THE BIGGEST SURF

This particular day we were the first surfers out and rode the first waves ridden on the legend session of our lives. We looked from the mountains for 2 hours from dawn onward checking the totally maxed out seas. I finally asked Sammy Hawke (my tow-in partner)

“Do you want to get us out on the jet-ski” 
He said “No, you drive Cheyne” (gulp)

Mountains of whitewater filled the horizon at 60 feet plus, the ground was shaking as the waves crashed towards the shore.
We ventured out slowly from the shore and as we got to the last line of waves a 60 to 80 foot wave, the biggest wave I’ve ever seen confronted us just as it was about to close-out.
We screamed like Indians running into a massacre, the wave began to pitch as we accelerated at full speed towards it, the wave threw out and began to break as we were going straight up the beast, there was that much volume in the wave that it was physically impossible to be taken under by it and live, we both knew we could die as we hit the lip and launched into the air just making it over.

This is Jaws not Outer Log Cabins and the photo is not from the same day as the story.

Now we were screaming and rejoicing as we were beyond the impact zone and out alone, way out. If we got hit there, there was nobody to come and save us, no one knew we were there.

Our bodies were pumped full of adrenalin because had we been one second slower we would be dead.
We ventured to a place called Outer Log cabins where it was perfect 50-100 foot faces with no-one else out. I jumped in ready to be towed in as Sammy took over the driving. It was then the thrill of a lifetime began as we surfed the biggest surf ever ridden, dropping into these waves felt like launching out of an aeroplane without a parachute. I survived some ultra heavy duty wipeouts as I pushed myself deeper and deeper inside.

As the sets would come the horizon would lift up and touch the sky as giant walls marched towards us.

Middle of a three shot sequence of a big wave barrel.

I pointed to Sammy to get ready to catch the biggest wave of the set, my body was still pulsing with adrenaline, taking off and looking down the line of a 30-50 ft wave my board was going faster then the jet-ski, coming up into the heaviest part of the wave and racing the lip to the bottom of the wave was frightening.
It happened fast and felt like it was forever.
There will never be a day as big and perfect as this for the rest of our surfing days.

Have a good surf.
from Cheyne Horan.
Cheyne slotted in a mega-barrel