On MEDIUM: "Woman Overboard WIth Watching Ships & Surfers on YouTube: Who gets the biggest wave?"

 

WHEN THINGS GET FISHY

Woman Overboard With Watching Ships & Surfers on YouTube

Who gets the biggest wave?

Bonni Brodnick

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Photo by Sebastian Bill on Unsplash

You know those people who can spend hours on YouTube on any subject? I am one of them. I am obsessed with big waves. The more massive, the better.

I love watching ships on stormy seas (especially with a view from the helm of a Russian cargo ship where you can look out and see the 50-foot wave coming). Then you’ll find me deep into the rabbit hole with anything pertaining to boats in general: day sailors, cargo ships, luxury liners, tugboats, and vessels of any sort in foul weather. There is something thrilling about watching ill-tempered waves crash over the bow. The higher and scarier the wave, the better.

                                                     Photo by Torsten Dederichs on Unsplash

There is equal mesmerization with surfers riding big waves. What would it feel like to be in the barrel of one of Oahu’s North Shore Backyards, a brutal reef-filled surf where the waves are fast and furious? Or in the epic mecca of Nazaré, Portugal, where waves can reach 80 feet and over and intimidate even professional surfers? Watch these surfers as they dare the waves of Nazaré. (For full impact, hit all of the underlined links and go to fullscreen format.)

                                                                    Photo by dailystoke.com

I can watch these YouTube clips, and others like them, for literally hours:

Mavericks, CA

Jaws, Maui

Teahupo’o, Tahiti

Mullaghore Head, Ireland

Punta de Lobos, Chile

When I watch them, I feel exhilarated, like an electrifying fixation. I feel a heightened rush and madness all while sitting at my desk. That’s when the rabbit hole thing takes over, which, I’ll admit, is a problem in our household.

Husband: “Hon, what did you do today?”

Me: “I watched surfing clips on YouTube.”

Husband: “The entire day?”

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

This zealousness for surfers and surfing is shared with the venerable Diana Vreeland. (Check out my blog, “Diana Vreeland: A Wannabe Surfer”). In it, she states:

    "I'm really only envious of one thing, and that is a surfer. I        think it's the most beautiful thing. See, I'm mad about water. I think that water is God's tranquilizer.

    To be in it, to drink it, to look at it, and to be a surfer -- oh, between the sky and the water -- that would be to me, the most wonderful thing."

Before you go, click here to experience the rush that D.V. and I share when we watch surfers.

Whether you're on a boat steering into a wave, or a surfer riding on top of a wave, if you put it on YouTube, think of me; armchair traveling from my home computer, far from any splash, feverishly sharing the titillation and excitement from afar.