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Outside Magazine April 2004

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Surf & Destroy (Cont.)

THE SURFERS GOT THEIR first real taste of Chilean power at a spot called El Gringo, just across the bay from El Buey. El Gringo has been described as Chile's answer to Oahu's Pipeline—a wobbly, hard-breaking tube that transforms from a shallow northbound left into a shallow southbound right when the swell comes up. El Buey was next. It had been ridden before, but not on a truly giant day, and not by tow-in surfers of the Odyssey's caliber.

When the first swell hit El Buey, about a week into the trip, it was apparent the pros had a world-class spot at their disposal. The lines would march in from the south-southwest and the reef would forge them into long, rushing walls that would have mowed down most paddle surfers but proved perfect for towing. At 15 feet, El Buey scares away Arica's handful of local surfers, which meant the tow teams had it to themselves.

As it happened, the swell that had looked promising on the hotel's Internet connection never served up anything bigger than 20- to 25-foot faces—not bad, but not what the Odyssey team was hoping for. Still, the waves were nearly perfect, so the surfers focused on improving their tow-in technique.

Although the surf never got super-sized on that trip, Chile is still marked with a big red X on the Odyssey map. Sharp left two WaveRunners down there; if he catches wind of a big swell, he'll just send another sortie south. "The fantasy is to have a stash of gear in every major big-wave destination around the world," he says, "and then just fly in with the crew."

Billabong likes that idea, too. In February, the company extended its partnership with Sharp to keep the Odyssey going for the next two years, with an emphasis on sponsoring fewer trips but staying longer in each place. The change recognizes a fact of life in big-wave hunting, one underscored by the Odyssey experience so far: You have to move fast, but you also might have to roost a while once you get there.

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