On Big Waves, Nature Is Still Master

Because of the recent death of big-wave rider Mark Foo, Rockin’ Fig and I contacted Chuck Burns, one of Orange County’s hard-core chargers, to get some insights into the monster-surf scene.

Burns, a 33-year-old surfboard shaper, had chatted with Foo just weeks before the Hawaiian died surfing Maverick’s Beach, south of San Francisco.

Like most big-wave riders, Burns packs up to hit the water at a moment’s notice. Two weeks before a wave shattered Foo’s board Dec. 23, Burns was surfing with him at Todos Santos Island off Ensenada in 20-foot-plus waves.

“Foo was with Brock Little and Shawn Briley,” Burns said, referring to two well-known Hawaiian surfers. “We were surfing, and the waves weren’t that big. Some of the biggest waves had 25-foot faces, not big for those guys.”

Rockin’ Fig just shakes his head at that.

Here these guys look like little specks on these big waves, and you gotta have respect for Mother Nature. I’m surprised there aren’t more injuries and fatalities. Every surfer has to know their own limitations. But you gotta say this about the Foo man: He died doing what he liked best. It shocked a lot of people in the surfing world.

Little, Briley and Foo had flown from Hawaii just to ride Todos, and the swell was a little too north for Todos or it would have been bigger, Burns said.

“We were paddling back out and just talking to each other. We talked about how the waves were and stuff, and I asked him, ‘How come you guys aren’t at Maverick’s?’ ”

Maverick’s is California’s Waimea Bay. It’s big. It’s cold and it’s hairy. But Foo had never ridden there.

Foo told Burns they were late a day or else they would have gone to Maverick’s, “but next swell we’re going to be there!”

I always remember Foo from the surf magazines as always charging Waimea Bay. About five years ago, we both announced a professional surf contest in Hawaii and actually became good friends. And, because I help compile forecasts at Surfline, we would talk to him because he would call there every week and ask about Tahiti and Todos.

Foo, 36, who co-anchored Hawaii’s popular “H3O” television surfing program and repped surf products, lived to travel the globe for huge waves. He owned land near Waimea, including 15 cabanas he rented to traveling surfers. Nearby was his palatial home. But his main thing was being a big-wave master.

He would surf in 30-foot waves when the guys on the beach would just be shakin.’ He had a spot in the Eddie Aikau Memorial contest. It’s a coveted, by-invitation-only-event at Waimea Bay on Oahu’s North Shore.

We asked Burns about mental preparation before paddling out into anything over 20 feet. In his world, wipeouts are “hits.”

“It’s a mental game,” Burns said. “Sometimes you psyche yourself down . . . never up. And, you block everything out. It’s gotta be pure when you’re taking off.

“If you take a hit, it only lasts about 30 seconds. What you try to do is relax as much as possible. The deal is you’re burning energy, and you gotta relax or you run out of breath.”

You gotta act calm and say, ‘Of course I’m gonna come up.’ If you fight it, you’re gonna just be straining and ruining your chances of coming up because you’re gonna be kept down for quite a while.

Fig wondered if Foo would be alive today had he worn a helmet. It’s something to think about given the contrasts between Maverick’s and Waimea Bay.

At the bay, you can see what’s happening in the water from the shore, and not only do they have lifeguards, but they’re equipped with jet skis and can bring in helicopters for emergency pickups. With Maverick’s, you don’t have the helicopter, you don’t have all that other stuff. Plus Foo was coming from a comfortable 70-degree water temperature in Hawaii to freezing cold water in the low 50s, and he had to wear a wet suit, which restricts your movement.

If nothing else, Burns said, the accident has him thinking.

“I can’t change my style of surfing bigger waves because I love it,” he said. “But I was in Mexico recently and I took a hit and I started to think about it . . . it’s in the back of your mind that’s for sure.”

Fig said there is a mind set, which he calls the thrill of excitement.

It’s like having your stomach up in your throat on those big drop-ins, and you’re telling yourself you gotta make it or else.

Fig, if Burns invited you to surf Todos on a big day, would you go?

Burns has been trying to get me out there, and I’ve been telling him, “Hey! Ten years ago, no problem.’ But now I’ve got kids and a family and I gotta ask, ‘Who’s gonna take care of them?’ ”

As for Foo, Fig offers these last words.

Maybe we can say a little prayer for a man who had great courage and earned a lot of respect. He will be greatly missed.

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Congratulations: Surf photog Les Walker, 28, recently married Cheri Murg, 31, a dentist. Les said he sat in her dental chair, looked up at Cheri, and the rest was history. Cheri’s still trying, however, to get used to Walker’s girlfriend, Sabrina, an eight-foot Colombian boa.

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