Peter Mel has carved out quite the name for himself at Maverick’s. He knows the wave at Half Moon Bay just about as well as anyone can know it. He’s been surfing it for years, and he’s been the guy who routinely catches the best waves. One wave in particular sticks out, of course. It was a wave he caught on January 8th, 2023, almost a year prior to the one he you see in the video above, which was shot on December 29th during the recent run of swell.
“Plenty in the surf media hedged their bets, with soft-pedal headlines like, ‘Did Peter Mel just catch the Wave of the Decade at Maverick’s?’ and “Peter Mel Just Raised the Bar…,” etc., etc,” wrote Sam George about the January 8th ride. “But no, the bar wasn’t just raised, it was leaped over by a mile. And yes, there’s no question that this is not only the wave of the decade at Maverick’s, but the best ever ridden at that fearsome break, simply because before this ride was witnessed by the whole surfing world, it was unimaginable.”
So after that ride last year, I imagine that Peter Mel is doing something like chasing the dragon. It’s hard to imagine a wave more exhilarating, but that’s not going to stop Mel from trying to nab one, and he’s been putting in some serious time at Mav’s over the holidays.
“Swell today had some grunt,” Mel wrote. “Black diamond conditions… Riding a @cisurfboards 6’0” tow quad 16 1/2” wide 2 1/8” thick with @futuresfins 3.75 tow fins. Full on rocket ship!”
Drone pilot Daniel Gorostieta was up in the air for The Mavericks Awards when Mel let go of the rope on an absolute monster, and the resulting footage is… well, just hit play and see for yourself.
