Wow, I was sitting outside looking at a two story building and trying to imagine it as a wall of water coming at me. Dig in and get up over it or dig in and cut straight through. Will it break or roll on by? I've been in 30 ft swells out in the gulf in a sailboat but it's just like being a cork and you don't need to do anything to survive but get the sails down and wait it out. Anyway, more mind surfing of a sort and the only kind I'll ever do on a monster wave.
So the surfer is on a "big gun"? At what point do you pick that over a short board?
On Maui I hooked up with a guy that quit surfing because he almost drowned getting held down at Jaws. We were kayaking together a lot. I had been heading out alone to surf for a month and begged and pestered him to get out on the little break with me, just for the company. He came out just to cater to a chick he liked. Gave him my 8' costco wavestorm because I couldn't manage it and he would bring me random longer boards to ride. But he was always pushing me shorter and shorter because he was a short boarder and that's how he viewed the fun factor. It helped me so much to get pushed like that. And he was so good at judging the swells from really far out. He ended up being really grateful that I gave him a way back out into the surf that was so non-threatening. EVERYONE on the beach was thanking me for getting him out and excited about it. Now when I talk to him on the phone he is always talking swell and told me about the north side firing so I'm glad to see it for myself. I don't know how big he'll be willing to go this winter, we'll see. West side people go up to Honolua since that's the closest spot to catch the north swells.
Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.
Henry David Thoreau
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