Is This the Biggest Paddle Wave Ever at Maverick’s?
A closer look at Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker’s early morning mountain
Photo: Fred Pompermayer
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After a day like Tuesday at Maverick’s – when there were so many momentous waves ridden, so many magic moments throughout a full-day of XXL surfing – it’s easy to fall into a sort of fugue state. Call it,
big-wave blackout, if you’d like.
But a handful of rides will stand the test of time beyond Tuesday’s marathon super session; one of them being Grant “Twiggy” Baker’s early morning paddle bomb, which he scratched into while tow teams were also out.
Kai Lenny is Next Level at Maverick s
Maui charger raises level during Tuesday s epic swell
Photo: Billy Watts
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No, there was no official contest at Maverick’s today. In fact, most surfers coming in this beautiful, sunny, warm, NorCal afternoon kept talking about the camaraderie, consistency, and how special the day was. Beaming sunburnt smiles all around. Again: it was the most anti-2020 thing we’ve seen this year.
Then from old crusty locals to newbie groms they’d roll their eyes and say: “Kai Lenny. Did you see that shit?”
Kai Lenny. Photo: Billy Watts
Wave of the Day, Maverick s: Peter Mel
Big-wave veteran and Mav s pioneer finds gold during XXL swell
Dashel Pierson
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Vid: Dom Padua
Amidst the glory and mayhem at Maverick’s on Tuesday, Peter Mel snagged a steep and deep morning bomb – chipping in from the outside peak, racing through the inside bowl section, and coming out clean into the channel. By many accounts, it was the Wave of the Day. (On the Day of Days.)
Beyond stoked, Pete explained to Jamie Mitchell via Surfline’s Instagram Story what went down in the channel, moments after the ride: “It was all Kai Lenny’s fault,” Mel laughed. “He was there, and he kept paddling deeper. So, I had to go deeper than him, then he told me to go. That’s what you need to get ‘em, right?” (Kai Lenny was also one of the day’s major standouts; more to come on that.)
Maverick s: Day of Days
Full coverage from arguably the best dawn-to-dusk paddle day ever at Mav s
Photo: Kenan Chan
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Yeah, we love superlatives when it comes to big waves, probably to a fault. (Of course we get excited about this kind of stuff. Waves are rad. Especially big, glassy, all-day waves.) But upon consulting an expert, certain claims can be warranted. In this case, it’s Mav’s grandfather Grant Washburn, who’s been keeping a daily journal of Maverick’s sessions for almost 30 years.
Kai Lenny from above. Photo: Billy Watts
“Of course there’ve been glassier sessions when we could catch more waves but I can’t think of another day with waves that size for the entire day and those kind of conditions,” Washburn said. “There were times when it was good, but not all day at that outer back bowl. We used to call that the ‘outer realm.’ Peter Mel and I talked about that for a decade, and nobody went near it. I’m calling it: