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Big Waves Scare the Bejeepers Out Of Me -- But I'll Watch Others Tackle Giants
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Maverick's Contest Begins Airing On TV This Month
Last January, I was standing at the end of a pier in Cayucos, California, watching guys tow into 15- to 20-foot waves as this old timer talked to me about the old days.
In particular, he waxed poetic about this one glorious day, maybe 25-30 years ago, when he surfed perfect 20-foot bombs in Morro Bay.
"God, I wish I could've towed in like that," he said, thinking back to a time when he was young and able-bodied.
If you looked at the guy -- now old and heavyset -- you'd never guess he'd surfed anything, let alone big waves. But when you heard him talk, you just knew he was for real.
Then he turned to me and said: "Would you ever tow surf like that?"
"Oh no," I said. "That's not for me."
I love surfing -- I catch waves all the time. But big waves? They scare me. If I could hold my breath for 17 minutes like that magician, then, sure -- I might give it a whack. But until then, the notion of challenging a 20-footer makes my guts churn.
Of course, I won't hesitate to watch others do it.
As the old guy and I were watching the studs tow in before us, roughly 10,000 people were watching some of the best big wave surfers in the world competing in the 2008 Maverick's Surf Contest. The contest, held in Half Moon Bay, will air for the first time on FUEL this Monday.
Greg Long, a 24-year-old from San Clemente, won the event, which featured waves up to 40 feet. Before his award-winning ride, Long and the other six finalists agreed to split the $75,000 purse.
I've interviewed guys like Jeff Clark, Greg Noll and Peter Cole, and they just don't seem to understand why anyone would ever be afraid of giant waves. Long, the newest, hottest big wave charger, seems to fit right into that mode. After all, just a week before the Maverick's contest, he was surfing among 80-foot giants at Cortes Bank.
Photo: Steve Jurvetson
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