Come to think of it, you don’t see many wipeouts from Skeleton Bay, huh?
They must happen; not everyone is threading endless tubes, practically dry-haired amidst the Namibian vortex, and dismounting nearly a mile down the beach, thighs throbbing, smile muscles strained, eternal glory attained.
Nah, that’s just what they want you to see; but here’s a peek behind the curtain…
The recent run of swell at Skeleton Bay – which we’ve covered thoroughly; from Slater’s first-ever experience at the Namibian freight-train, to his three boards broken in one session, to the XXL set that steamrolled through the lineup – was one of the bigger ones we’ve ever seen. Especially since the wave’s been practically dormant since 2019.
In the clip, Benji Brand gets bucked off his board after a chandelier section, sending him straight onto his stomach. First bodysurf at Skeleton Bay? Perhaps.
Captioning the clip, Benji wrote:
“Onshore + 10 ft Skeleton Bay swell = plenty of this. Got so pounded, getting caught in rip currents, and dragged out to sea, countless beatdowns and hold downs…what an experience. It was hard to choose a good one with all the chandeliers, but so amazing to be part of all the energy out there.”
And the commenters chimed in, too:
“Hahah holy shit that wave was huge.” – Josh Moniz
“Solid effort” – Mark Healey
“Attention!!!!… BELLY FLOP” – Koa Smith
“Noooooo!! Fak” – Noah Beschen
That’s what we need next: A Skeleton Bay wipeout reel. There’s going to be a lot more footage coming out of Namibia from this recent swell…
Fingers crossed one of ’em is a fail compilation.
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