Surfing is one, if not the most popular new sport in the Philippines today. It is always featured in sports oriented shows where the hosts usually undergo a day or two of surfing lesson. But do you know where you can find one of the biggest swells in the world?
I happened to read an article in Reader's Digest yesterday where they featured a spot in the Gulf of Alaska where two low-pressure systems collide, creating a mammoth storm. Sustained winds blow southward over hundreds of kilometers of open sea, fetching up huge swells. It takes a massive disturbance to create a monster wave. 3000 kilometers south from the gulf at Pillar Point, California lies a shallow undersea rock shelf. It is a famous break called “Maverick's”, it is popular to surfers for kicking up some of the biggest waves in the world and the swells are headed directly for it. Maverick's is said to be the Everest of surfing.
It is a surfing fantasy to ride a wave over 30 meters. But to catch waves over 12 meters, surfers need someone to tow them, they just could not paddle fast enough to catch waves that huge. They need experts on a fast watercraft to help them. One of the popular experts is Shawn Alladio, a 40-year-old blond who have been training surfers, coast guard rescue workers, and even the US Navy. She gives watercraft operation and safety lessons.
Alladio and one of her student Jonathan Cahill experienced one of the biggest breakers ever seen. They were patrolling the maverick's on a Wednesday, stormy morning. On board their respective jet skis, suddenly white water was feathering of the top. It was a wave, 30 meters high, coming straight at them at the speed of a train. She thought for a heartbeat that they could outrun it. Then she realized she they couldn't. They were still lucky enough to survive a killer wave as big as that. With her experience and skills she was able to save her own life as well as her students'. But despite what happened she still went back out there unafraid of the fury of the ocean, willing to face the angry sea and test the power of the ocean once more.
I happened to read an article in Reader's Digest yesterday where they featured a spot in the Gulf of Alaska where two low-pressure systems collide, creating a mammoth storm. Sustained winds blow southward over hundreds of kilometers of open sea, fetching up huge swells. It takes a massive disturbance to create a monster wave. 3000 kilometers south from the gulf at Pillar Point, California lies a shallow undersea rock shelf. It is a famous break called “Maverick's”, it is popular to surfers for kicking up some of the biggest waves in the world and the swells are headed directly for it. Maverick's is said to be the Everest of surfing.
It is a surfing fantasy to ride a wave over 30 meters. But to catch waves over 12 meters, surfers need someone to tow them, they just could not paddle fast enough to catch waves that huge. They need experts on a fast watercraft to help them. One of the popular experts is Shawn Alladio, a 40-year-old blond who have been training surfers, coast guard rescue workers, and even the US Navy. She gives watercraft operation and safety lessons.
Alladio and one of her student Jonathan Cahill experienced one of the biggest breakers ever seen. They were patrolling the maverick's on a Wednesday, stormy morning. On board their respective jet skis, suddenly white water was feathering of the top. It was a wave, 30 meters high, coming straight at them at the speed of a train. She thought for a heartbeat that they could outrun it. Then she realized she they couldn't. They were still lucky enough to survive a killer wave as big as that. With her experience and skills she was able to save her own life as well as her students'. But despite what happened she still went back out there unafraid of the fury of the ocean, willing to face the angry sea and test the power of the ocean once more.
September 18, 2008 at 12:48 PM
How funny I find your post! Yesterday a friend wrote to me and just had found the Readers Digest story, that was written in 2002. I was laughing because I said either the copy was in the restroom or in a dentist's office. Jonathan (JC) and I are still chugging along working side by side.
Shawn Alladio