Halloween is a time when children dress up as monsters. But on October 31, Nazaré served up a different kind of monster. Lucas Fink, Lucas Chumbo, Nic von Rupp, Miguel Blanco, Tony Laureano, Maya Gabeira, Luiz Henrique, Willyam Santana, and João de Macedo were there to get their treats.
The swell was not exactly a clean one, but there was some size in it. Not as much as Nazaré can hold — which appears to be pretty much infinite — but it was big enough to warrant a few personal watercrafts in the lineup. The scary thing about the place is that even when it’s not doing that Big Mama thing, it’s still incredibly heavy. Wiping out on an overhead wave there will feel as though someone’s trying to rip your limbs off.
Nazaré surfers are excited about the upcoming winter, so it’s likely that a lot of them looked at this day as a sort of training session for the massive days that are sure to come. Those open-ocean swells are funneled through a deep-water canyon that focuses the energy towards that famous lighthouse, and the story of how it came to the attention is an interesting one. We’ll be sure to have our eyes on the place in the coming months, because it doesn’t fail to disappoint.
