I’ve been surfing Backdoor/Pipeline/Off The Wall since 1988. Had hundreds of sessions with thousands waves. Lots of barrels, lots of wipeouts, and lots of broken boards. After surfing it on a few big days this year, I realized how dangerous it actually is. Surfers out there get hurt everyday, surfers out there break boards everyday, and surfers out there die once in a while. Last week, I had 2 of the biggest wipeouts in my life. I couldn’t navigate the steep drop, fell on the bottom of the wave, and got smashed to the reef. It was an awakening because while I’m pinned to the reef, I think about what am I doing here. I’m surfing with guys like John John Florence, Barron Mamiya, Joshua Moniz, Zeke Lau, and many of the top surfers in the world. All those guys weren’t even born back in 1988. So what did I learn? I learned that I’m actually an Uncle because I was the oldest guy by far. I learned that getting barreled there is the greatest feeling in the world. And I learned that even though my mind says “GO!” my body is probably saying “NO!” Haha.
