Ido Dar-el is the most precious thing alive!

Last year I wrote about a deaf Jewish big-wave stud called Ido Dar-el.

Oh this infinitely precious object could squeeze every last ounce of sympathy out of you: his ancestors were shovelled into ovens by the German war machine (and enthusiastic French, Ukrainians and Poles), his little country has been besieged by genocidal foes since its birth, and both of Ido’s ear-drums were wiped out by a virus when he was a baby.

But does Ido weep? No! He charges!

And that May swell at Cloudbreak that nearly stole Aaron Gold? Ido was there!

And not just having a punter’s swing but lacing tubes. Ido didn’t exactly plan on landing in Fiji right when the cauldron was bubbling but when you compile your quiver (6’3″, 6’8″, 7’6″) a year before and buy your plane ticket six months in advance (it ain’t cheap flying from Israel) you ride what you get.

Let’s talk (via email for obvious reasons), big, then bigger.

First,

“We scored the perfect swell with Reef McIntosh, Balaram Stack and Ryan Burch. There were so many sudden-death outside sets that would mow anyone off guard, snapping leashes and boards. Jon Roseman got the best, biggest, deepest bowl from first section standing tall all the way to the channel with his classic red board and leash on front leg. No one photographed it but it is embedded on my brain cells.”

Then, says Ido, “the forecast map began to turn … and my eyes began to bulge.”

Ido begged an old pal for a nine-six, who refused, and ended up with a couple of eight-foot plus boards he found under a house on the Fijian mainland where he was staying.

That night Ido was struck by the realisation that he was going to “surf this fucking outer ledge. I took a deep breath to clear my mind and went to the village church. I didn’t care  being Jewish. A holy place is a holy place. It was also the birthday night of my deceased brother so I asked him for a safe session. At midnight I went back to my bure, took off my hearing aids and switched off my mind and body.”

Ido describes the view at Cloudbreak on the big Monday.

“In the morning, when I loaded the boards in the boat, I was told that a Hawaiian surfer from Maui had drowned and was getting his chest pumped on the Tavarua boat. A Maui guy? Peahi expert? How big is it? On the way to Cloudbreak you could see foam explosions above the judges tower but not the waves, justifying the name. The whole sea was moving even in the protected lagoon. The moment we arrived to the line up I could see Coconut Willy hell-drop into a wave so big it looked like a cliff suicide jump. Willy disappeared in the foam blast behind him. He came to the boat with a torn MCL. Was I afraid after Aaron’s drowning and Willy’s ruined knee? Well, my brain lit up, analysing every detail.”

“Mark Healey got some absolutely insane bombs and and Damien too. Both risked going inside the sweet spot where the growers were. The whole reef to the judge’s tower was covered in a thick layer of gurgling foam that wouldn’t let you out till the other side. It didn’t feel right or clean enough to even paddle but after few hours the line-up cleared a bit and there were less surfers.”

The whole channel, says Ido, was “a rodeo competition. No boat could anchor or stay put in one place. The water moved so violently. The lineup was wonky with huge foamy outside sets with in-between, barfing, gigantic bowls. People see perfect waves on video but being there it was like reverse super-maxed out Sunset. The outer ledge was evil, more lip than wave and bowling so fast on the reef that guys with big boards barely paddled em. The mid-section was so fat and heavy you needed a little spot to catch just before it bowled. Many sections were chandeliering in the middle or end section before draining all the water to shishkebabs. It meant getting a tube was a real life-and-death gamble because you never knew if you were going to exit cleanly.”

Ido watched and studied the movements of Koa Rothman, the McNamara brothers, Alex Gray, Mark Healey, Jamie Sterling and Damien Hobgood.

“Mark Healey got some absolutely insane bombs and and Damien too. Both risked going inside the sweet spot where the growers were. The whole reef to the judge’s tower was covered in a thick layer of gurgling foam that wouldn’t let you out till the other side. It didn’t feel right or clean enough to even paddle but after few hours the line-up cleared a bit and there were less surfers.”

And, so, with his dirty eight-two that he’d recovered from under a house, and a vest, Ido jumped off the boat.

“I took 30 minutes in the boat seeing my whole surfing life 30 years ago as a kid in little stormy waves at Israel promising myself to get real ones someday. Then I looked at Cloudbreak, said ‘I love you, please don’t kill me.’

“I drifted, sitting on my board, closer to Alex Gray and between sets I told him I’d lost a brother too and it’s his birthday so it was really special for me to sit with him (Alex lost a brother too). Alex looked at me, trying to understand, then smiled and told me that it was his brother’s birthday. I got teary eyes and I was laughing at the same time. Crazy! Our brothers gave us a big gift to love and live life fully. We shaked hands and hugged a bit. Then I left him alone to concentrate on the waves. I tried position up there at the middle section but… man… seeing those mega outerledges was hypmotic. Both me and Alex were shouting and saluting those easily 20-feet plus spitting faces with others.”

Were the big-wave stars kind to our precious Deaf Jewish Big-Wave Stud?

“On big Monday all of them were dead on serious mode. It was incredible an experience for me to actually sit shoulder to shoulder and read their lips trying to follow Mark Healy and Greg Long recall Aaron Gold’s CPR. Damien Hobgood was like a kid, double hand-stalls to stay deeper. Mark Healey impressed me with his bullet speed runs all the way to the channel.”

Best moment?

“A funny moment hit me when the one-legged Brazilian charger, one-handed Bethany Hamilton and m, the deaf Israeli guy,
were  sharing the same line up. I laughed and asked Dane Gudang, ‘Goddamn, is it International Handicapped Surfers Day?'”