Photo: Jamie O’Brien // YouTube
It’s easy to fall into a routine with surfing. Whether by design or habit, one finds themselves doing the same things over and over again – same board, same wave, same session, day in and out. Sometimes that’s a good thing, allowing us to hone in skills and dial in setups, while other times it can become a crutch. Worse, sometimes it can make something that was once a source of excitement become stale.
In the latest video from Jamie O’Brien, the freesurfer and YouTuber revealed that he’s just as prone to falling into those habits as the rest of us. However, as he explained while lounging in the bed of a pickup truck, on the way to a North Shore wave, he’s working to change that.
“This is the second time I’ve surfed Sunset in a long time,” said O’Brien. “I’m trying not just to surf Pipeline. It’s usually Pipeline 24/7 for me, and I’m trying to branch out and find new waves on the North Shore. This place is littered with epic waves everywhere. It ain’t called the Seven Mile Miracle for nothing.”
It turns out seeking out variety really paid off, as the result was an all-time session with John John Florence and… pretty much nobody else, at least at first. “When we first got out there, there was probably ten guys out. It was definitely worth going out,” Jamie explained afterwards. “Then everybody on the whole North Shore showed up. It got packed, but, all in all… epic session.”
