Watch: Big Wave Hero Peter Mel Scores Minute-Long Ride At Maverick's
When it comes to surfing Maverick's in Half Moon Bay, Peter Mel is the undisputed GOAT. From his formative years as a young Santa Cruz frother, screaming up Highway 1 in the 1990s to break new ground at the place, to ascending to the tribal elder he is today, he continues to find a way to put himself on the biggest, most jaw-dropping waves of any given swell.
And while Mel has ridden some of the most fearsome waves ever out at Maverick's, it's his nuanced understanding of the big-wave break, its bathymetry and how it changes on different swell angles and periods that provides him with the foundation for success. Case in point, on March 11, Mel was towed into a sizable set wave at Maverick's and managed to ride it for over a minute, eventually straightening out somewhere halfway to Santa Cruz.
Most big waves in the world involve a steep, challenging drop before eventually either closing out or moving into deep water. Not the case at Maverick's. It has multiple bowl sections, and on the right swell, can offer a long, open wall.
Case in point, Mel takes on Maverick's on this ride as if it was a supersized day at pointbreak. Because he's on a shorter, more maneuverable tow board, he's able to wrap turns and link sections together. Mel properly rips the wave all the way to the inside until there's nothing left. It would be fascinating to see the statistics on the wave, on the conservative side, he has to have covered at least 500 yards.
