After four big swells and three successful sessions in the huge waves of Nazaré, the extreme waterman Garrett McNamara, 43 years old, decided to stay in Portugal until November 30. He wants to catch another good swell to continue his local exploration.
McNamara was going to return to Hawaii this week, but he decided to stay a few more days so that he can catch the swell predicted to arrive next Monday, which promises huge waves once again.
“The hospitality that I felt, the waves that I caught, the excellent food and the intense training, made me delay my return to Hawaii, without regrets”, commented the athlete. “Nazaré has proved to be a place of a great interest to me – and to any other big wave surfer, by the way. It deserves with no doubt a big wave event. That’s the goal of the whole production team of this The North Canyon Show. The least I could do was try to stay a few more days. Then I really have to get back to Hawaii to participate in opening ceremony of Eddie Aikau, on December 2”, he concluded.
Garrett McNamara has been invited to compete in the most prestigious big wave event, Quiksilver, in memory of Eddie Aikau, in Waimea Bay, Oahu, Hawaii.
Garrett McNamara already surfed twice giant waves (7 to 9 meters) at Praia do Norte, Nazaré. He has worked with José Gregório (a former triple Portuguese champion and one of the most experienced Portuguese big waves surfer). Last week he had also the company of Ruben Gonzalez (former four times Portuguese surf champion) and of the Irish Alistair Mennie and the English Andrew Cotton duo, with interesting results.
This project is organized by Câmara Municipal da Nazaré, Clube de Desportos Alternativos da Nazaré and Nazaré Qualifica E.E.M., with the support of Turismo do Oeste, QREN, MaisCentro, Feder, Turismo de Portugal – Oeste, Liberty Seguros, Lightning Bolt, GoPro – D’Maker, Filipemotoshow, Isuzu, Lena Automóveis, Peter Grimm, Noll, Instituto Hidrográfico Português, Tonic Gym, Surftotal, Surf Portugal, Antena 3, Surfer Rule and Surfspots-gps.com.
Photos by POLVO/Jorge Leal e Wilson Ribeiro
