Ever seen a ferry wave this good? Probably not. Photo: Ben Gravy//YouTube
Ben Gravy surfs a lot of weird waves. Waves made by tides, waves made by machines, waves made by flowing rivers, and waves made by boats. That last one holds a special place in Gravy’s heart, and in his latest vlog he found one that tops them all.
Ferry waves are interesting. They’re caused when the displacement from the ship pushes water over shallow areas. When that shallower water happens to be sitting over bathymetry that forms a rideable wave, well, you get a rideable wave. If there’s a rideable wave, Ben Gravy is going to be frothing over it, whether it’s good or bad. But this one? This one is good. Like, really good. So good it doesn’t look real.
I, in fact, had to make sure the wave was not fake. In order to do so, I did some internet detecting and lo and behold, I was able to discern where this ferry runs. A little bit more detecting and some Google Earthing (if you’ll allow me to invent a compound verb) led me to exactly where it is likely breaking. With a quick check of the ferry schedule, I’m relatively sure I know when, down to a few minutes, this wave would work.
Now, Ben has been relatively careful not to expose where this is, which is probably a good thing. His exploits don’t always rub everyone the right way, but you’ll likely be able to get a fairly good idea of which part of the world it’s in if you poke around long enough. Hell, I figured out exactly where it is in just a few minutes, and I’m not the smartest person you’ve ever met. Still, in the interests of keeping secrets secret, keep those lips zipped. But it’s safe to say that the ferry wave in the video you see here is one of the best ferry waves Ben Gravy has ever found.
It wasn’t an easy thing to get. It took patience, first and foremost, but also local help and local knowledge. The tide had to be right. The ship’s captain had to be going the right speed. The wind had to be light. And after a few days of trying for it, the stars finally aligned.
“I’m still completely in awe of what we witnessed on this novelty trip,” he wrote. “This is by far the biggest and most perfect ferry wave I have ever seen in my life! I still have to figure out the best way to ride it, get the barrel and make it happen on a higher level, but what an honor it is to make a dream trip like this happen!”
