Dissecting The Viral Jetski Spill That Nearly Cost Two Nazaré Surfers Their Lives

“It was a very scary situation. I’ve never experienced something so extreme,” said the surfer involved in the latest Nazaré jetski fiasco, Brazil’s Will Santana, to Surfline.

Two days ago, Will and ski driver Daniel Rangel were running duos at the Naz on a rising, sub-perfect, bump-stricken swell when Will went down on the first set wave of the day.

“I saw the whole wave as he went through the bumps on that right,” Daniel explained. “It was a pretty big wave, rising swell, it was actually probably the first solid set over 35 – 40 foot face of the day. He fell in a really tough spot.”

“Yeah, I couldn’t do a very good line and ended up taking a wipeout,” Will corroborated. “Being hit full-on by the wave and I stayed underwater for a long time. I knew I was in a very dangerous situation.”

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But, all that was foreplay. Like the final climax of a traditional Three-Act thriller, our protagonists were faced with an even bigger issue.

“Will popped up, I went in to grab him. But I got so focused on trying to find him that, in retrospect, I should’ve looked back and seen the wave so close to us,” Daniel explained. “But I hesitated because of all the white wash. I started being pulled back up by the wave. I knew that it would be better for us to get swallowed. We bailed. I went down one way, he went down the other way, we did not hit the ski.”

Nazaré continues to make a name for itself as the pejorative Mount Everest of surfing. Despite the pungent odor surrounding the world’s “tallest wave” (Nazaré was once just a quaint fishing village after all), it’d be unfair to overlook the devoted crew of local Portuguese surfers who have been sherpa-ing this place for years.

The Brazilian duo closed up their rendezvous like this, “Luckily, we’re still in good shape and we’re still here and we’re ready for another one *high-five each other*.”