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WILD WEST
Mid-January swell sweeps into Jaws |
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January 28, 2005 Monday, January 16th will not go down in Peahi history books. No one rode a million-foot wave, no one died, IMAX Extreme wasn't on hand filming anything. It was almost...normal.
Not that a day Jaws could ever be considered average, though. Heavens no. You could ask Mike Parsons, who, after being beaten into submission by the North Pacific and swept towards the rocks, said it was his "worst wipeout ever."
Or tow partner Brad Gerlach, who took a "smaller" one and got clipped on the shoulder, only to look back and get creamed by a 60-foot face. And another. And another. Snips was looking for him on the ski while Rob Brown's helicopter stayed 15 feet above Ger to guide Snips in, to no avail.
Even a normal day at Jaws can rattle you up a bit.
"It was really windy," remarked photog Rob Brown. "And super west. We'd sit up in the helicopter and see these giant, open-ocean lines pulse up at a 45-degree angle to the land -- and then not hit the reef at all. Maybe they were wrapping around the whole island or something."
In comparison with December's Opening Day swell, last week's was not only a bit smaller, but rougher around the edges as well. December 15th saw heaps of giant, clean waves come through and get ridden; January 16th was windier, more ragged and less consistent. Many guys were actually going left, as the southwest winds were blowing down the face rather than into it on the rights.
There were less than ten tow teams as well, which made the lineup a little less tense. As usual, though, Laird was the man, followed closely by Shane Dorian, who got one of the biggest waves of the day. "There was hardly any hassling," remarked Brown. "It was pretty mellow. For Jaws." --Marcus Sanders
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