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 or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

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 Ralph Daly was born on the northern beaches of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, but moved to

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

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

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. 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), ...

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

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

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

surf break A surf break (also break, shore break, or big wave break) is a permanent (or semi-permanent) obstruction such as a coral reef, rock (geology), rock, shoal, or headland that causes a Wind wave, wave to Wind wave#Wave breaking, break, forming a ...

. 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 from Greek ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions legally define what constit ...

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" after him. One of the crew had

betamax Betamax (also known as Beta, and stylized as the Greek letter Beta, β in its logo) is a discontinued consumer analog Videotape, video cassette recording format developed by Sony. It was one of the main competitors in the videotape format war ag ...

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

The Quiksilver Crossing

Supported by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

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

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 created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...

(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