Sunday, May 31, 2009

Are you ready to pay for it?

Poached these off of the 'net. Every fun ticket comes with a price tag and eventually it gets punched. This is Teahupoo, don't kid yourself, you wouldn't even get out of the boat. Me? I'd be scared shitless just sitting in the channel. That's not a wave, it's a predator- and you're the hunted. Whole other league over there. Huge respect to those guys.



Photo: Nuts. Actually, a friend who was just over there told me that local guys are regularly paddle surfing, pulling in and making it at Chopes. He also told me that it's so ridiculously shallow that it's an actual, "life and death" scenario out there which puts a huge damper on the, "let's just paddle out and snag some fun ones" idea.



Photo:
Sometimes you hit the reef. Check this photo, have a look at the expressions. That's NOT the look you want to see on your buddy's face when you ask him if he thinks it might need a couple of stitches. Meanwhile, Poto's as worked up about it as a librarian hopped up on Nyquil...



Photo: ... which is all the more insane once you realize that his back's been laid open like a platter of sashimi (is it me, or did a piece of spam mosubi sneak in there?). Gnarly.



Photo: Pick your jaw up off the keyboard...



Photo: That wave is just wrong.



Photo: This one's for the Seal Beach boys... can you find Tucker?

12 comments:

SDCA.mobi said...

Did that guy forget that blood in the water attracts, oh I don't know, sharks? Go home and get patched up, brah.

Jeff Bach said...

Amazing. That wave does not look fun. It looks crushing. In comparison, CA waves look all happy and noisy and frilly, this thing looks silent, heavy and deadly.....

What a wave though-

Anonymous said...

Yeah, just had a friend get back and say it is beyond gnarly with Manoa out on his SUP almost every day. Said he was regulating the line up, calling in who he wants to go on each wave. Then he would take off on a huge set, 75 yards back from the take off spot and get spit out into the channel like nothing. He said the first section is scary gnarly and the west bowl will finish you off if you are not careful. Great site!

Sunset Cliff

John Ashley said...

Hey Mr. Cliff:

I think we may have the same friend!

That's a rad story- love to hear the details of how it goes down out there... and I can just see the local heavy keeping things sane out there.

How gnarly would it be if he pointed at you and said go? No backing down in that case- if he says go you do it- or never get another chance again.

Rad- don't care what anyone thinks, it's just another world over there. Scary but I'd love to just check it out sometime.

Thanks for the kind words and the killer report!

John Ashley said...

Hey Jeff-

Love that description, "silent" would be exactly it. Especially if you paddled for one, missed it and turned around to see it all winding up on you for the ultimate Mike Tyson sucker punch.

I can imagine the only thing you'd hear would be the pounding of your heart...

John Ashley said...

Hey SDCA-

How gnarly is that second gash under his shoulder...!?

Yikes!

Sheldon Abril said...

hitting the reef was probably Poto's 2nd most painful moment that day. the first?


the lime cleaning!

John Ashley said...

Hey Sheldon- ever had to do the lime cleaning on yourself? Not something I'd look forward to but it must be done right?

Sheldon Abril said...

yeah, if you cut yourself on "live" coral, you'll want to clean it with lime. the citrus acid helps kill off the bacteria and coral in the cut. I've done it before, but it wasn't even close to the reef bites Poto got... OUCH!

Sheldon Abril said...

Teahupo'o SUP madness (from Tim Mckenna):
http://www.timmckennaphoto.com/us/features/tag-5-teahupoo.htmlhttp://www.timmckennaphoto.com/us/features/tag-15-teahupoo.htmlhttp://www.timmckennaphoto.com/us/features/tag-16-teahupoo.html

Jim Brewer said...

Thanks for the post John! Im taking off on a SUP surf trip down to South America tomorrow and that guys back is making me nervous!! I think I will now upgrade my first aid kit with some morphine injections.. OUT.

Brewer

John Ashley said...

Hey Jim-

Stoked for you- heard there's a super fun right hander out there on one of those islands... and it's shallow volcanic rock.

Morphine and couple yards of artificial skin might do it... can't wait for "road updates".