WS – What sort of reef does the wave break on?
AM – There is a giant rock shelf that sticks out underwater. On the calm day we fished right over where the wave breaks, it comes from about 50-60m up to maybe 6m at the shallowest point. It drops off pretty quick into the channel again so there is definitely a safe zone. The main issue is that the wave is so fast and quite unpredictable so if you are positioned badly it is pretty easy to get taken out.
WS – How nervous were you when you were heading out there to sail it?
AM – It was pretty crazy. The night before we had a dinner with the safety crew and Marti and Sean who were on the ski to get me out of trouble were almost psyching me out. I had been getting heaps of mixed opinions on how big it would be, so the unknown element was killing me. Marti basically said – ‘look, it could be 40ft out there, it’s gonna be serious.’ I’ve ridden some pretty big waves, and I really enjoy that thrill but nothing I’ve done to date is like a 40ft slab in the middle of the ocean in the peak of winter. I was feeling like everything I did that night and the next morning could be the last time I ever would. You don’t know what can happen out there. I actually slept really well though, relinquishing myself to the weather gods I suppose. As I set off to actually do it, I was feeling pretty good, mostly excited about doing something new and feeding off the nervous energy. Not enough people challenge themselves; I try to work that into my life. This whole Pedra Branca thing was an extreme version of that.
WS – What did it feel like when you dropped in on your first wave?
AM – When I finally got out there the wind actually died. I was sinking on my board up to my knees, there was pretty much no chance of catching the waves. I couldn’t even get upwind to the peak. Everyone was freaking out that we were getting skunked and after a while I started getting really frustrated. Thankfully though in the last hour of light the wind came up just enough for me to pump onto the wave and drop in last second. The first wave I got was relatively small and I had to fade left into the pit to get into the right spot. It was a pretty amazing view looking into this big round barrel right next to you. The next few waves I got were much bigger and it was a bit easier to figure out where to be. Ideally though with a bit more wind you could set up earlier and much deeper, bottom turning around the first slab section and get some nice turns in the pocket of the second bit.