Ryan Hipwood, locked away in the Chopes vault, Tahiti

And here we find Mr Ryan Hipwood, deep in the mix. This is one of many waves stormed through today, during the second day of a south swell that hit Chopes yesterday morning. But while yesterday saw a jump from six-to-eight feet in the morning to 20 feet by the afternoon, today enjoyed more solid consistency. Domenic Mosqueira, who shot this, describes the day in real brevity (as a man swimming in the channel with water housing for two days straight is entitled to): “It’s been a long day o’ huge waves again, with a mix of rain sun showers, and then turquoise lit waves. I love Tahiti!” There was a similar crew on it today as yesterday, minus Makua Rothman, who planted his chin into the reef and snapped his finger. The two-day team? Ryan, obviously, as well as Raimana Van Bastolaer, Shane Dorian, Alex Gray, Mark Mathews, Dean Morrison, Laurie Towner, Wade Goodall, Dean Bowen, Mikey Wright, Kamalei Alexander, Mark Healey, Makua Rothman, Koa Rothman, Nathan Florence, Eli Olson, Laird Hamilton, Nathan Fletcher, Garrett McNamara, Kohl Christensen, and more. Expect more tomorrow, even if it ain’t of such fury. Here’s another one from today. And, more from yesterday over here, here, and here.