It was absolutely pouring on the North Shore. Naturally, the first response from the locals was to find a way to transform that into an opportunity for surfing. As Jamie O’Brien documents in his latest vlog, a dedicated crew immediately set about creating a standing wave in the Waimea River, amidst flash flooding on the island.
“This is going to be so gnarly,” says O’Brien during a break in the digging. “We’re just sitting here and there’s a full flash flood going down in the valley. There’s literally millions of [gallons] of water that’s going to come out of this, and it’s going to be all fresh water straight into the ocean.”
Though surfers creating standing waves at other beaches have gotten flak for their effect on the environment, Jamie preempts this criticism by pointing out that they’re just hastening the inevitable. “There’s no stopping this,” he continues. “This would have happened if we’d dug it or not. I’m psyching out of my mind. This is going to be a crazy day.”
Moments later, freshwater starts to pour through the channel, so the Pipe pro and novelty wave aficionado immediately grabbed a board and got to work. He was joined by fellow freesurfer Koa Smith to tame a brown maelstrom that even O’Brien admitted was going to be a challenge to ride.
“That was a crazy flash flood,” said O’Brien afterwards. “I haven’t been a part of something like that in a long time.” In fact, there was so much rainwater that it actually was a little too intense for an ideal standing wave. Though it was less than perfect for surfing, it was certainly a sight to behold.
Afterwards, the vlog took a hard pivot to more laid-back fare. The video shifted over to Turtle Bay to document one of JOB’s surf school sessions. From getting blasted out of a brown river mouth, to tandem riding one-foot peelers, the whole video is emblematic of the wide variety of experiences to be had on the North Shore.
