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Garrett McNamara on surfing a 90ft wave in Portugal Posted on 12/26/2011 by

Back in November I mentioned Garrett McNamara’s amazing run on a 90ft (30m) wave in Portugal. Was it the biggest wave ever surfed? Who knows? It was the biggest caught on film, however, and most likely the largest wave ever surfed in Europe. So well done Garrett! Check out his record-breaking run in Nazare, Portugal by clicking here to watch the youtube video.

McNamara is a 44-year old Hawaiian big wave surfer who travels the world in search of mammoth waves to catch. Big wave surfers usually rely on Jet Skis to tow them out into the massive, dangerous surf. But Garrett has already surfed big waves without the use of a Jet Ski by using a motorized surfboard called a WaveJet.

He tells of his experience catching the 90ft Portuguese wave:

It started to build and build as I was going down. I usually don’t get a chance to look back, but I look back once, I look back twice, and it’s still coming down. After I made a turn at the bottom and came up, a big gob of water came and landed on my shoulder really hard. It almost squashed me down and that is when I realized it was a big wave.

(from kitv.com)

The Hawaiian daredevil also likes to share his passion for surfing with autistic children by taking them out on the waves.

Next up for Garrett McNamara is finding a 120ft (36m) wave to surf in order to solidify his position as the king of the big wave surfers. Sounds a bit dangerous if you ask me.

Read more and see the kitv4 video report on the story here.

photo by F H Mira (Flickr CC)


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About graham.land

Graham Land is a writer who grew up in the suburbs of Washington, DC, where he was part of the local hardcore punk and Straight Edge scene. Through this musical movement he became involved in grass roots interests such as anti-racist activism, animal rights and Ecology. In 2000 he relocated to Europe, earning an MA in History from Malmö University in Sweden. Graham writes for the environmental news blog greenfudge.org.
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