When third reef is showing, you’re in for a ride. Photo: YouTube//Screenshot
When the North Shore gets really big, third reef Pipe kicks in. The North Shore — and Hawaii in general, really — can be a scary place to surf because of how fast conditions can change. One minute you’re paddling around catching fun little waves, and the next you’re scratching desperately for the horizon while waves bigger than you’ve ever seen detonate on your head.
It’s fun, sometimes. Koa Rothman is used to those changes, and he looks forward to them. Especially when Jamie O’Brien and the Florence brothers have decided to surf elsewhere.
“They account for basically the entire crowd,” Rothman said. “…It’s a win-win-win situation here for me if the waves get good.”
Before Rothman paddled out, conditions at Pipe were a bit mixed up, to say the least. That’s why some of the regulars chose to surf Sunset or Haleiwa, but Rothman kept an eye on the cams and pulled the trigger as soon as it looked as though things were cleaning up.
“Hopefully it turns on,” he continued, “because if it does it could be the session of my life.”
