On December 3, 2007, when Brett Lickle was towing Hamilton right into a wave on the Maui north shore, called "Egypt", a wave knocked Lickle from the watercraft. The fin sliced Lickle, inflicting him to bleed into the ocean, which he feared would appeal to sharks. Hamilton swam to get well the watercraft, found Lickle in the surf, fashioned his swimsuit into a material tourniquet, and applied it to Lickle to save lots of his life. Hamilton then piloted the watercraft back to a landing, where Lickle was instantly taken to a hospital for therapy. Brett recalled that day for Chris Dixon that Brett towed Laird into a wave that was in his opinion "better than 10 stories tall" and the biggest wave ever ridden.
Most of the prime surf spots are south of Swakopmund (round Luderitz and Walvis Bay), but intrepid sorts can head up to Skeleton Coast hotspots similar to Cape Cross and Ovahimba Point. Plenty of different level breaks are identified mainly by word of mouth.
It was not photographed and subsequently not formally recognized by the XXL judges. All 24 international crew members were rescued by Namibian authorities.
The southern section consists of gravel plains, while north of Terrace Bay the panorama is dominated by high sand dunes. Testament to this incredible rate of land reclamation is the wreck of 'Eduard Bohlen' (images 7 & 8) not removed from Skeleton Bay. In 1909 the unwell-fated cargo ship ran aground in thick fog on the Skeleton Coast. Now, over 100 years later, the shipwreck lies four hundred metres inland from the Atlantic Ocean and a few eight hundred metres from where waves at present break.
Laird was born Laird John Zerfas in San Francisco on March 2, 1964, in an experimental salt-water sphere at UCSF Medical Center designed to ease the mother's labor. While he was an toddler, Laird and his mother, Joann (née Zyirek), moved to Hawaii. In 1967, whereas still a young boy dwelling on Oahu, Laird met with 1960s surfer William Stuart "Bill" Hamilton, a bachelor on the time, on Pūpūkea beach on the North Shore. Bill Hamilton was a surfboard shaper and glasser on Oahu within the Nineteen Sixties and Seventies and owned a small business handmaking custom, high-performance surfboards for the Oahu North Shore big wave riders of the period.
The Eduard Bohlen marks the old shoreline but it now sits utterly surrounded by sand in a dramatic reminder of how dynamic the shoreline here is. Back in the northern part of surfing skeleton shirt the nation, Skeleton Coast National Park, although largely inaccessible, is known for its barren flatland of sand and stone, frequent fog, and a number of shipwrecks along the coast. It is the top vacation spot in Namibia to see African wildlife in their natural environments. The park surrounds the Etosha salt pan, which attracts animals, particularly in the drier winter months because it is a supply of water in a spot mostly dry. Waterberg Plateau Park, the parks of the Caprivi, and the remote Kaokoland are additionally hotspots for viewing wildlife.
The younger Laird invited Bill Hamilton home to meet his mom. Bill Hamilton married Laird's then-single mom, turning into Laird's adoptive father. The coast is basically soft sand sometimes interrupted by rocky outcrops.
It’s extremely chilly, difficult to get to, and filled with sharks, however that doesn’t stop decided surfers from hanging ten within the waters off Namibia’s coast. The Benguela present from the south produces a number of the strongest surf and longest barrels in the world.