The closer one gets...
Umm... yeah, the surfing. The afternoon was an awesome experience but, as mentioned, we didn't get to see too many rides. But it wasn't all bad news. On Thursday, after the competition, forecasters predicted 20-footers booming through from Antarctica Sunday. Yesterday, in driving rain and zero visibility, we sat atop the Sentinel, trying to take shots of four or five surfers riding waves topping fifty feet. Here's what Spike says:
Never before has there been such incoherent babbling by so many big wave surfers in such a short time. Three months of nothing and then three days of proper big waves and sometimes a whole lot more. By now I am sure you have heard that the Friday after the event was all time Dungeons 20-25' and reeling like Supertubes but 6-8 times overhead. And then came the coup d'grace. Yesterday, Sunday 30 July will be for-hefer etched into beefcaked brains - sinuses still dribbling saltwater over granny's shoulder at dinner. While some of us wussies scratched about at a deep reef boil on the peaking WSW swell, riding a few 8-12' chunks, the Dungeons was being ridden at absolutely MASSIVE sizes. It was GIGANTIC, according to reports. The guys are saying "one for the books", "biggest ever Dungeons", "bigger than Mike Parsons at Cortes", "will easily take the XXL awards this year", "might be the biggest EVER". Well this outflow of babble comes from the mouths of big wave babes rendered toothless by the adrenal terror of it all. Some even tried to paddle. "We nearly died!" says Nico. Anyway, the waves had wave faces of 50 to 70 feet, according to the guys. A good few were "10 times over my head" says Simon, and he's a big fella. When it rains it pours, especially after a drought.Atop the Sentinel... alone but for the impoverished fishing village behind and beneath us, we were soon drenched, leaving only when cloud covered the mountain, turning the world to white. Nor did we get any shots worth writing home about. But so what? With waves like these, who's complaining?
...the fuzzier the picture
I'll definitely be watching Big Wave Africa 2007 from the mountain top. Sometimes, looking down on others is not what we in the trade call a bad thing. And, yep, although I'll see what else I can salvage from my Sunday snaps, does anybody know where there are some decent photographs of these monsters?
Note: I've dumped several more grainy shots in an album — if only for posterity; you don't get to see waves like these every other Sunday...
