Will Skudin teams up with a small crew at Pe’ahi (Jaws). With winds and waves looking more on the sketchy side, it was questionable if the day would even be rideable. We caught up with Will after his session for a couple questions.
NYSEA – Who was the team this time around ?
Will – “My girlfriend Jen and friend/photographer Ricky Estevez came with me. We met up with Garret McNamara, Niccolo Porcella, Jokke Sommer and Andrew Cotten, who were all there with the Go Big Project working on a new show called Liftoff. It’s going to be a sick show: a wingsuit guy and a big wave surfer help each other switch rolls after 6 months training together. I was stoked to get to meet the whole production team and the athletes.”
NYSEA – That’s sick, tell us about the session, heard you got some beatings ?
Will – “Hahahaha, yea. When you take the boat from the harbor, you are pretty committed. It’s not like checking it from your car, where you can just wait on the conditions. We were out there no matter what. I paddled out first, before the sea sickness could fully sink in, haha. I got a wave right out of the gate and felt really good. The rest of the crew paddled out and that’s when a huge set came and cleaned us up. It was a heavy pounding that snapped my leash, and my favorite board got annihilated on the rocks. Garret dropped me off in the shore break so I swam in and found my board and then had to hike back to the other side of the bay. I paddled out on the broken board through the gnarly shore break where the ski met me and brought me back to the boat. I wanted to keep the ball rolling so I grabbed my back up board and went straight out. I swung on the first left I could and ate sh#t halfway down the face, and just got pounded. Garret picked me up on the ski after the beating, and at that point it was either call it a day or push through it. To be honest I was so pissed that I blew that sick left that it just got me fired up for more.”
NYSEA – Sounds intense, how were the waves you completed ?
Will – “I ended up grabbing a couple really fun ones at the end and finally got into a rhythm. Then I actually realized after the session that I buckled the back-up board too. It was tough conditions all around, but its always worth paying your dues.”
Check out full photo gallery by Ricky Estevez below.
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