Editor’s Note: This feature is brought to you by our friends at Ho Stevie!
I honestly never imagined I would surf Nazaré … never in a million years. But hey, when the swell dropped from 60 feet down to 20, and the guy with the most hours logged on a Jet Ski at Nazaré offered to tow me, how could I say no? And I’m glad I didn’t. As any surfer knows, all it takes is one good wave to make your session worth it. And despite ending the session with a broken nose, I got my Nazaré wave.
The story starts during the big Nazaré swell at the end of February. I flew out to film my friend Toby Cunningham surf some giant waves in his Ho Stevie! wetsuit. He ended up using a different suit because he wanted to wear two life vests, one under his wetsuit (which is why he needed a bigger suit), and one over his wetsuit. But oh boy did those guys put on a show! Everyone agreed the waves on Friday, February 25 were at least 60 feet, and some of the guys were even saying they saw a few 80-footers.
A mind-blowing angle of the deep wedge-of-a-wave that Nazaré is. Photo: Steve Mara.
The surfers all were strapped into their boards, and with the massive bump on some of these waves, I swear they could have cleared a bus, like a wet Evel Knievel. Apparently they put metal pellets in their tow boards, to add weight to help absorb the chop. A 25-pound shortboard is pretty normal there!
Giving a whole new meaning to the phrase “chop-hop.” Photo: Steve Mara.
People swarmed the cliff, from sunrise until late in the evening on Friday, screaming every time a surfer made (or didn’t make) a wave. It was like an arena with that crowd, though I doubt the surfers could hear the applause all the way out there, with 10 skis buzzing around and massive waves exploding left and right. The Carnival festival was Saturday (which the locals said would be crazy), and with the swell down a few notches, far fewer people showed up Saturday compared to Friday. I guess they like partying more than surfing.
If the waves are big at Nazaré, people will turn out for the spectacle. Photo: Steve Mara.
Toby had said he would tow me into waves if I wanted. I didn’t really believe him, but if he wasn’t going to surf Nazaré in his Ho Stevie! wetsuit, I figured I had to give it a go myself. Sunday was supposed to be much smaller than Friday, but it was really difficult to judge how big it actually would be – we were hoping for 20-foot waves. I started bugging Toby to tow me into some, but when he finally agreed, my excitement turned into nervousness.
Toby Cunningham giving me the ropes. Photo: Steve Mara.
The night before, Toby gave me the three-minute version of how to tow surf Nazaré:
1. Do whatever Toby says.
2. Stand up similar to wakeboarding (we used a board without straps so this turned out to be extremely difficult, holding the board against my feet with one hand while holding the rope with the other).
3. Toby will put me in the right spot, I just need to let go of the rope, and ride the wave.
4. When I kick out of the wave, look at Toby, don’t look at the wave and freak out (this also turned out to be more difficult than it sounded).
5. Throw the board onto the rescue sled underneath me, and hold on for dear life.
And just like that, I was ready to be a big-wave surfer.
An empty lineup at Nazaré. Photo: Steve Mara.
There were maybe three surfers paddling into waves Sunday morning, and one Jet Ski cruising around. I don’t practice breathwork, but the thought I reassured myself with was that if I wiped out on a 20-30 foot wave, I would only need to hold my breath for 10-20 seconds. But the plan was not to fall.
We went to the marina, got on the ski, and cruised to the lighthouse. By this time in the afternoon the other surfers were gone and we had Nazaré all to ourselves. Literally just me and Toby. Unreal! When you are on the cliff at Nazaré, it’s easy to see the sets rolling in. But when you’re sitting in the water, all you see are mountains of water moving in what seems like every direction. I just had to trust that Toby would put me in the right spot.
We did a couple practice runs, where he would pull me up and tow me around a bit. I was surprised how exhausting it was! There was so much chop out there, it was hard enough just to stay up while being towed. After a couple of missed attempts (it’s about 15 times harder than getting up wakeboarding), it finally clicked for me. I told Toby only to tow me into a right, so I didn’t have to deal with surfing backside, and it was time to shine.
I’m surfing Nazaré? Really? Photo: Steve Mara.
When Toby said, “let go!” I dropped the rope, and I was surfing Nazaré! Even after watching the pros a couple days prior, I was not prepared for the bump on the face, and it almost took me down. I made it though, and my adrenaline was firing as I kicked out.
As we all know, when you watch video of yourself surfing, it’s never as big or critical as it feels. I caught maybe a 15-foot wave, and rode a bit too far out on the shoulder. I was ready to catch at least a couple more (hopefully bigger) waves now that I had the feel for it. But after a few failed attempts to stand, I was gassed. Toby wanted to play on the inside whitewash (a.k.a. see how much he could scare me), so we put the board under his leg on the ski, and he told me to stay on the sled and hold on tight.
Seconds away from injury. Photo: Steve Mara.
Kneeling on the sled seemed like the natural thing to do. In hindsight, I should have laid flat on my chest while he whipped me through the overhead whitewash. The first few times went well, even being completely submerged for a split second. Then we caught a bit of air, and I didn’t brace enough for the impact of landing. My face slammed into the sled HARD.
One good wave and a broken nose for my efforts. Worth it? Photo: Steve Mara.
I felt for missing teeth, and surprisingly they were all intact. Just a handful of blood when I felt my nose. Time to go home. A terrible way to end this perfect day, but I got my wave. My one, glorious, exhilarating, baby Nazaré wave. So next time someone offers to tow you into a wave, say “yes.” Just don’t kneel on the sled ;).
