Tweet

 

PEʻAHI / JAWS: MEMORABLE

Two big swells rocked Hawaii in January, lighting up Maui’s infamous big wave break of Peʻahi / Jaws. Marcilio Browne, Sarah Hauser, Kai Katchadourian and Robby Swift share their experience of the memorable sessions.

Photos – Fish Bowl Diaries, Erik Aeder, Ilan Artzi.

---

Marcilio Browne

We had a couple swells for Jaws at the start of the year. The first solid one was on January 12th. This swell had a lot of size for sure, but it was kind of weird and hard to pick waves as overall it was a short period and a bit more north, which is not ideal. It was great being back there though, and as the surfers the day before had a pretty epic windless day for surfing, it was a really mellow crowd this day, with only a couple of friends out and mostly windsurfers. It was a super nice vibe, which is pretty rare these days. I had a blast sharing waves with Levi Siver, Jake Schettewi, Jason Polakow, Rudy Castorina and Kai Katchadourian. Polakow found some clean ones and I saw him score some really good turns. It’s a big inspiration to see him still charging this hard after so long. I used this day to take out a couple of different boards and experiment a bit with my gear set-ups; it was a perfect day to do that.

Massive

The next swell was the one on January 22nd. At first this one didn’t look too crazy on the forecast, it was kind of coming and going. In my mind it was just going to be more like a mid-size range day, so I didn’t pay too much attention to it anymore, just kind of got myself and my gear ready for the day, like 2 x 5.0’s, 1 x 5.3, 2 x masts, 2 x booms, 2 x boards (at first), food, water and safety gear, impact wetsuit and flotation vest. On that morning they were also running the Eddie Aikau big wave invitational surfing event at Waimea on Oahu, and I kept on seeing everyone posting the buoy readings and it said 27.5 at 19 seconds. At that moment I thought wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a reading like this before, so my mindset kind of switched as I knew we were going to have a really massive day. I instantly took one of the boards out and only left my old trusted ‘gunnier’ one – an 8’0” by 56.5 cm wide quad with my MFC KS 14 cm and 9 cm set. I drove by Ho’okipa on my way to the harbour and it just looked MASSIVE! I was on the phone with Polakow and Swifty as we were all trying to line up to get there around the same time.

Hollow

After a long ride from Kahului we got there and it was just huge, close to the size of that big swell 2 years ago, but this time a lot more west, so a lot faster and a lot hollower. On top of that the wind was more east too, which means more side-off. As soon as I got there I saw 2 tow guys having super heavy wipeouts, one after the other, and I thought to myself that if I stayed watching for too long I probably wouldn’t go out, so I just started rigging straight away and got out there. I was the first windsurfer out, followed by Jason Polakow and at that time there were about 6 or 7 tow teams, some of the really good local guys. Polakow got very unlucky and fell off on his first wave, he didn’t get rescued and had to climb the rocks, than he tried to go back out later in the day and got another heavy one on the head. It’s crazy how determined he is and also how fearless.

Fast

In the end I sailed for about 3 hours and got around 6 or 7 waves max. It was very difficult as it felt extremely offshore, hollow and fast. I don’t remember ever going that fast on a wave before. Most waves I thought I was in a good place for, but often had to race to the channel as they would nearly close out on me. I for sure felt a lot more scared than most sessions there, but I was trying to keep my mind in a good place, stay calm, pick the right waves and not make any mistakes. My main goal was to stay close to the bowl and not fall off. It was one of those days you just really didn’t want to wipe out.

After the session we had the long ride back to Kahului on the jet ski, then home and washed down the jet ski, fed and showered my 2 kids, cleaned the house and fell asleep around 10 p.m. completely destroyed!

Sarah Hauser

A week before the ‘Eddie’ swell, I tried to get out to Pe’ahi with Adam Lewis, but our jet ski got flipped on the way while trying to go through the inside at upper Kanaha and we had to get rescued by the lifeguards. When I saw the forecast for another Jaws day a week later, I was ready for redemption! I kept checking Surfline for details about the swell timing and direction and Windguru for information about the wind. In need of a new ride to get up there, I asked the NC6 training crew that I teach fitness classes to. It’s people like Brawzinho, Robby Swift, Morgan Noireaux and Ricardo Campello and we’ve all become good friends. Sure enough there was a spot for me on the jet ski with Robby Swift and Kevin Pritchard.

Amplified

The swell was scheduled to be big, but in the last 24 hours before it hit, the storm amplified and it was now scheduled to be giant! In the morning I got a text from Swifty saying he’d never seen such big readings on the northern Hawaiian buoys. He was “shitting himself” (his words ha ha!) and wondering if I still wanted to go. My heart jumped up into my throat, everything in my body felt the fear, but I couldn’t be more clear with my intention to at least get out there and see if I could find my line on a wave.

Getting out of Maliko Gulch where we launched the ski was a challenge. We waited for a giant set to end before launching the ski and getting out of there before the next set would close out and turn the Gulch into hell. We barely made it out, only to realize Swifty had forgotten his mast extension and we had to return to that hell again! Somehow we did it right and got to Pe’ahi.

My first time riding Jaws was in 2013. In 10 years of chasing dreams out there I have learnt that there is a point where the bigger the forecast, the chunkier it gets. The waves are huge at Pe’ahi, but with this kind of swell it reminds you exactly why they call that spot Jaws also. There was so much energy in the waves and with the swell being so west, the bowl looked like enormous claws wrapping the whole ocean around itself.

Kit

I was using a Goya Guru 4.0 sail and riding my first ever custom Jaws board shaped by Keith Teboul at Quatro with a quad set of MFC fins. My normal wave board is 58-litres, 6’8” long and 20” wide. The Jaws board is 63-litres, 7’ long, 21” wide and designed to go really fast. It’s a little heavier construction and we made it 5 litres bigger than my regular boards because of all the wetsuits + floatation and impact vests that weigh about 5 kg once all wet. It’s pretty cool to benefit from Keith’s experience as a windsurf board shaper and also a gun shaper for the brave surfers who paddle out at Pe’ahi like Kai Lenny and Annie Reickert.

Extreme

The wind was extremely on and off, making it so hard to get speed and pick a line. It took me over an hour to find my wave, one that I knew I could make. Still the drop was so scary, I felt my board going so so fast under my feet. Towards the end of the ride I went through some warbles and remembered Bryan Thomson, the engineer behind the scenes at the Quatro Goya factory in Haiku, who had sanded my fins to allow them to go even faster and keep gripping. And through the warbles I went, all the way to the channel where I took a few seconds to feel all my emotions. It wasn’t my most aggressive ride out there, but I was happy to have been out there on a wave for this insane swell. I also couldn’t afford to get hurt as I was scheduled to fly out that evening to support a very special loved one who had been diagnosed with a life-threatening disease.

The return to Maliko was blessed by the ocean gods. We somehow timed it perfectly and watched the crew after us deal with what looked like a tsunami in the Gulch.

I took a shower, had a Paia Fish Market Ahi burger and took the red-eye flight fly out that evening to support my husband (Casey Hauser) who had been diagnosed with leukemia the day before and needed to get a biopsy on the mainland. It sounds tiring, but that’s how my spirit lights up and that’s how I can show up for the ones I love. So glad I was able to do that.

Kai Katchadourian

My first time windsurfing at Pe’ahi was in April 1993. A two-day sequence of very good-sized swell with wind was hitting Maui and we were psyched to go out there at Pe’ahi. We had no logical plan, other than just walk down the cliff, rig up and swim out through the shorebreak. Mark Angulo went first. It’s one of the riskiest things I have ever done, and there was no backup plan. We hoped to catch some bombs and sail down to Ho’okipa. We all caught bombs, and I recall one very good one, and then I got caught by one; nearly a two-wave hold down. I broke a mast and had to swim in through the shorebreak with my board. It was a major experience to say the least with absolutely no safety anywhere whatsoever. I made it onto the rocks, with many boulders rolling around, and was shaken up a fair bit. Shannon Lickle helped me back up the cliff and said I was as white as a ghost. It was a landmark session, and it was unforgettable knowing we were among the first who did it.

Change

Switching back to the present day, obviously things have changed, and for the better mostly. It’s much more crowded out there now, with the entire spectrum of board sports out there, but there’s also a code of watching out for one’s brother out there. We have to play it safe and not take risks, rather it’s a case of managing risk, but things still happen. I was up there on the 12th of January, and our jet ski would not start at the end of the day. We had to be towed out of there by our friends who were low on gas. We ended up putting others in a bad situation for not a good enough reason – an old battery issue.

Critical

These are the things that make it life and death out there, it’s a thin line and one needs to be aware of everything one is dealing with, and control the factors one can. While out there catching these waves, you are making very important decisions, but the moment of riding the waves is very pure and it’s rewarding to still be able do it 30 years after my first session. It is a place I understand well, and it’s clearly a wonder of the world. Just to get amongst it once in a while seems fitting, but there is nothing to prove for me. Watching the level go where it is going is a sight to behold. Brawzinho has stepped up the level into truly astounding heights – critical placement and a very deep understanding of what he wants to do. We all caught amazing rides in these January sessions, but Braw has remained in a league of his own up there. We are in the golden era for this level of performance and it is an honour to behold.

Robby Swift

I track all the swells and this one did look like it was going to be a big one, although not that big until just a couple of days before. I use Surfline who were calling 20-25 feet until the day before and Windguru who were calling 2.8m and 18 seconds until a couple of days before. Generally the swells kind of drop off right as the day approaches, but this one suddenly got a big upgrade the day before. Surfline jumped their prediction to 30-35 feet and Windguru jumped it up more modestly to 3.0m and 19 seconds.

The best indication for Hawaii of what you are actually going to get though is when the swell starts hitting the tsunami alert buoys and luckily I looked at the farthest NW buoy right before I went to bed and it was still only saying 14 feet at 18 seconds, which is big (one of the bigger swells of the year) but not too bad. If I had seen the next couple of readings, I wouldn’t have been getting any sleep! When I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to do my stretching, I saw it had jumped up to 26 feet at 19 seconds. I had my heart in my mouth. It was actually just a fraction smaller than the swell that they named “Super Saturday” and that Super Saturday only had 1 or 2 hours of those giant readings. This swell stayed constant at that size for about 6 or 7 hours and would peak right as we were going to be sailing around 2 p.m.
Ready

I got everything ready the night before. I was actually supposed to go on a family ski trip 2 days before but changed my ticket for the swell so I was solo at the house and had hours to myself to potter around and fret about the big waves! We had been doing CO2 build up resistance training and O2 deprivation training at the gym with Sarah for the past few weeks so I felt like my breath holding was pretty decent. I got the ski all prepared the night before and my Jaws windsurf board, tow board, backup Jaws windsurf board and my 4.5-5.0 Combats ready. I stretched and tried to relax myself as much as possible the night before.

I have a Patagonia inflation vest and a custom NeilPryde floatation wetsuit. I made sure the air cartridges were all screwed in tightly and that the little pins that pop them were all working properly and that the bladder was holding air. All important stuff!

We had a safety ski and my Argentinian friend Dany was driving safety for us. He was towing Trevor Carlson when we arrived and doing safety for him, so I waited a bit because I didn’t want to sail without safety. Definitely a good call when up at Jaws!

Custom

I used my new custom Jaws board that Werner had made me based on several previous editions of my Jaws boards. I have come down in length from 8’3” back in the early 2000s to an 8’0” back around 2010. More recently I had a couple of 7’10”s which I really liked. They were closer to my normal boards than the previous more gunny versions, but still built heavy. About 5 years ago I ordered a normal weight 7’10” and that has been my go-to board for Jaws since then. This year I wanted to experiment with something even shorter and more similar to my Ho’okipa boards (the JP Ultimate Wave) so I ordered a 7’7” by 57.5 cm wide 88-litre (the Ultimate wave 88 is 7’6” long by 58.8 cm wide by 88-litre, so it’s just a tiny bit longer and narrower). This board is built exactly the same as the production boards so it weighs the same and I just have the front footstrap hole 1 cm further forward so I can widen my stance a tiny bit.

I used my regular 4.7 Combat which is the sail I’m most comfortable on, rigged exactly the same as always, but I use some slightly smaller side fins of my Tectonics EVO Quad fins. Normally I ride 13 cm in the back and 9 cm in the front, but I used 8.5 cms in the front this time, which felt just that little bit easier when going super fast.

Massive

It was absolutely massive. Way bigger than I had imagined and very much similar to the Super Saturday swell that we had a few years ago. The wind was ok, but it was really offshore, so the combination of the massive and extremely fast moving west swell and the very offshore winds made it almost impossible to catch the waves. You had to sit super deep and try to get speed by sailing downwind and going off the back of the wave before the one you wanted to catch, and then try to carry your speed in the lull between the waves and catch the next one. It’s a really scary game to play and I had several very close calls when I thought I was too far in and the waves were going to catch me.

When I got there, I actually sat on the ski for about an hour watching and wondering if I was even going to sail. I had missed the start of my snowboard trip with my family and it was massive and beautiful and sunny, but I was kind of struck with fear and not sure if I wanted to do it.

Once on the waves, they were faster than I had experienced on any other day other than Super Saturday and actually surprisingly bumpy. It was hard to time the bottom turn right as you had to go over these big ribs in the waves to get to the glassy spot and then try to sneak in a bottom turn.

Deep

Getting over my initial fear made me feel good. I was really really scared and it took a lot of effort to even rig up. After that, I had a couple of pretty decent turns from way deeper on the wave than I had done before. I had watched the previous giant Jaws swell on YouTube that morning and reminded myself of how much deeper you needed to sit and to initiate the turn to make it look good so I was proud of myself for doing that a few times.

The hardest thing about sailing there is that you have to be so deep and so far inside to catch the waves. You really think you won’t be able to catch them because the wind is so offshore so you have to kind of “back door” the waves and drop in almost behind the peak to be able to get down them at all. Sometimes you suddenly realize that you are just too deep and you either kick out and hope there isn’t a bigger one behind or you have to go and ride super high up on the wave to try to make it round the section. It’s really extremely scary every single time and probably one of the most frightening things I have ever done.

I actually would have had more good turns if it wasn’t for getting dropped in on by tow surfers on 3 separate occasions. I was super deep and in the perfect spot a couple of times but when they do that, it really puts you off your concentration and you can’t lean into the turns or go where you want to go because there is someone there with a jet ski and a tow surfer behind them. On my final wave, I got a nice turn in under the lip and then had the nicest wall to do another turn on for the next section, but there was a guy towing way out on the shoulder who stuffed me back into the critical section and didn’t let me do the turn I wanted to. I actually felt like I was quite close to getting barrelled from the perspective I had, but with windsurf gear, that is a very scary prospect!!

Content

I enjoyed my time sailing there. I wish I had rigged up a bit earlier and caught more waves and I really wish that I would have tow surfed after the windsurf session as it was historically uncrowded since so many people were off competing in the Eddie. I had a plane to catch at 10 p.m. though and I was kind of happy to be alive and in one piece after the windsurfing, so it’s easy to look back in hindsight and wish you had surfed, but in that moment I was pretty content with the waves I had caught windsurfing and I probably made the right call!

I played it safe for a bit, but I got a few good turns in though. As I said I would have preferred not to have been dropped in on by tow surfers and then I would have made more of those 3 waves that were really solid waves. There was a smaller day the next day which I would have loved to have been able to sail as it’s always easier the next smaller day, but I had to leave to go snowboarding and had a wonderful time with my family so I can’t complain! I definitely loved my newest Jaws board, so I’m hoping there will be more swells, hopefully with slightly less offshore winds, to really put it to the test!

Scary

The way back into Maliko Gulch was one of the scariest things about the day, actually the way out was scary too, but somehow it’s always easier to get out than get back in. There were 5 or 6 wave sets of mast-high whitewater raging in through the entire Maliko Gulch. I don’t actually think I have ever seen it so big in there. The water was surging up the river and then rushing back down again after the sets and it was almost impossible to stay in a steady position on the ski without going really fast. I was very fortunate to have Kevin Pritchard there with me, he is extremely experienced and went right out to sea whenever he saw a huge set on the horizon and then only came in right in the perfect moment when I had the truck ready and could put the trailer in the water. I have seen people’s trailers get sucked into the water there, dragging the truck in with them, so I was really cautious with my timing and in the end we got out completely unscathed. Definitely not a relaxing end to a very hectic day!