Biggest? Best? Longs were along for ride
The name alone is ominous: Dungeons.
It’s a surf spot near bustling Cape Town, South Africa, but nearer still to a notorious great white shark haunt. On a really big day, though, Dungeons is far more frightening than the sharks.
And on a monstrous day, when towering peaks cascade with a thundering roar, only the hardiest of surfers challenge them.
It was that kind of day last July 30, when San Clemente’s Greg Long conquered one of the largest peaks ever to rise over Dungeons’ rocky reef.
It might also have been the largest wave ridden by any surfer in any part of the world during the last year.
“It was one of the biggest and heaviest swells I’ve ever surfed in my entire life,” recalled Long, 23, a former national amateur champion who gave up a promising career as a touring pro to chase big waves.
He’s among five nominees in the biggest-wave category of the yearlong Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards, which will be announced next Friday at the Grove Theater in Anaheim.
It’ll be a family affair, as Greg’s older brother Rusty is among nominees in the new ride-of-the-year category, which replaces biggest wave as the premier category and is worth $50,000 to the winner.
Conspicuously absent from XXL ballots are the names of renowned veterans who waited for gargantuan swells that never materialized at traditional spots such as Maverick’s near Half Moon Bay, Todos Santos Island off Ensenada, Cortes Bank beyond Orange County and Hawaii’s outer reefs.
The Long brothers, on the other hand, were too young, adventurous and eager to wait for the Northern Hemisphere winter.
Greg Long’s trip to Cape Town, with jet ski tow-surfing partner Grant “Twiggy” Baker, coincided with the Red Bull Big-Wave Africa contest, which was won by Durban’s John Whittle. Long won in 2003.
After the contest, the swell steadily increased and on the wintry July 30 afternoon, Baker whipped Long onto the shoulder of a wave some estimated to peak at 70 feet.
“When I was dropping in, it didn’t seem like anything too out of the ordinary,” Long said. “But then it started gradually drawing more water off the reef and it almost felt like I was going backward -- there was so much energy being pulled back up the face.”
He’s up against Andrew Marr for a different wave ridden at Dungeons on the same day; Alfy Carter and Damon Eastaugh for July 5 rides at Western Australia’s Outer Bombora; and Alistair Craft for a Dec. 11 ride at Ghost Tree near Pebble Beach.
Rusty Long’s nomination for ride of the year is for his stunning emergence, after a late and absurdly steep takeoff, from deep within the barrel of a 12-foot wave June 2 at Puerto Escondido off mainland Mexico.
Marr is also entered in this video-supported category. There are two entries from Teahupoo, Tahiti, which feature much heavier waves, and another from Puerto Escondido.
While Rusty Long, 25, appears to be the longshot based on video evidence -- entries can be viewed at www.billabongxxl.com -- he is actually a front-runner because he paddled into his wave, whereas the other nominees were towed onto theirs via jet ski.
“Degree of difficulty? Off the charts. We’re hoping this one takes it,” reads a posting in support of Long by Surfing magazine on its website.
The magazine also favors Greg Long, referring to the surreal-looking Dungeons wave as “a cartoon.”
Now that’s a big shark
John Patterson of Costa Mesa was the primary angler during a three-hour stand-up landing of a 952-pound thresher shark last Friday aboard the Marlin Magic II off Hawaii’s Kona Coast.
It was the heaviest thresher ever weighed, but because a crewman handled the rod at the outset, it cannot qualify for record consideration. The all-tackle world record is 829 pounds.
Rookie rings bell
It would be premature to crown Stephanie Gilmore world champion, but it will surprise nobody if the Australian surfer wins the title in her inaugural World Tour season.
Gilmore, 19, thrilled the home crowd during a dominating performance against former world champion Sofia Mulanovich to win the Rip Curl Women’s Pro at Bells Beach.
Having won her first elite-level contest at 17 and having finished high in the field in many others while competing as a wild-card entry, she moves into a ratings tie with Chelsea Hedges after two World Tour events.
Not quite Nessie
Santa Ana River Lakes and Corona Lake were recently stocked with sturgeon weighing up to 150 pounds.
Three have been caught and released so far at SARL, the largest an estimated 100-pounder, and anglers at both fisheries have been spooled by the prehistoric-looking behemoths.
The mere sight of one rolling on the surface is something to behold, said concessionaire Doug Elliott, adding, “One guy said they look like the Loch Ness monster.”
Trip planner: Monterey
Whale watchers should be warned before stepping aboard vessels from this port as, for the next few weeks, transient killer whales lie in ambush of gray whale cow-calf pairs crossing Monterey’s vast submarine canyon.
The spectacle is violent and disturbing, but many find it interesting to see how the orcas work to separate baby from mom. It’s often the last straw for queasy passengers.
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