Pororoca : foto Clément Gargoullaud / Media Venture
K38 Rescue Files
Dedicated to Safety and
Rescue on Waves and Beach
K38 Rescue
Surfing Brazil's Pororoca
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 22 June, 2005 : - - The name of this
legendary Giant Wave, which flows upstream is "Pororoca." To ride it is the
ultimate rush! And surfing stars such as Ross Clarke-Jones, have traveled all
the way to the Amazonian Rainforest to explore it.
We are standing on the shore of a river in northeastern Brazil, with our feet
stuck deep in mud, waiting for the wave many call the "Monster" or "Killer," or
simply just "Pororoca." The word comes from the native Indian language and is
aptly named, because translated it means "great enormous noise." But now there
is little noise, just the sounds of a faint beating in the distance, when on the
horizon a broad strip of white, stretching from one river bank to the other
appears. The surfers prepare themselves and grasp their boards under their arms
in anticipation. The Pororoca thunders up current.
First there was low-tide, which allowed the river to flow more powerfully and
press the ocean back. But naturally, the tide came back in and the Atlantic
showed how superior and powerful it really is. The river may be strong, but the
ocean is more powerful and, in a collision between the two, there can only be
one victor. With a colossal crash, a massive wave comes to life out at sea and
makes its way towards the mouth of the river. Here the "Pororoca" gains force
and power, even though the river is many kilometers wide and pushes itself
through with a torrent force and pulls upstream, reaching a height of up to four
meters. Only after about 13 kilometers does the wave finally slow and calm down,
leaving only a path of destruction in its wake. The people who live on the banks
of the river experience this destruction twice daily during the time of the full
moon. The wave washes large trees, pieces of garbage and panicking animals, who
were previously a hazard to the people, away in its wake.
Our plan is to have the stars of the waves pulled into the wave or along side
it, by either a Jet-Ski or with one of three small boats fitted with outboard
motors. The idea is then to have the Australian Ross Clarke-Jones, as well as
the Brazilians Eraldo Gueiros, Carlos Burle and Picuruta Salazar, get on their
boards and glide onto the wave and allow the wave to take them inland—that is if
everything works
out!
=================================================================================================
The Pororoca is not at all predictable; sometimes the wave allows
Picuruta Salazar to cut huge turns, as if he were on the ocean, while other
times it lets him
drift.
=================================================================================================
We were warned over and over that boats are completely flipped over by the
Pororoca, mainly because directly in front of the wave the water becomes shallow
and the boats run aground. But the warnings fell on deaf ears. On some days the
wave sets huge swaths of land underwater, leaving villages flooded and villagers
stranded. It is relieving to know that Eraldo and Picuruta have both been here
before, but we have also taken the necessary precautions by using life-jackets
and helmets. Both of them were spared by the "monster," as was Rick, our
photographer, a Pororoca regular.
Ross
Clarke-Jones on the Pororoca : photo © Jürgen Skarwan/Red Bull
Rick first experienced natives with their surfboards ripping on
the wave when he was there six years ago. Rick has also been to competitions,
which have been taking place for some time now, on some of the other rivers
around here in eastern Brazil where the Amazon and its smaller brothers meet the
Atlantic Ocean. The person who wins is the one who can rip the wave and stand on
his board the longest. The best results are between 15 minutes on the Rio Capim
and 40 minutes on the Araguari River.
River-surfing is in another dimension compared to wave-riding in the ocean:
the record for longest distance surfed is, in comparison, only 1.5 kilometers,
attained by Tom Blake in 1936, on the coast of Hawaii. Rick didn't only
photograph the Pororoca, he also sang to it; the two songs were from the band
"Mr. Sombra," a band from Rio, who when playing, sometimes ask Rick to come onto
the stage and make a special appearance.
The beating and the roar of the water gets louder and the thin white strip is
getting thicker and is turning into a massive wave. In some places it already
has crests and in other places it is already breaking and tumbling wild
whitewater in front of itself. On our riverbank, the wave has already washed
over the embankment and up onto the land. We have to go. Chico, our boat driver,
steers the boat directly in front of the wave and, like a massive abyss wanting
to swallow us up, the wave chases after us.
Picuruta, probably the best Pororoca surfer, is with us in the boat and is
the first to jump out into the water. Just before the wave catches him, he
paddles a little with his arms and then, with a short turn and jump he is on his
board. Ross, Eraldo and Carlos all follow behind; sometimes they all surf next
to one another and, when the Pororoca breaks a second wave, behind one another.
Carlos, unfortunately, hurt himself while in Hawaii and is not in top shape, so
he decides to quit and is picked up behind the wave by the rescue boat.
Picuruta Salazar surfs the Pororoca : Photo Rick Werneck.
Picuruta surfs and surfs, not even the river, whose current will eventually
get the upper-hand and makes the wave ebb away, can stop him. The Pororoca is
not at all predictable; sometimes the wave allows him to cut huge turns, as if
he were on the ocean, while other times it lets him drift. In between the
whitewater he will sometimes lie down on his board and wait until the Pororoca
gathers itself again and comes crashing upstream anew. It does this over and
over again. All at once three dolphins surface directly beside the surfers, they
too are having fun in this natural phenomena.
Almost 40 minutes pass by and the massive wave flows into many smaller ones.
Picuruta does not have enough speed and, once again, he sticks up his arms and
waves them in the air before sinking into the dark brown waters of the Araguari
River.
Even Ross Clarke-Jones had trouble following the "local boy," Picuruta, on
his first day on the Pororoca. He floundered here and there, but was brought
back by Jet-Ski the right wavelength. The Australian, Ross, who was just awarded
with a "Big Wave Award" for the best wave in Australia in the past half year,
managed to come to Brazil at the last minute. The time difference was a real
pain and totally wiped him out, and it couldn't be any larger —12 hours
difference. But Ross is still happy he came, he used to be married to a
Brazilian woman and is now married to another.
"Holy crap," he says onboard the El Dorado, which served as the surfers
living quarters during the Pororoca-week. "Holy crap, that wave is long." Ross
wants to make a virtue out of necessity, and turn night into day and announces
that he will be getting out there and doing a so-called "Night-Pororoca."
"The moonlight should be enough light for me," he says. "Just in case, I will
wear a headlamp." Ross is almost impossible to stop, until Eraldo explains to
his friend the reason for not undertaking this idea. "The problem," says the
Brazilian, "is that the risk-factor is just too high. If you fall off your board
and get washed behind the wave, you will never be found."
After all—Pororoca is not just any wave.
P. Media
Source Wetdawg
K38 Rescue Files
contributions
Dedicated to Safety and Rescue on Waves and Beach
K38 Rescue
Water Safety - Surfersvillage |
