Mavericks Just Saw 50-Foot Waves. One Video Caught It All.
A surfer taking Mavericks in 2010. (Shalom Jacobovitz, CC BY-SA 2.0)
Bay Area surfing is picky, powerful, and, at times, dangerous. There’s Ocean Beach, notorious for long paddle-outs and strong currents. There are even beginner surf breaks, though that classic cold bite in the water remains. But one NorCal swell is known world-wide for its towering waves.
Mavericks, off of Pillar Point in Half Moon Bay, has been going off in recent weeks, as good as it’s been in years. According to the Chronicle, fanatics of the area — and from around the world — spent the week of December 28 hitting the waves while the weather allowed for it. Moreover, longtime surf documentarian Tim Bonython captured what some are saying is the best Mavericks footage recorded. “It’s the best footage that’s ever been captured,” Mavericks pioneer Jeff Clark told the paper.
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According to pros talked to in the 45-minute documentary, westerly and southwesterly winds are rare for the break. So when forecasts made it clear that December 28 would be the big day, everyone hopped in their wetsuits and flocked to the break. Big wave surfers who arrived from Maui via red eye flights, numerous surfers of the “biggest wave in the world” Nazare in Portugal community, and locals alike took off before sunrise, headed for the behemoth break by Sea-Doo and boat. “Twenty-five years I’ve dreamed to surf this place,” surfer Anthony “Sully” Sullivan said. “Hopefully I get one wave today.”
Getting out to the wave at all was a challenge for plenty of the surfers. The documentarian’s boat had a dead battery, then a leak in his boat, then spotty conditions sent them back again; It took a few hours for everyone on the scene to begin towing in for real. Once it began in full-force, though, it was a triumph.
Mavericks in 2010. (Rick Bucich)
Andrew “Cotty” Cotton, a pioneer in the Irish surf scene, had tremendous rides alongside prodigy Tony Laureano before majorly popular, and majorly talented, Kai Lenny took the face. It was a veritable Valhalla for surfing pros to take their shot at the belt, and it’s all masterfully captured in Bonython’s epic film.
Watch the full video for free online thanks to Bonython’s company Surfing Visions.
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