Photo: Screenshot from Peter Clyne's video

Natxo González surfed the wave of his life on the dreaded Irish slab of Mullaghmore and shared a powerful account of how it unfolded second by second.

He began by saying: “This is the wave of my life. My entire career, all the knowledge I have accumulated over these years, is represented in this wave.”

Natxo has ridden giant waves all over the world: Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Nazaré. But he's sure this is "the wave."

“After two hours of waiting, I sat in the channel trying to figure out why we couldn’t paddle out to the really big waves. The sea was very calm that day and the wave period was long, which probably explained that. We just couldn’t get under the crest. Even so, I decided to try again,” he said.

He added: “I waited a while until this huge set came in. I let the first one go by. When the second one appeared, I only glanced at it. If I had looked at it any longer, I wouldn't have gone in, as it looked gigantic and more like a wave to tow. I put my head down and paddled with all my might. The wave let me in, I stood up, and tried to ride the face of the wave. My board got caught several times by the gusts of wind, and I almost fell while I was holding on for dear life.”

“Once I was down, I had to be extremely careful because of the turbulence. You can’t make any sharp turns at Mullaghmore. This wave was slowly building, and when I finally had my line, I was thinking, ‘What am I doing here? I’m going to die here.’ The wave sucked all the water from the reef; I tried to hold my line, but there were steps and turbulence. Suddenly, after a big step, the wave swallowed me up, and I knew the spit was coming. A few seconds later, it blew really hard over my head; I couldn’t see anything. When I could finally see again, I was flying towards the channel…,” he explained, offering a bit more reassurance about his fate.

“It was the wave of my life. My entire career was reflected in this wave. A wave that the locals call the biggest ever surfed at Mullaghmore. It fills me with pride. I still get teary-eyed thinking about this wave. What do you think? Surfing, in general, is an individual sport, but it's impossible to catch a wave like that without a team supporting you. Thanks to the support of my family, my sponsors, and a huge thank you to the Irish community for making me feel like one of you, this is the greatest treasure I hold in my heart. Forever,” he concluded.

González spent a good amount of time recovering from a blow to the head that caused dizziness, loss of vision, but mainly a depression from which he was able to recover.

 

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