Pascal Stansfield discovers 50 shades of grey, California

“The winds were crazy offshore,” begins Seth de Roulet as he dissects this beautiful wave. “At one point it was gusting so hard that when you’d scratch over a wave it’d be a straight white-out for at least 10 seconds. You’d have no idea what was lurking behind. I took a couple of pretty solid sets on the head. There was no one out other then Bobby Martinez, Danny Fuller and Pascal, which is unheard of in these parts. Pascal caught this wave super deep and I remember thinking, ‘shit, I’m too wide, there’s no way we’re lining up.’ He pulled in off the takeoff and got a sick pit across the outside sandbar, and then the wave just hit the perfect inside track where all other waves had been dumping and closing out. When I saw him stand tall I knew I had to fire a couple frames even though the offshore was sending spray everywhere. Pascal just stood there until he got blown out and went straight to the beach. Session over. I got lucky that this frame came out because the one before it and after it were both ruined by water spots. I guess that’s what they call the luck of the Irish.”