Mavericks

The first time I surfed Mavericks was on Thanksgiving, the 26th of November 2009. Mike and I walked up the mountain just as it was getting light to have a look at it. The 360 degree image below shows the view we had. Just click and drag to have a look around.

My first thought was that it was not paddle-able. There were a few jet-ski crews on it and from the elevated viewpoint it looked way over 20ft. Andrew Mar told us later in the water that it was not such a good idea to look at it from the mountain before you paddle out. We had learnt our lesson. There were only 6 of us paddeling when we got to the peak. The waves were mesmerizingly perfect. Solid 20ft and pitching top to bottom. I have been around 20ft barrels before, but this was ridiculous! Andrew and Simon showed us the land line-ups and we ventured into the peak. Mike wiped out on his first wave, got washed straight through the rocks. I made my fist one but got caught inside and broke my leash on the second one. My board followed Mikes path and also ended up going through the rocks and got badly dinged on the rail. I was more fortunate and got picked up by a jet-ski just just in front of the rocks.

It was a heavy opening day and the start of what was to be the norm for the rest of the winter. It was glassy nearly every day and I have lost track of how many 15ft -20ft sessions we had. It was an amazing season.

What impressed me more than the waves were the people. Considering the fact that you have to be careful not to hit someone on the head with your board when you spin for a wave on the peak, one could easily understand if the locals were a bit weary of a bunch of new faces in the line up, but whenever and wherever we bumped into them we were greeted with friendly smiles and warm handshakes. There were often 30 or more people on a peak about 20m wide, definitely the most crowded wave I have surfed, but there were always smiles and positive vibes. It was inspirational!

Here is a clip taken by Powerlines Productions of my first time going left. Frank Solomon is in the first clip and I am in the second.