"Sunset gets a hold of you in a half-nelson then keeps you down for the longest time and then there is always seven waves behind it."
Yesterday, after being notified via an Instagram friend that the HIC un-culled Pro at Sunset Beach was running, I stopped my work and tuned directly in. As per my previous point, the World Surf League does an absolutely terrible job marketing the Triple Crown. I swore, for example, that yesterday’s event was part of it. I thought in the confusion of dropping Pipeline then reinstating Pipeline that the Triple Crown must have been shuffled, kicking off in Sunset instead of Haleiwa.
Of course I was wrong but there I sat watching, marveling at Sunset. It looks like a big wave that you or I could conquer, no? A throaty drop but then long, non-intimidating wall that ejects into the safety of a wide channel. Sunset looks like the big wave for the rest of us but that’s where we’re all wrong.
The place is a nasty kick in the pants, or so I’ve been told. Michael Tomson, one of my very favorite all-time surfers (read more about him in the hit Cocaine + Surfing!) opened my eyes to the terrors. The strong-jaw’d South African is no shrinking violet and made a name for himself fearlessly charging both Pipeline and Sunset during those late 1970s winters. He told me, one sun-dappled afternoon:
I don’t even want to ride Sunset anymore, you know what I mean? It’s just too fucking heavy. The older you get you realize… I’ve nearly died at Sunset twice. At 50 and 52. And this one time I was out there and this set popped up and I said, “Fuck it. I’m gonna go.” And there it was, life on the table, got pounded, held down, thought I was dying right? Next thing is I’m being pulled up on a board. I couldn’t focus on anything, had to go to the hospital. So I had another one like that at Sunset and I have become so careful now because when you fall there it is worse than Pipeline. Pipeline is violent but short. Sunset gets a hold of you in a half-nelson then keeps you down for the longest time and then there is always seven waves behind it. I get cold thinking about some of the wipeouts I’ve had there.
Does it give you pause? It should.
Back to yesterday, though, Kiron Jabour beat O’Neill Massin, Beyrick De Vries and Slade Prestwich in the final.
Has there ever been a final in any sport ever with better names? I defy you to find and maybe we should hold off on the cull? I’d like to see where this O’Neill is headed. Beyrick and Slade too. It’s like a lost Game of Thrones village!
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so where is “get home from work to find your shit on the lawn and the locks changed”?
Yeah, what a wave. It’s left a lot of vivid memories.
I’m still and always will be learning about word choice, and looking back at that comment, I was asking for it, especially on BG. I probably shouldn’t have used “BJJing” along with “squeezed,” “impressively long,” and “licking.” Haha.
And this is why I write stories and Tom takes photos.
haha, too similar to “BJing”?
Serious question Chas – How many book sales is a successful run? Is it 1000, 2000?
I’m kinda curious after these viewing numbers that the WSL is displaying.
Well actually Piter de Vries was the corrupted Mentat in Dune.
Tell me of your home world Usul.
Strange I am from Caladan ? Perhaps I will be known as Usul among these Fremen ?
Though justice prevailed when he in turn was poisoned by the Duke Leo Atreides’ dying breath . “Observe the plan within plans within plans …………………….
Dune had the best villains!
The Baron Harkonnen is particularly repugnant .
that would make a great name for a off road tyre.
Yes and like a Tyre was punctured by St Alia of the knife with the gom jabbar .
He definitely wasn’t going to be the face of skin care ?https://thesardonicobserver…
Even the heroes are not sure of their terrible purposes on their genetic voyage to the Kwisatz Haderach and the Golden Path ?
I’ve been diving, surfing, and BJJing my whole life, so I know what it feels like to be squeezed, and I’ll tell you this: Sunset’s squeeze is impressively long; a bad licking there will test you, physically and mentally.
Meant, “MT is a pussy?”
Say what you want about MT but here’s a theory to chew on.
There was a time when most of the successful surf brands were founded and run by creative entrepreneurs like Tomson, Stussy, Yokayama, McKnight/Kwock, Woolcott/Eckert, Hurley, etc. Today, it’s basically accountants running most of the the brands. Perhaps there’s a correlation to the known fact that many of those same brands are struggling to connect to their core consumers?
True dat.
No love for Kiron Jabour? Is it because it sounds like he might be a refugee from Syria?
He was born in Brazil .I have myself sometimes confused him with another talented Brazilian surfer Jihad Khodr ?
No love because he has been around forever. 28 years old in 2 months.
Thank you! I think I wrote about paddling out at Off the Wall during a rising swell… but mostly I left out by design. Who wants to read about my shit surfing when I’ve got John and Kolohe?
Get a few? : )
You’ve run this quote here before, no?
I lost a wonderful friend from Beyrick’s town of Umhlanga Rocks not so long ago . He was as big as the Hound , partyied harder than Robert Baratheon ,smarter than the Imp, waved around a surfboard like Jaime Lannister waved his sword and gave me a space to live when I was in need . Goodbye Steve M .
The night is dark and full of terrors.
There is a good chance that my old mate terrified the dark night …..
Slade is one of our countless “next Jordys” who wasn’t
I come from the fish family and have always been somewhat envious of those cats ,falling from the sky,reconnecting, and threading through slabs .Of course there are the ones , favoured by the gods and cherished by the tribe, who are both cat and fish .
Pipe is for cats ( those with feline characteristics who always land on their feet ) and Sunset is for fish ( those who can swim like fish and therefore not afraid of drowning )
I’m in the Flounder category…
O’Neill Massin was a joy to watch. Oooh, I wanted him to win it. Pure power surfing, but much better style than Sunny, Johnny Boy etc.
Sunset looked bloody great. Slopey, but fast and powerful. Screw the hopping to connect with Val’s, though.
Had the good fortune to surf twice – in August 1989! Out of season NW swell, OH Sunset Point. 10 friendly locals, and Primos on the beach afterwards.
If Cody Young is manchild then O’Neill is F’in Mega Monster Child.
#notjoeltudor
Slade was my first favourite band. So go him!
Michael Thompson is a washed up coke monkey. a real pussy,
the only people who dont like surfing sunset, suck at surfing sunset.
top 5 waves in the world
Oh MT wasn’t criticizing Sunset at all, merely commenting on what a powerful wave it is.
Sounds like he was eulogizing more than criticizing .
“Michael Thompson is a washed up coke monkey. a real pussy”. pretty heavy burning when you factor in who its coming from.
Ha!
can you change the beach grit generic avatar to a picture of Elton just long enough for a screen shot?
way too much fucking paddling
true
You are the singularly biggest f’ing kook ever. Probably a floridiot. MT is a pussy. When were you born in 2002? I don’t think being honest about the beating anyone who has actually, really surfed sunset and been caught by a west set or blew the drop or got axed, could ever qualify as being a pussy. Top 5 wave? In what category? Difficulty? You’ve obviously never really surfed there arm chair parrot. It’s takes a lot of different skills to even attempt let alone master, and very few have mastered it, but, for a whinny kook who hides behind a fake name on some forum like a troll, to step to MT…wow…the man has chunks of punks like you in his stool.
Meant, “MT is a pussy?”
i almost drowned there many times. leashless on a single fin, road a fish when it was 10 foot. i love that wave. had many contests there too. btw, how does Michael’s cock taste?
With a self anointed monitor like Elton John, I’d say it’s more likely you’re the expert on cock sucking…10 foot on a fish. The unbelievable bullshit just gets piled on thicker and thicker.
First of all kook, who we now know is from Florida, you’ve never surfed 10 foot Sunset Beach (Hawaiian scale) on any board. Second, you’ve never surfed Sunset period. Why don’t you come out from behind your little fake name and identify yourself, where you live and when you allegedly surfed Sunset. I won’t hold my breath…
But at least I can breath because I not have some dude’s duck in my mouth EJ.
parking lots probably