“Ferry waves, Three to five [feet], light
winds, perfect conditions. If this spot was on Surfline, it would
have gone good to epic.”
New Jersey vlogger Ben Gravy makes history
after surfing “biggest and best ferry wave in the world!”
By Derek Rielly
“If this spot was on Surfline, it would have gone
good to epic.”
The New Jersey vlogger, reformed booze artist and
high-end intermediate surfer Ben Gravy has created history, of some
sort, after riding what calls “the biggest and best ferrywave I’ve ever seen. It’s a Disneyland for
adults!”
Thirty-five-year-old Ben Gravy’s themes are positivity and an
everyman vibe. If I can do it, you can sorta thing.
Ben Gravy is just short of six feet, he weighs one hundred and
fifty pounds, eats once a day and gets his nourishment essentially
from soft drinks.
“Cruising on my eight-footer, just absolutely enjoying the
beautiful glassy Pacific Northwestern bay,” says Gravy after
successful completion of the mission. “Ferry waves, Three to five,
light winds, perfect conditions. If this spot was on Surfline, it
would have gone good to epic.”
See to believe!
And here’s Zeke’s take on the event.
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Nathan Florence makes universal sign of
delight with his wrist while carrying world champ brother John John
to winner's podium.
Nathan Florence posts extraordinary
behind-the-scenes video of brother John John’s world title win
By Derek Rielly
Wild booing, baby Darwin on site, the crowd a sea
of golden Florence hats!
The more said about the three fabulous Florence
brothers, John John, Nathan and Ivan, the better, I
think.
Raised by a single mom, the equally fabulous Jersey Girl Alex,
who left her east coast Christian community in 1986 to chase the
North Shore dream on Oahu, the trio, although mostly John John and
Nathan, have conquered,
pro surfing, free surfing, vlogging and, lately, singlehandedly
brought a modicum of cool back to surf wear, although that may just
be the handiwork of Florence’s behind-the-scenes wizard, Pat
O’Connell.
In this video posted by Dirk and Natasha Ziff’s successor as
waterman of the year, Nathan Florence, we go behind the scenes of
John John Florence’s third world title, which was one almost one
month ago in small waves at Lower Trestles in San Clemente.
Many takeaways moments, as you’d expect, you’ll see little baby
Darwin being cradled in his smiling mama’s arms as John John
readies to do battle with wild-eyed Italo Ferreira; the crowd
booing like hell when Italo gets a seven for a partially completed
air and the relief on John John’s face when he completes the
necessary gymnastics to take title three.
And, ever aware of the power of promotion, Nathan Florence was
quick to point out the value of having Florence hats and tees
wrapped around half the crowd.
“He’s had three of these big title wins, and they’re all special
in their own way, but it just felt like this year, having a full
healthy year with no injuries. On top of it all, we’re running our
own company, wearing our own gear. He’s got Florence on the back of
his jersey, there’s a big crowd of people on the beach, all wearing
Florence, screaming their heads off. Very very special.”
Essential.
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"I almost felt like I didn’t want to put the
vid out. I put a ton of pressure on myself to catch a good one. I
really wanted to do it. I wanted to paddle a legit one at The Right
and I totally failed. I tried for three hours and I just couldn’t
get it done. The speed of it, the shifting of it, it was a lot of
going on out there."
Waterman of the year Nathan Florence admits
to “shame and embarrassment” in rare big-wave fail
By Derek Rielly
"The pressure of all that water at depth hits and
it feels like your eyes are getting sucked into the back of your
head.”
The joint is heavier than you might believe. Mark Mathews
describes getting belted thus,
“If you fall on one that is coming out of the south, it pushes
off what feels like a waterfall, but you’re underwater already.
You’re getting smashed around in a wave like you normally do and
then all of a sudden it’s like you’ve been dropped off a cliff. The
pressure of all that water at depth hits and it feels like your
eyes are getting sucked into the back of your head.”
Florence, who is a thirty-year-old Gemini and married to the
daughter of Hawaiian muscle god Kai Garcia aka Kaiborg, said he’d
been thinking of paddling The Right for the past three years and
had commanded his shaper Jon Pyzel to make two boards specific for
the task.
On the morning of the attempt he told viewers,
“This year I committed myself to really wanted to do it,
actively tracking swells. I missed two swells while I was chasing
other swells. And, now I have the opportunity tomorrow to do
something that hasn’t been done yet. Bodyboarders have paddled
waves out there and I get inspiration from them. But I don’t think
anyone’s done it on a standup.”
Hard cut to Nathan Florence,
almost in tears.
“Okay, well, you saw guys saw the video. Pretty unsuccessful,”
says Florence. “We’ve had sessions in the past, you know how we do
with the channel, pretty much every session we put up, whether we
barely made the paddle out or never caught a wave. Or, we caught a
bunch of good ones or had the ride of our lives.”
Pause.
“But this one is a little different. I almost felt like I didn’t
want to put the vid out. I put a ton of pressure on myself to catch
a good one. I really wanted to do it. I wanted to paddle a legit
one at The Right and I totally failed. I tried for three hours and
I just couldn’t get it done. The speed of it, the shifting of it,
it was a lot of going on out there.
“I watched so much footage of it and I thought I can do it for
sure and I can do it. It’s just going to take ht right day, right
swell. I’m a huge believer in the more times you put yourself in
front of opportunity to ride one, the higher the chance of actually
doing it. The way of your life, that’s over a lifetime of putting
yourself in a situation to ride a wave when it comes.”
Moving. Profound. Essential.
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Kai Mckenzie loses leg to Great White, makes
movie.
Pro surfer Kai Mckenzie who lost leg to
Great White releases video edited from hospital bed ominously
titled, “Pay to Play”
By Derek Rielly
"I went through a crazy shark attack (biggest shark
I’ve ever seen) which was a very crazy scene and scared the living
f*ck out of me."
Some of us are born to walk through storms and Kai
Mckenzie, the surfer who lost his leg in a Great White attack six
weeks back, has emerged from the haze of surgeries and
shock of losing a stilt in seemingly brilliant form.
The twenty-three-year-old Rage teamrider was surfing a breakwall
in Port Macquarie when the shark hit.
Kai made it shore where an off-duty cop used his dog’s leash as a
tourniquet, saving the kid’s life. His leg washed up a short time
later. All of it captured on
film.
“Breaking his back last year, he never once complained … [he]
always just got on with doing what he loved as soon as possible,”
Rage wrote on Instagram. “He is an inspiring person.”
In a missive posted from his bed in Newcastle’s John Hunter
hospital, Kai wrote;
Man ohh fucking man to be here right now just to fucking be
able to hold my beautiful Eve and my family is everything to me, a
few days ago I went through a crazy shark attack ( biggest shark
I’ve ever seen ) which was a very crazy scene and scared the living
fuck out of me, but to all you fucking kind hearted people, all you
legends, to anyone and everyone all your support has meant the
absolute world to me… I can tell you now if you know my
personality this means fuck all. I’ll be back in that water In no
time ! BIG FUCK OFF TO THAT SHARK and BIG THANKS to Steve for
saving my life.
Kai hasn’t been fucking around in hospital either, releasing a
video “Pay to Play” in which he stars in and edited over the past
few weeks.
“The clip isn’t everything I wanted after what happened but it
is what it is and this is it,” says Kai.
More essential than most.
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Local hot dogger Freddie Meadows the meat
inside a folding Swedish sandwich. Weird Waves
World record breaking surfer reveals
Sweden’s “world-class” waves!
By Derek Rielly
Come for the naked multi-sex saunas, stay for the
epic points!
In episode two of the just re-launched Weird Waves
series, Puerto Rican shredder Dylan Graves reveals the surprising
breadth of surfing’s hold in Sweden and provides proof,
archival admittedly, the joint really does get world-class
waves.
There’s something wildly appealing about Dylan Graves.
He is man filled with generous gestures who never lets the tide
of bitterness rise too high. He strikes spontaneous friendships
wherever he goes, wait for his praise of a local gal’s set wave at
a Swedish point he describes as “world class” that you know she’ll
relive for the rest of her life, and, crucially, he never tires of
hoisting himself into cold and stormy seas.
Every day for Graves, y’see, is a spring carnival and a mood of
gaiety.
Essential even for those with fast-dimming attention.