  |
 |
|
|
NORTH SHORE WEEK IN REVIEW
Checking the pulse 11/25-12/02 |
|
|
December 2, 2002 WHO ARRIVED: Ross Clarke Jones, Mike Parsons and Brad Gerlach flew over to Maui for Tuesday the 26th, but most guys and girls are pretty much here -- and no one's leaving yet. It's just getting good. Oh, yeah: the North Pacific Ocean decided to show up, washing under beachfront houses and across Kam Highway at Rockpiles numerous times throughout the week. The sharp volcanic rocks lining the beach between Off the Wall and Pipeline arrived after a long summer's rest underneath the sand, and Typhoon Haishen showed up with reinforcement swell on Friday. Rob Machado and family showed up in time for Saturday's Rell Sunn Menehune contest on the West Side, still unsure about whether he's in the Pipe Master's Trials or not.
BEST SESSION: Tuesday November 26th.
After Monday evening's close out set at Waimea -- which, by the way, everyone somehow manages to squeak under -- Tuesday morning dawns big, blue and perfect at the Bay. Buoy One peaked at 2:00am at 24.3 feet at 20 seconds. By 7:30am, the Heiau monument up above Waimea becomes a bit of a traffic jam, with surly photographers vying for the most peaceful perspective of the chaos below. Healy gets a handful of 20-footers behind he bowl and calls it tame compared to the previous night's session with Dave Wassel at an unnamed Outer Reef. Noah Johnson and Shane Dorian were at the same reef before them, and Dorian called it some of the biggest waves he's ever paddled into. The CT is conspicuously under represented, with only three of the top 44 -- Joel Parkinson, Taylor Knox and Victor Ribas -- opting to pull out their Rhino Chasers. Which begs the question: what would have happened if the Rip Curl Cup were mobile?
STANDOUTS:
JAWS: There were plenty of big-wave tales on the North Shore, but that tow-in haven on Maui overshadowed 'em all. Tuesday, Nov. 26 could very well have been Jaws' most star-studded super session, as everyone from Mike Parsons and Brad Gerlach to Kelly Slater and Shane Dorian to Ross Clarke Jones and Noah Johnson to Garrett McNamara and Makua Rothman -- along with Laird and crew -- split 80-foot peaks. Garrett escaped from the barrel of the decade, while Laird remains the Surfer of the Century. According to Dorian: "Laird's the best in the world. . .and that's still underrating him."
Mike Todd: Clawed into what some are calling a solid 25-footer right before Monday evening's closeout set. As fellow paddler Chris Malloy said, "Mike Todd has officially entered the Big Time."
Mark Healey: Surfed an oversize Outer Reef alone for an hour after Wassel swam in -- caught the biggest wave of his life with no witnesses. The next morning at Waimea, he sat deeper than everyone and went left on his last wave. According to Healey, "Going from the Outer Reef to Waimea the next morning was like going from Pipeline to V-Land."
Dave Wassel: Drove 50 yards through a legitimate 20-foot barrel at an Outer Reef on Monday night before falling and snapping his second leash in an hour.
Pat O'Connell: Won a Cheese Head in good, head-high surf at the Todd Chesser Thanksgiving Memorial. Beat the stuffing out of Slater, Dorian, all the Malloys and a whole buffet full of surf stars.
Sunny Garcia: Two days of Third Dip during the North Shore's five-day 15-foot-plus assault.
Joey Cabell Sixties speed demon and Chart House founder Joey Cabell tows in at Avalanche with photographer Mike Prickett on Friday.
Pete and Jack Johnson In addition to serious shack time at Backdoor, the brothers have been spotted on numerous tow in missions all over the North Shore's Outer Reefs all week.
SOCIOCULTURAL PHENOMENA:
At the Todd Chesser Memorial Thanksgiving Memorial at the Hill House, Benji Weatherly won photo slut of the year, again; other highlights included a heated one-on-one basketball game with Keoni Watson and Todd Mitsui; David Glasser teaching Kelly Slater how to kite surf; and a Brad Gerlach inspired "game" - format surf competition. Thanksgiving also finally saw the Reality Show people actually share a meal together.
And if lots of turkey and five days of huge surf wasn't enough, Social Distortion came to Honolulu on Friday night, for those energetic enough to make the drive. The local and/or lazy stayed on the North Shore and packed out Waimea Falls for a Lifeguard Benefit party with San Francisco's the Mermen and far too much Coors Light.
WARZONE:
Sunny Garcia
Wondering if the North Shore reality show will be watchable? Well, wonder no longer. Sunny Garcia's shaping up to be the Brutus of this animated series, slapping first and asking questions later. His latest victim was an injured Liam McNamara, who got an open hand across the face when Garcia learned he'd been advocating four-man heats at Sunset.
Waimea regular Clark Abbey watched his beloved 10'8" take two deep gashes in one drop on Big Tuesday when Arnold Dowling and an unknown Australian crossed his path. Lucky he had Solarez in his car. He was back in the lineup by the peak of the swell at 11:00 a.m.
Dan Malloy passed up dropping swell at Waimea on Friday and braved the shorebreak. He snapped his board in four pieces but somehow kept his body intact.
Dean Morrision took off beyond vertical on an eight-foot dredger at Backdoor on Sunday morning and landed headfirst on barely covered reef. He got 8 staples in his head. The next night, watching a slomo video replay of the wipeout, Deano figures he'd have made it if he was riding a 6'8" instead of his 7'1".
Ross Williams is almost unbreakable. After surfing huge waves at Waimea on Monday and twice on Tuesday, and pulling a giant floater across the Toilet Bowl at Haleiwa on Wednesday -- later that afternoon, he went to the East Side and broke his foot during a flying kick out at the four-foot bowly rights on the East Side and had to be helped in by Kelly Slater.
CRAZY FRICKEN ANECDOTE:
With all these huge swells, you'd think West Oz hellman Paul "Antman" Paterson would be in the thick of it. But after a big night out with mates in Town, he woke up alone on a sidewalk with a serious headache and a shattered jaw. It's still wired shut, and he's out of the a few more weeks. To this day, he doesn't know who (or what) hit him. --Team Surfingthemag
|
|
|
|
;)
%20--%20for%20Laird%20Hamilton%20and%20a%20dozen%20or%20so%20other%20hellmen.%20Photo:%20Les%20Walker/Billabong%20Odyssey&height=334&width=500');)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
