One of the reasons we love Nazaré

I have put things in the closet never to be seen again. The rabbit hole of the internet is like that for me. It seems I completely forgot that I had this blog! So, lets play catch up, shall we?

The end of August 2019 we had a magical chat with a stranger at a coffee shop in Coimbra, Portugal. He asked us if we could live anywhere else in Portugal, where would we choose? In tandem, we both said, “Nazaré!” And that was that! By the end of September we had packed, arranged a moving truck and signed a rental agreement for a 2 bedroom apartment 50 meters or a two minute walk to the beach. We arrived on October 1^st and settled in easily.

Nazaré is a small fishing village of about 10,000 residents that has become a tourist summer spot and is also known for gigantic waves. 

 This wave is about 100 feet tall

Surfers and photographers from all across the globe come to witness extreme athletes defy the monster waves, holding on for dear life, falling at speeds of 50 mph down the face of waves 60, 80 and 100 feet high.

This one of a kind spot is due to a sea canyon that is 227 km or 141 miles long and 5000 meters or 16,400 feet deep. As it narrows closer to land, the water has nowhere to go but up.

The lighthouse is 165 feet above sea level. The surfers are towed on to the wave by powerful jet skis. When the surfer finishes the ride or gets crushed by it, the safety driver is right there to pluck them out 3 seconds before the next wave. It is a precision dance of coordination beyond comprehension. We are always holding our breath waiting for the moment we see the team back together again.

João de Macedo

After wiping out, loosing his board and washing up near dangerous rocks, he had to climb the cliff  to get out.

Wet suits are equipped with several strategically placed Co2 cartridges that blow up air bladders and pop the surfer up to the surface when they have been crushed by the wave. They also are masters of breath control and calmness when they are under holding their breath for up to 5 minutes.

We follow an app for surf, tides, wind, and weather called Magic Seaweed. When it shows 4 to 5 stars, the Sea Hippies (That's my cute name for them) show up in droves. Ages range from late teens to 45 or 50 years old. Many have sponsors like Red Bull, Mercedes, Adidas, Rip Curl, Tag Heuer, etc.

Maya Gabeira

Maya Gabeira is the Guinness Book World Record holder for the tallest wave surfed by a woman at 68 feet at Nazaré. She and several other women surfers fought very hard with the World Surf League to have women paid equal prize money as for the men. They were successful and I was able to thank her on behalf of all women, no matter what job they do.

Below is a video of Maya's surf partner Sebastian Steudtner. The wave is estimated at 90 and 115 feet. Maya towed him onto the wave and you can see her jet ski going off to the right....then you see the tiny person that is Sebastian.  Make the video full screen to see it better.

 You can see this photographer in the tall grasses, he is on the cliff edge.

 Patrick Jacobs (red jacket) is a friend of ours from Belgium

This is Vince

Professional and hobby photographers jockey to get the best spot along the cliffs. BBC, National Geographic, and many major news sites and magazines run stories when there is a competition. The surfers are in the water 8 to 10 hours a day.

Alessandro Marciano is  in the process of getting this photo blown up and framed for his home.

Vince's photography has become so good that online magazines and websites have published his pictures. But what thrills him the most is when he posts a picture on Instagram, tags the surfer and gets a response from them of how happy they are to have a picture of them on a wave.