Watch: Should Have Been Here Tomorrow

As El Nino-fueled systems meandered their way across the Pacific Ocean during the Northern Hemisphere’s sleepy summer, Noah Waggy, Ian Crane, Kolohe Andino and Brett Barley had their eyes glued to the forecast in northern Peru. 

The hype was high, and a few of the O’Neill crew jumped the gun and went a week earlier than they initially planned. But, as is so often the case in forecasting/praying for surf, the conditions on paper did not match their lived reality.

The latest O’Neill Strike Mission condenses nearly three weeks of sandbar hunting in between South American oil rigs. While it didn’t turn out to be Waggy’s “Salina Cruz but lefts” fantasy, the crew still managed to find some leg burners and entertain themselves in between sessions, thanks to the local knowledge of Cristobal De Col. 

The combination of cheap beers, scenic vistas, and a four-wheel drive truck goes a long way in killing time between flat spells. 

“You always want good waves, but it’s almost better to go on those trips and experience the stuff besides the surfing,” Waggy said. “That’s almost more of a treat than the waves. The waves are obviously what we’re addicted to, but you end up getting into situations that you’d never get a chance to be involved in when the waves are bad. It’s kind of a blessing in disguise.

“At the start when it wasn’t really happening, everybody was like ‘Oh no.’ But then we regrouped and had some fun drinking beers and off-roading the trucks.”

An enviable attitude every skunked traveler can hope to aspire to. But when there were sections to hit, rest assured the crew took advantage. Watch above as the gents find diamonds in the desert and Crane reminds us yet again that the 1996 Round Nose Fish is a timeless quiver thinner.