4am: December 31, 2012 Maui, Hawaii: Pe’ahi, Maui (JAWS)
The morning started at 4am and all I knew was that the waves at Jaws were going to be big. It was pitch dark as my dad and I loaded up our boat over to Jaws. The 45 minute ride seemed long. It was still dark when we got there so I couldn’t even see the waves yet, but I could hear them. Once we got closer to where I saw the waves I was a little scared for sure.
There were about 50 people out in the water that day and they were 50 of the best surfers that I looked up to. I finally got suited up and hit the water. As I paddled to line up all could think about was “I want a bomb.” (Be sure to go all the way to the end where the video is or catch it on YouTube)
Most of the surfers were sitting on the right so I decide to go to the left – which is for sure way more crazy. On the left there is more of a risk factor because there is not as many jetski’s to save you and you can get pushed onto the rocks. About an hour into my session, I hadn’t caught a wave, so I decided to catch a small one to get the butterflies out of my stomach. As I was paddling back out to the line up I noticed a big set coming in. This time I was ready and was not going to let this set go by me.
I was paddling out and all of a sudden my friend saw he was not going to catch the first bomb. He shouted my name, “Connor, GO!”
I took 4 hard strokes and stood up
Photos by Eric Aeder
I quickly whipped my board around and took about 4 strokes. When I stood up to my feet I felt like I was on top of a building about to go down it. I held my line with my stomach in my throat. I had so much adrenaline that when the wave broke behind me it couldn’t knock me off.
When I kicked out of this bomb I was in so much awe, I didn’t even know what was going on. It was the best day of my life and the best way to end the last day of 2012.
My Video below: Pe’ahi “JAWS” December 31, 2012- filmed by Elliot Leboe