Mavericks: ‘A magical type thing’

“He went deeper and further than anyone. … It was just nuts. He ended up doing a bottom turn in the bowl. There is no one surfing that. To pull into the darkest, blackest barrel out there, I’m still blown away from it,” said Dom Padua, 21, Luca Padua’s older brother and a cinematographer who has chronicled the rise of next generation of Half Moon Bay surfers at Mavericks and who was on a Jet Ski in the water Tuesday.

“The way he approached that situation set the pace for the rest of the day — for everybody.”

The winter surf season is only a couple weeks old, but Mother Nature has already provided the big-wave surf community with what will certainly be in the running for swell of the season. The spot started percolating late last week and hit its zenith earlier this week.

All the conditions came together making Tuesday one for the history books. Grant Washburn, a San Francisco resident who, with 30 years of surfing Mavericks, has become kind a curator for the spot, said it was arguably the best paddle day in the history of the world-famous break. Washburn said the angle of the swell, the slight offshore breeze to smooth out the face of the waves, the nearly-70-degree, clear-weather day all conspired to make Tuesday a day to remember for those who managed to find their way off Pillar Point.

“The waves were huge and it was a nice day. It was such a perfect day for catching waves,” Washburn said. “We were surfing on what we call ‘The Outer Realm.’ On a normal day, there’s nothing out there. … Most of the days at Mavericks, it won’t let you do that.”

On a normal day at Mavericks, many are content to grab a wave or two and call it good. Tuesday was an all-day affair for many of the hardcore surfers.

“We’re doing wake-up at 5 in the morning, in the dark, out there at first light,” Dom Padua said. “We did the full day Tuesday — sun up to sun down.”

Big-wave surfing’s top guns

Adding to the day’s magic was who was in the water. It was a who’s who of big-wave surfers who descended on Half Moon Bay. Along with Luca Padua, another Half Moon Bay charger, Hunter Murison, was on the scene. Some of the Santa Cruz guys — the legendary Peter Mel and Zach Wormhoudt — made the trip up the coast. South African charger Grant “Twiggy” Baker, a regular at Mavericks, was in attendance, while a trio of Hawaiian greats — Jamie Mitchell, Ian Walsh and Kai Lenny — made the trans-Pacific trip as well.

“There were a lot of people out there,” Dom Padua said. “Kai Lenny caught one before (Luca’s early morning wave). It was a bomb. That was pretty mental. I was like, ‘This is going to be a crazy day.’”

Washburn said the people in the water added to the day’s perfection.

“It was very much a big family reunion. This is a (big-wave) camaraderie that has stretched around the world,” Washburn said. “We’ve never had that many good guys so comfortable taking that chance (on huge waves).”

Calculating a moving target

While the forecast said it was going to be big, both Dom Padua and Washburn were reluctant to put a number on the size of the waves.

“It’s funny. Everyone wants to put a measure on it. It’s not like you can take a tape measure out and measure,” Washburn said. “What’s hard to convey to people is, it’s not how tall, but how fast and how heavy the wave is and the energy in the ocean.”

Added Dom Padua: “I feel like news articles try to put a number on it so they can put it in a headline. At this point, I’m over putting a number on it. … We were talking about it (Tuesday) night at the dinner table. … Everyone was like, ‘Who got the biggest wave? There is no way to capture that. … It’s an immeasurable (concept).”

Ultimately, both men came up with a number. Dom Padua kept it on the very conservative side.

“If I were to put a number on it, 25-foot, 30-foot waves coming through,” Dom Padua said.

Washburn, who may have more time on the waves at Mavericks than anyone, doubled Dom Padua’s estimates.

“I think that’s too little. … I know from where we were sitting, the 50 footers were the small ones,” said Washburn, who said some waves were hitting the 60-foot mark.

“These waves are the top end of catching these by hand. It’s like a hunter with a Bowie knife trying to take down a buffalo.”

Washburn was betting that Tuesday was going to be huge, however. He said the forecasts and the buoy readings indicated it could be massive. But there was a lot that could still go wrong. The weather conditions at Mavericks itself could blunt the day. Fog, wind and local weather conditions could have been off. The swell itself could have come at a slightly different angle.

But the call was to expect big things Tuesday.

“The forecasting guys are going crazy trying figure this out. … No one can 100% tell (what will happen). … They’re all unique. Every storm is unique. How the swell travels is really complicated,” Washburn said. “People would ask me, ‘What do you think? What do you think?’ I said, ‘ I think 50 footers and maybe bigger.’

“We knew there was a big swell coming. … Yeah, it was big.”

‘This was a magical type of thing’

And when all the conditions are just right, when the waves are cooperating, when the surfers are comfortable and confident enough to let it rip, days like Tuesday happen.

“In the act of them catching the wave and doing their thing … they fire up the guy next to him,” Dom Padua said. “You’re not trying to outperform anyone, you’re trying to outperform your past self.

“The energy in the water Tuesday … you could feel something special was happening. You just knew people were going to do special things.”

Said Washburn: “It was a day that was kind of perfect and huge. … This was a magical type of thing.”

And even when the chaos of the day had finally calmed down and only a handful of surfers remained in the water, they still marveled at what Mavericks is capable of.

“At the end of the day, there were three of us left (in the water) and about 20 of the biggest waves of the day came rolling through,” Washburn said. “We all had an overwhelming feel of awe.”