Jamie O’Brien is a name that is indelibly linked with Pipeline. By dedicating his life to mastering the famously treacherous wave, he’s carved out a well-earned spot in its notoriously competitive lineup. However, that doesn’t mean it’s all he surfs. The latest video from the freesurfer and YouTuber starts off with him saddling up to take on a few more unexpected waves.
“We’re going to go surf. Not Pipe, not Backdoor, not Waimea, not Keiki’s,” he explained to the camera before heading over to the first stop of the day. “We’re gonna go surf Log Cabins. There’s a good little sandbar over there, so I heard.” It was a tip that turned out to be right on the money, as he arrived to find that North Shore legend John John Florence had already beat him to the punch – and been sent packing by a gnarly closeout. That didn’t stop O’Brien from paddling out and scoring, though.
However, the main event was yet to come. Soon after, O’Brien got the call that the Waimea River was primed to break. As he sped over, he explained that recent heavy rains had led to a spectacular volume of water coming out of the valley. Conditions were primed to be all-time, but they had to act quickly.
“The amount of water that’s coming down is psycho,” he proclaimed. “This is like the Eddie Aikau edition of the river. The Eddie went and it was huge, the river’s gonna go and this is huge. Best case scenario, supersonic moments about to happen.”
It was a massive amount of hype to live up to, and yet it did. O’Brien, along with Koa Smith, Italo Ferreira, and a crew of locals, set about digging a channel for the wave – which finally breached after the sun set. The rest was history. Check it out below.
