How big is too big? Surf Guide Algarve finding out at XL Castelejo
After we checked out Nazare, nothing really looks big anymore. Meanwhile the West-Coast is hit with another big swell. Normally Surf Guide Algarve is there to guide you to a safer and easier to manage beach. Yet today we test our own boundaries a little bit. Beach breaks will always stay tricky when the swell gets big but today is the day. Light offshore wind, banks in place and the best crew we can think off. So, How big is too big? Finding it out at XL Castelejo, enjoy the story and pictures.
Step up surfboards needed
Since we carried the 7ft stepup/ minigun up and down the whole coast op Portugal without using it, we did not bring it today. Luckily we bring a thick leash and a good dose of dutch stoke. Wave size will always be debatable but with 2,3 meter and 12 seconds we can all agree it is big. By the time we paddle out the tide just passing low and there are big outside burgers. Positioning is not easy but the paddle is doable and we get some long snowboard-like waves. Surfing our daily drivers we need to be right at the breaking point of the waves, no easy task! Step up surfboards needed for sure.
Go big for the foto
Meanwhile the tide is pushing in fast. Although the outside still works it looks like you could get the barrel of your life on the inside. Our goofie buddy does not hesitate a moment to volunteer to shoot some pictures. Rights only on this side of Castelejo. Even frontside it looks like a tough job to make these waves, now with the lens on us we go big for the foto. Obviously the pictures look pretty heavy but believe me that it does not tell half of the story. Alongside the thousand and some duckdives to get out we wearing big sets on the head to stay in position. Here and there is a diamond in the rough, but it is far from perfect. One wave makes the difference. Stoked and tired and satisfied we go for coffee. Job done, mission completed.
