Martin Daly (born 1957) is an Australian

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and surfer who is known for his surf discoveries aboard the '' M.V. Indies Trader'' and is known as "surfing's most iconic boat captain".

Early life

Martin Meg Daly was born on the northern beaches of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, but moved to

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

at age 11 where surfing isn't possible. By age 16, he left home and lived in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. By 1981, he left to South East Asia doing marine

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

jobs. In 1981, he worked with friends Jeff Chitty and Ross Hannon, and they began working with a

salvage diver Salvage diving is the diving work associated with the recovery of all or part of ships, their cargoes, aircraft, and other vehicles and structures which have sunk or fallen into water. In the case of ships it may also refer to repair work done to m ...

and boat captain, Dave Barnett, on his boat ''The Rader''.

Surf Exploration

One Palm Point Discovery

In April 1983, Martin and his friends Jeff Chitty, Ross Hannon, Robert Wilson, and Wylie convinced Dave Barnett to explore some potential surf breaks aboard ''The Rader'', and found waves at Painatan, in

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Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. Martin paddled out alone and caught the first known wave at the

surf break Surf or SURF may refer to: Commercial products * Surf (detergent), a brand of laundry detergent made by Unilever Computers and software * "Surfing the Web", slang for exploring the World Wide Web * surf (web browser), a lightweight web brows ...

. They called it One Palm Point, because there was one palm tree in front of the line where surfers would take off.

The M.V. Indies Trader

In 1990, with Dave Barnett's boat, The Rader, falling into disrepair, and trouble with local authorities off of disputes of

treasure Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions leg ...

the crew found, Martin borrowed money from everyone he could, and purchased ''The Rader'' from Dave Barnett. Renaming a boat is known as bad-luck to sailors, so he kept the original ''Rader'' name, by adding Indies T-Rader. He painted it blue to disguise it, and was the now registered as the ''M.V. Indies Trader''.

Lance's Right

In 1991, Lance Knight hired a local man in a canoe to explore the Mentawai Island chain, and found a surf break. After a couple weeks of surfing it alone, Martin Daly and the ''Indies Trader'' stumbled upon Lance, and Martin named the break "

Lance's Right Lance's Right (also known as HT's) is a surf reef break located in Indonesia, off Sipore Island, part of Sumatra's Mentawai Island chain. A reef break is an area in the ocean where waves start to break once they reach the shallows of a reef. Lan ...

" after him. One of the crew had

betamax Betamax (also known as Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 1975, ...

video footage of this encounter, was not shown publicly until 2009.

The Quiksilver Crossing

Supported by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Quiksilver Quiksilver is a brand of surf-inspired apparel and accessories that was founded in 1969 in Torquay, Australia, but is now based in Huntington Beach, California. It is one of the world's largest brands of surfwear and boardsport-related equipm ...

organized a seven-year trip around the world, discovering new surf breaks, as well as checking on the coral health around the globe. The Crossing has been heralded as one of the most groundbreaking moments in surf history. The voyage took them to 56 countries and 26 states and four territories, they discovered more than 115 new

s, as well as going over 160,000 nautical miles, the equivalent of circumnavigating the world 8 times.

Film and TV Appearances

Martin Daly, and his boat Indies Trader boats have been featured in many surf movies and TV shows. * ''Young Guns 2,''

(2005) * ''Waterman'' (200

* ''Minor Threat'' Series,

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austria, Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwid ...

(2011) * ''Em Busca do Último Paraíso'', Canal Off (2014-2015) * ''Proximity'', Taylor Steele (2017) * ''Sea of Darkness'',

Michael Oblowitz Michael Oblowitz is a South African filmmaker. Early life and education Oblowitz was born in Cape Town where he grew up surfing in the 1970s. He is a Fine Arts and Philosophy graduate of the University of Cape Town. He received an M.F.A. in Fi ...

(unreleased) *''Nuclear Sharks'', Heather O'Neill (2016)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Daly, Martin 1957 births Living people Australian surfers Sea captains People from Sydney