Imagine, for a second, that you are a tourist on the North Shore. You’ve come for a surf trip to the mecca of surfing, and the forecast is decent. Pipeline might be working. But you, as a tourist, are nervous to wade into that pit. Oh, you’ve been thinking about it for a long time — mindsurfing from the beach, putting yourself in the barrels you see in videos. You paddle out into one of the most competitive lineups on earth, your heart in your throat, every sense on overdrive. This is your day. Your glory is in one of those unbroken waves darkening the horizon. You are a Pipeline Warrior with a steely gaze and a gut full of warrior’s courage. And then you see Jamie O’Brien in a blue camo suit, doubling on a kid’s toy that’s meant to be used behind a boat. “If he’s out here on THAT,” you think to yourself, “perhaps I’m not as courageous as I thought. Perhaps I too should be treating Pipeline like it’s my local beach break on a small day, and perhaps I should be comfortable enough out here to act like a small child at the beach.”
But you shouldn’t. Only Jamie O’Brien should do that. If you took a raft out to Pipeline, you would likely be run off the beach.
