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The best surfing I’ve ever seen went down last summer at P-Pass, the world class right reef in Micronesia. P-Pass is open to the same Pacific swells that fire into the Hawaiian Islands every December through to about February. It’s basically firing the whole time the Australian East coast is onshore dribble for months on end.
When we arrived on this trip the first day was only 3 foot but the next day it went absolutely crazy. Big crazy bombs all over the place. Then the day after that it settled down to a casual 6-8 foot and was perfect again. I flew home after that. It was only a three day hit and run mission and I scored some nice waves, but it was on that big second day that I scoped the best surfing I’ve ever seen. It was performed by Western Australian man-mountain Jay Davies and what he did out there was basically put a stick of TNT in my brain and blow my mind to pieces. He totally killed it.
P-Pass loves big swell and the bigger it gets the crazier the take-off is. It’s a freight-train right with a big end bowl on it. It can go dry at the end but you’re hopefully spat out of the tube and into the channel by then. The big day was 10 to 12 easy with the odd 15 footer coming through, and it was pumping all day. As well as myself and Jay, Laura Enever, Mikey Wright, Asher Pacey and Alex Gray were out there too. Jay was there on a trip with Shieldsy, and Alex Gray came solo with his filmer. Me and Jay both ride for the same team and have hung out heaps before. He’s a good man; always has a good time. Just a big friendly giant. Until he takes off… then it’s HULK SMASH!
So all of us are out there getting these giant clean barrels when out of nowhere these 15 footers start rolling in. They were absolutely fucking psycho. Alex, Jay and Mikey were the guys in position but it was Davies standing in the biggest pits. He’d just fall into them, jam these agro off the bottom shiv snaps into the guts and then just stand there looking around like he was window shopping at Warringah Mall. It was mind blowing. Everyone was charging. Asher Pacey got some sick ones. There were some floggings too. I got blown into the lagoon a couple of times, but nobody really got dusted as bad as they probably should have. Laura got there late, she jumped off and copped a fricken huge one on the head. Luckily her leggie snapped and she just popped out the back. I remember we were paddling over the top and looking back at her and she was yelling “What do I do?” And we were like, “Ahhh… your dead. There’s nothing you can do!” Haha! It was so hectic.
Jay’s best wave? It was one of those huge ones, he took a crazy drop, kind of got on his back foot, was doing up the windows and right when I thought he just was gonna get lit, he got a bit of rail in, came around the section and just stood in this pit that looked like a monster truck garage. That one stood out the most for sure. You’d think WA has got to help a lot with that. It would have to. There are so many giant barrels to be had where he grew up. I mean he’s a big unit too, so I think maybe big waves for him aren’t the same as big waves for me. But I remember hearing him say that day “Oh my god I’m bloody shitting myself,” and then next thing you know he’s just turning and going on the biggest wave of the day. One minute he’s saying, “This is gnarly,” and the next he’s just sleepwalking through the biggest cave of the day. He just blocks out the fear and goes.