Koa Rothman holding the flayed remains of his surfboard. Photo: Koa Rothman//YouTube
Deadmans is a wave that doesn’t break often, but when it does… holy hell. The last time we saw a significant swell hit the break was in early May, but recently rumblings began of a new force that could awaken the sleeping giant. When freesurfer and YouTuber Koa Rothman heard those rumblings, he immediately dropped what he was doing and booked a flight out to Sydney.
“I’m excited. I’m really excited… and nervous,” said Rothman on the drive over. “It’s a pretty nuts looking wave, but we’ll get something for sure.” When the crew finally arrived at the cliff for a look-see, the rumors turned out to be more than true. It was big. It was heavy. It was Deadmans.
Soon after, Rothman’s excitement and fear were equally justified, as he proceeded to paddle out and have his board literally shredded to pieces. “Dude, that wave got so ugly,” he explained, standing over the flayed remnants of his stick. “I was just like, ‘Oh god, get out of this.’ Then I went over the falls. I tried to jump out the back and got sucked straight over.”
Undeterred, he saddled up with a new board for another tilt at the windmill. As Koa summarized, “I didn’t come all the way here to not get barreled.” See how the rest of it went in the video below.
