Nate Florence is the only pro surfer that travels the world solo.
Well, not completely. His wife Mahina doubles as his land filmer, but that means Florence is often left alone in the lineup at waves he’s never surfed before. The reality of Florence’s life and travels is the most endearing thing about his channel. It’s like “The Truman Show”, except Florence is a willing participant in broadcasting his life (nearly) live.
“You guys know the rules,” says Florence in the beginning of the clip above, while preparing to paddle out alone at a wave he’s never surfed before. “Another solo sesh about to go down. Drove up the coast looking around, it’s a beautiful day — sunny, which is rare — but it’s hard offshore and pumping waves. This little slab left is going off. There’s no one around, it’s just me and Mahina [Florence’s wife] here.”
Would you paddle out?
It’s easy to answer yes from behind a screen, but faced with the reality of the decision during a day like this one, 99% of surfers would likely pass. Cold, shallow, far from help…it takes a lot of guts (and supreme confidence) to tackle a heavy wave with like this with nobody around.
Florence, of course, paddles out and straight into an epic pit on his very first wave, kicking out just before the reef shelf goes dry.
Of course he would.
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