Around The World In 80 Waves

Mavericks is one of the world’s legendary surf breaks. It breaks off Pillar Point which is a military listening station about 20 miles south of San Francisco.

It is extremely dangerous and will claim the life of anyone who attempts it without the necessary skill level (as Gerard Butler found out recently whilst filming ‘Chasing Mavericks’ which nearly drowned him). It never maxes out, will only break when the waves are 15 feet and upwards and has claimed the lives of more than one legendary surfer because the weight of the water in the waves never lets the surfer back up to the surface for long enouh to fill their lungs with air.

If that isnt bad enough the wave breaks directly in front of these rocks which are the size of houses and are known as the Boneyard. You have to paddle around them to get to the break which takes approximately 40 minutes each way.

The final icing on this particular cake is that it is regularly patrolled by great white sharks looking for lunch and there have been at least two confirmed attacks in recent years (thankfully both were not fatal.)

The wave was first pioneered by Jeff Clark back in the seventies who now runs the local surf shop. He used to paddle out on his own and hang around out there for hours. That he managed that unscathed is testament to both his skill and you also have to say his luck!

It is only just breaking when I get there and I understand that later in the day a few people are surfing 20 foot faces, however I am sure I took the correct decision when I decided to pass on this particular wave. I will push my own luck only so far!