EUROPEAN VACATION
For most of us, a trip to Europe means brushing against the Louvre, praying at the Sistine Chapel or rocking Stonehenge. Not so for the Billabong Odyssey crew. As they proved this past week when they towed into huge, out-of-control Basque country beachbreak, there are plenty of Old World riches to be found a quarter-mile offshore.
"We got a call from the Billabong crew in Europe," says Odyssey project director Bill Sharp, "and they told us that the swell of the century was due to arrive in a couple of days. There were Skis on hand and nothing on the horizon over here, so we decided to give it a shot."
Indeed, the swell forecast models showed a giant raspberry beret in the North Atlantic, which translated into a huge swell for the Basque coast. In less than 24 hours, two photographers, surfers Mike Parsons, Brad Gerlach, Darryl Virostko and Shawn Barron and a key support group jumped on a plane, assembled the Skis and gear in France, and made it down to Spain for their version of D-Day.
It was the first true Odyssey mission since its introductory Pacific Northwest training camp last October. Although there have been a handful of large swells this winter, fickle conditions and other big-wave events have kept the ground-breaking missions tied to the docks.
There have been two Billabong Odyssey "Stand-By" sessions at Mavericks and Todos Santos. When a stubborn high-pressure ridge filled in over the North Pacific in mid January, it appeared as though their search for the 100-foot wave would have to wait a few weeks longer.
Then they got the call.
The idea was to surf a big righthander off the island of Izaro. Unfortunately, like most overhyped swells, they awoke to lumpy 10-footers at about 90 percent smaller than what they had hoped for.
Still, the rivermouth was a perfect 6 to 8 feet, and it was tempting to hang up the skis and surf flawless sand-bottom barrels for the day. "That was the toughest part of the whole trip," remembers Sharp. "We were driving away, watching perfect barrels go by. It was like you had to repeat to yourself: 'We're here to surf big waves. We're here to surf big waves.'"
They figured they could find those big waves in the wide-open beachbreaks a little ways north of the island. Turns out they were sort of right. When most surfers think of France, they think of flawless, 6-foot A-frames with topless women catching the last warm rays of summer.
But when the Odyssey crew arrived on Friday, Jan. 25, they witnessed a whole 'nother side of beachbreaks: desolate sands, cold, biting winds and rows and rows of whitewater. "It was huge," said Mike Parsons. "You would have died if you tried to paddle out there."
With skis, though, they were riding waves with the turn of a key. In clean, sunny 20-foot faces, the two teams showed what skis and straps could do on a day that wasn't even approachable before the Machine Age. Flea pulled into a giant barrel. Parsons swooped into some heavy fades, and Gerlach continued his hard-driving, rail-to-rail approach to tow-in surfing.
While the outside bombies were on the fat and mushy side, the Puerto-style double-ups farther inside proved to be the real test. "I got one barrel in there that made my trip," said Parsons.
Friday was fun, but it still wasn't worth the price of admission. They checked the forecast charts that night, and it showed another swell arriving on Sunday. Thirty-six hours later, they were out at sea once again, only this time it wasn't so easy.
The swell was considerably bigger than the previous one, and it was messy and short-interval. Photographer Frank Quirarte lost his camera after getting nailed by a set. Sharp drowned a ski in the shorebreak. Scariest of all, Parsons became an offshore buoy for 15 minutes when he kicked out of a wave early and lost his partner.
Heavy situations on critical waves are second nature to Flea. Barely visible, he's shown here loving the view of Basque lands from the inside Jan 25. PHOTO Tim Mckenna.
Just as they assembled a full-on search party, Randy ??10 soft?? Laine spotted Parsons somewhere in the impact zone. "It was kind of heavy, actually," says Parsons. "I took a bunch of waves on the head."
Although none of the waves ridden came close to breaking any height records, the surfers did agree that towing in relentless beachbreak is a huge challenge. "It's definitely a lot harder than towing at a reefbreak with a channel," says Barron. "You have to know how to drive to pull it off."
Flea finds the right angle on the Billabong Odyssey Euro tour, while tow partner Barney looks in on the action. Photo: Frank Quirarte/Surfing
More importantly, the six-day hop over the Atlantic proved that the Odyssey is ready to strike whenever and wherever conditions allow. As Sharp says, "It was a great exercise. Give us a swell and we'll be there."