The Black Friday Swell that Hawaii and the West Coast just experienced caught pretty much everybody off guard. It wasn’t forecasted to be as big as it was. But it came, and it was clean, and it was a blessing that no one complained about. At least no surfer we know complained about it. One photographer was there to cover the swell as it pounded the Hawaiian Islands and then moved on to the California Coast. Photographer Jack Bober happened to be in two places at the right time.
“I was in Hawaii for Thanksgiving visiting family, and ended up just getting really lucky on the Waimea swell,” Bober told The Inertia. “I didn’t expect much out of the week, waves wise, but the North Shore during the winter, you never know. I ended up shooting all day and just absolutely scored.
“Then I came back home on Saturday night and the next morning went to my local break, Ocean Beach, San Francisco, and it was probably one of the best days I have ever shot. Solid 10-15 feet and perfect winds. It doesn’t get much better than that. The swim was pretty tough as it was really powerful and hard to stay in position. I swam for about two hours before getting caught inside by what felt like 10 solid 8-10 footers that sent me in.”
Fair enough. The swell was big. Some in Hawaii were comparing it to last winter’s Eddie Swell. Sometimes, the ocean just gives us what we need when we least expect it.
