Nate Florence is one of the best slab surfers on Earth. He loves waves of serious consequence; impossibly heavy and impossibly thick; waves that most would run from. He travels the world searching for waves that suit his tastes, and in the course of that search he’s certainly been tested. But Shipstern Bluff tested him to his limit on a recent trip to Tasmania.
Shippies is one of the scariest waves in the world. It’s full of warping sections and steps, breaking from open ocean depths over a shallow slab of rock. A wipeout there, even on a small day, is a wipeout you’ll remember. When it’s big, it’s almost a sure bet that a surfer will find themselves in the air at some point, whether it’s navigating an impossibly steep drop or making their way over a ledge.
Even a surfer with as much slab experience as Nate, however, isn’t going to make every wave. And in the session documented above, that was the case.
“Pretty much three-for-three out of four wipeouts,” Nate said from the ski after a frustrating morning of getting drilled. “All solid beatdowns. It’s perfect offshore conditions. Just having one of those days. Can’t seem to freaking make a wave. It’s so stepped out right now. Hopefully I can make a few. I don’t wanna keep falling. These beatdowns are severe. I’m running along the bottom. Like, nearly two-wave hold-downs. I don’t wanna keep doing that.”
And as Nate will do, he came back for the the second portion of this session strong… and totally redeemed himself.
