger than chance, big sets catching surfers unaware, with nowhere to go but dive - and constrict their anxiety as they rolled in the pitch of heavy foam. Loveridge's 1986 guide was the first Victoria-only guidebook. Now, as a promise to himself, his update is an equally mandatory addition to the surfer's beachbag. But publishing the book was not without its cost.
Surfers are, understandably, extremely guarded about their own surfing spots.
When the '86 book was published Loveridge took some slag-offs. I was asked to come and answer for myself at a local radio station in Wonthaggi. I didn't like the tone of the invitation. The greatest change Loveridge has noticed since publishing the first book is that the water pollution at Gunamatta has worsened. Already a dangerous beach because of the large, unpredictable swells, surfers now risk illness because of the sewerage outlet at Boag's Rocks.