Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably well aware of the ginormous swell that hit California’s coastline last week, wreaking havoc all over the place.
At Mavericks, a jet ski went rogue and huge sneaker wave wiped out a bunch of people watching the surf. Farther south, a solo dog avoided getting swept out to sea and a massive wave moved a truck and sent eight people to the hospital.
Surf cinematographer Tim Bonython, who loves to capture the world’s biggest and most monstrous waves, was there to shoot. He called the experience, “One of the craziest swell chases I’ve ever been on.”
Bonython shared the edit above and captioned it:
“One of the greatest swell events at one of the great big wave spots Mavericks in California. Hosted by legend Jeff Clark this film shows more than what happens in the line up.
“Just getting out there was a lot more just the 50 foot waves that pounded the zone. Chasing big surf takes a lot of planning and on this day the planning wasn’t enough.
“See the worlds best tackle what was one of the great historic days in big wave surfing. Enjoy.”
While Bonython’s surf videos are usually straight surfing with little dialogue, this one’s a little different.
He explained:
“In this video it’s not all about the surfing. A lot of it’s to do about the logistics in getting there. What happened on the way we got out there in the morning, it blew my mind, got me pretty scared actually. Our boat almost sunk three times, it was just mental.”
Press play above for a different perspective on a day at Mavericks.
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