Nathan Florence gets a vision while on a strike mission with Lucas “Chumbo” Chianca. Photo: Nathan Florence//YouTube
Lucas “Chumbo” Chianca is the kind of surfer you want to go on a strike mission with. He’s friendly, funny, welcoming… and an absolutely insane surfer and ski driver. Recently, Nathan Florence got the full Chumbo experience while on a strike mission to some Brazilian slabs.
The trip occurred on Nathan Florence’s most recent Brazilian tour. The journey last stopped off at The Shock, an unpredictable and unforgiving slab near Rio de Janeiro. However, as Nathan explained from the deck of a picturesque-looking rental house, an invitation from Chianca and a few other Brazilian slab aficionados prompted Florence and entourage to pick up and head out for another, unnamed part of the country.
What they found was a far cry from the roiling terror of The Shock. This expedition was characterized by step-offs into yellow-green, head-high waves, rather than stomach churning drops. In between the action, there was a lot more dancing on Jet Skis than frantic searching for fallen surfers amid multi-wave hold downs.
While it may have not have turned into the heart-pounding slab hunt that Florence seemed to expect at the outset, the expedition had a key ingredient that is often missing from the relentlessly serious big-wave offerings: fun.
