MARCILIO “BRAWZINHO” BROWNE
Even when they call it a ‘small’ day at Jaws, that place is never to be underestimated. Pe’ahi also has a different power and speed if you compare it to a place like Ho’okipa and if you get it wrong there even on a smaller day it will pound you for sure. Jaws is never easy to score! Whenever there is a chance of sailing there I always like to give it a try as you just never know what might pop up, even if a forecast is not that promising. If you are persistent enough and stay there for a while you might surprise yourself with the outcome, even on the ‘bad days’.
When we arrived it was really choppy and almost reminded me of the North Sea! My first wave was way better than expected so it caught me a bit off guard. I was on a 4.7, just about planing outside but once I dropped in I was definitely overpowered on the wave. I mistimed my hit slightly and went a bit too early but it was barrelling and perfect! After that I caught nothing else until my final wipe out!
Towards the end of my session I had been sailing for many hours but not really scoring anything decent at all. Most of the rides were just a bottom turn and then no more wall afterwards. I thought to myself that I would commit to hitting the lip no matter what on my next wave! That was a big mistake! I think I was just impatient and frustrated but just went up and hit a lip that was already breaking down on top of me. I wanted to air the section but the chop slowed me down and I arrived way too late. I was immediately back-winded and luckily made it out of the straps just in time. I landed pretty hard on my back and ended up with whiplash and twisted my neck as a consequence! My gear survived as I was lucky with a big offshore gust which threw my kit up to the sky and it ended up in the channel. So in the same day I had two waves, both at extreme ends of the scale, one with a beautiful clean wall and a big air drop and the other choppy and ugly with a real painful wipe out. In the end the effort was worth it!