Photo: Tim Bonython // YouTube
Tim Bonython has seen a lot of big waves. Virtually any time a record-breaking swell hits anywhere around the world, you’re likely to get a glimpse of it through his lens. That’s why, when he says that the recent waves to hit Pe’ahi were all-time, it means something.
“Now here we go with one of the great swell events in my history of shooting surfing over 49 years,” he explains at the top of his latest video. “This is probably one of the top five swell events I’ve got to document.”
The bold statement comes from the second part of Bonython’s video series entitled “5 Days at Peahi.” From there, he goes on to describe the mad dash to capture the event. “I was over here in Nazare, as I am right now, and I saw this huge storm roaring across the Pacific and we had to go. We knew that Jaws was going to be huge and it truly came to life on these five days. On the final day, the grand finale, the surf was way up. It was hard to tell you exactly how big it was. It was definitely up to the 70-80 foot mark. Was it a world record? I’m not sure. But seriously, this is one of the great ones.”
For a first-hand perspective, Bonython then turns to big-wave aficionado Kipp Caddy. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen any break so consistent,” describes Caddy in a talking-head interview. “There were periods that would go on for like 30 minutes, where it just wouldn’t stop breaking. It’s just wave after wave. For the most part, people riding them as well.”
