Surfer Tracks Big Swell Across Pacific

On the phone, Sean Collins was his usual persuasive self.

“Mike, if you just stick around there in Tahiti, there’s gonna be a big swell that’s due to hit. Then you can follow the swell into Hawaii, California and even Alaska. C’mon Mike. . . .”

Cajoled by Collins, a wave forecaster with Surfline/Wavetrak in Huntington Beach, champion bodyboarder Mike Stewart began an unprecedented eight-day, 7,000-mile ocean adventure of sleep depravation and exhaustion, icy water, a close encounter with a shark and an endless banquet of Power bars.

It was also the ultimate surf fantasy, taking Stewart, 33, from Tahiti, where he was filming a surf video, to Hawaii, where he lives, then to Newport Beach, where 25-foot waves slammed into the legendary Wedge, on to Central California and, finally, to Alaska.

Stewart did what until then had been the impossible dream for surfers: He latched onto a big swell and followed it halfway around the world, challenging it and respecting its fearsome authority the whole way, almost a surfer’s version of the “Old Man and the Sea.”

“Nobody has ever done this before,” Collins said. “He was going without sleep for two or three days and started to get forgetful. . . . But for surfers, he hit a grand slam.”

It’s a dangerous pursuit. Last year, fellow Hawaiian Mark Foo drowned while tackling a mini-version of what Stewart did. Foo had taken on giant waves off Waimea Bay, then grabbed a plane to the West Coast to surf Maverick’s near Half Moon Bay, where he was killed.

But from July 20 to 28, Stewart went all the way, first riding his Morey Boogie board powered by Viper fins atop a crashing 25-foot-tall mountain of water in Tahiti, then hurriedly packing and hopping on planes headed for the next beach, the next wave in his quest to be the first person to accomplish the feat.

“This is a first for anybody,” said Fred Simpson, 58, of Costa Mesa, a prominent bodysurfer who has ridden the Wedge since 1960. “There are not too many people who can go to that many spots. This is [Stewart’s] profession, this is what he does. And he is capable of riding huge waves. In fact, he was on a recent cover of a magazine and that wave was about 50 to 60 feet.”

Besides the athletic challenge, Stewart was mindful of his venture’s financial potential: he had the trip videotaped for later distribution and sale.

Some surfers travel the globe searching for the perfect wave. Others leave work at the first sign of a good swell and tasty waves.

For Stewart, doing the nearly impossible is just part of the job. “My priority,” Stewart said in an interview after his return, “is to be where the surf is.”

To the eight-time world bodyboarding champion, riding waves the size of three-story buildings is second nature. But this marathon was different. It wasn’t only about mastering waves. It was about endurance and will.

It began in Tahiti, where 45-foot waves were generated by a storm 2,000 miles southeast of the island. Stewart was scheduled to leave the island July 14, six days before the waves were due to hit. He called Collins to plan his next move. That’s when Collins persuaded him to stay and ride the high waves there and follow the swell to Alaska.

“Before we knew it, all hell broke loose” in Tahiti, Stewart said. “There were waves washing over the roads, damaging hotels and houses. We were staying in a little bungalow no more than 20 feet from the ocean. We rushed back to make sure our gear was OK and saw waves washing under the bungalow.”

At the time, Stewart was with Derek Hoffman, a cinematographer from Hawaii. The two were filming a video on Stewart. That effort quickly shifted as Stewart undertook the unexpected challenge.

“The waves I rode were about 10 to 12 feet Tahitian scale, and they measure from the back, so it’s double that on the face, about 20 to 25 feet,” he said.

The excitement, Stewart said, was “indescribable. It’s a total thrill to be around so much energy. The roar, the noise; you have a lot of adrenaline paddling out because there’s a lot of consequence to your actions.”

The storm that started the waves in motion had dissipated, so there was no problem catching plane flights for the next destination. The trick was to keep moving and reach the next beach just before the swells arrived.

After conquering the waves in Tahiti, he raced on to Honolulu, arriving late July 21, ahead of the big swell. On Tuesday, he decided to go to Maalaea Boat Harbor on Maui’s south shore. He hopped aboard a plane for Maui and that afternoon surfed Maalaea, perfect barrels at 16-feet plus.

“To me, it’s kind of a legendary spot,” Stewart said. “Ever since I was growing up in Hawaii, I wanted to surf it and it was perfect. The locals were calling it the best in 20 years.”

Stewart was so excited he stayed in the water seven hours, stopping only to munch two Power bars. The bars became a staple throughout his trip.

At Maalaea, Stewart and others in the water glimpsed the dreaded profile of a large shark cruising nearby. Usually, surfers aren’t friendly, but the sighting made them huddle for safety. “We all got in a tight cluster,” he said.

Pushing on--always staying one jump ahead of the next gigantic wave--Stewart left Maui that evening, headed to the North Shore of Oahu, where he picked up extra clothes and jumped on a red-eye flight to Los Angeles International Airport. When he arrived, he headed straight for the Wedge in Newport Beach. It was Big Wednesday, July 24, a day that produced the biggest surf on the West Coast in 20 years.

“It was pretty big, [and breaking] about eight poles out,” Stewart said, referring to power poles planted on the Newport jetty. Normally, waves there break from one to three poles out.

Newport Beach Lifeguard Lt. Jim Turner recalled the day as “spectacular,” especially at the Wedge, where the waves doubled up past the jetty and produced 25-foot breakers.

John Patterson, 37, of Trabuco Canyon, who accompanied Stewart to Alaska, said it’s tough for many to understand why Stewart would take on such a challenge.

“To Mike, the outrageous is an everyday occurrence,” Patterson said. “It’s just like race drivers.”

Stewart surfed the Wedge in the afternoon with Patterson and that night helped a friend pack a boat. On Thursday, they left by boat from Newport Harbor about 3 a.m. and headed for a secret spot north of Santa Barbara for the next big wave.

Again, he scored big breakers in the 10- to 15-foot range but was mum about where he surfed because it’s his secret spot and he wants to keep it uncrowded.

Late Saturday, Stewart, with Patterson and Brad Anderson, a new cinematographer to replace Hoffman, who had returned to Hawaii, arrived in Alaska, chartered an air taxi and landed off Yakutat Bay, a south-facing beach about 300 miles southeast of Anchorage.

While flying over Alaska, where ocean temperatures dipped into the upper 40s, Stewart saw a nice wave peeling off next to a glacier. He ordered the pilot of the small airplane to land on a sandy beach with plenty of bear tracks.

“The pilot just dropped us off,” Stewart said, “and left us for four hours. No food. No water. If he didn’t come back, we would have been up the creek. We were kind of foolish about that, but we had already made up our minds. We were going for it, you know? We were on it.”

As for the swell, it was still pumping, though smaller, at about 8 to 9 feet on the face, he said. Stewart and Patterson were the only two people in the water and were protected from the icy cold by thick wetsuits, gloves and hoods . . . and of course, Power bars. Eating helped maintain body temperature.

When the pilot returned, the exhausted surfers crawled into the plane and headed back to Anchorage. They spent one more day surfing off Yakutat and returned to Los Angeles on Monday evening.

“It’s one thing to be in Hawaii in really big surf and feel the power,” Stewart said. “It’s another thing to feel the power throughout the Pacific.”

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Surfer’s Diary

Lured by the promise of up to 45-foot waves and a challenge to do what no other surfer had done, professional bodyboarder Mike Stewart chased swells from Tahiti to Yakutat, Alaska. He returned to his mother’s Anaheim Hills home on July 29. Notes on his journey:

July 20: Tahiti

After paddling a mile offshore, Mike gets his first taste of the 25-foot waves.

July 23: Hawaii

Surfs Maalaea Boat Harbor at about 16 feet; surfers forced to cluster due to shark sighting.

July 24: Newport Beach

Jumps off red eye at LAX and heads to the Wedge; by midday, waves peaking at 25 feet plus.

July 25: Central California

Stewart and friend motor to Central California coast in a boat to secret surf spot; great waves scored but Stewart mum on details.

July 27: Alaska

Exhaustion setting in; Stewart packs long pants and leather shoes but forgets to put them on. Forgets towel. In Anchorage, gets off plane wearing shorts, sandals and a T-shirt. Luckily, someone else packed his wetsuits; ocean temperatures at Yakutat in upper 40s.