Stab Magazine | Can You Chase The Same Swell From Namibia To Desert Point?

Live Now... Stab Highway East Coast (USA) Presented By Monster Energy, Episode 3

205 Views

Can You Chase The Same Swell From Namibia To Desert Point?

Peru’s Jonathan Gubbins proves that yes, yes you can. 

cinema // Sep 13, 2019
Words by stab
Reading Time: 3 minutes

We’ve all heard stories of surfers trying to, and in a few cases even succeeding at, catching quality surf from the same swell in two vastly distant locales. 

Most famously, Dave ‘Rasta’ Rastovich and Craig Anderson achieved this trans-continental voyage on the Code Red swell of 2011, surfing waves from that same diabolical blob between Tahiti, Mexico, California, and Alaska.  

Taylor Steele captured their entire journey in the film This Time Tomorrow, the trailer of which you can see below. 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/rylUTVELi5Y

Recently, Peruvian surfer Jonathan Gubbins attempted a similar feat, but this time across two oceans rather than one. 

Here’s how it went:

Jonathan Gubbins first flew to Africa for the June pulse at Namibia’s Skeleton Bay—the same swell that saw Brett Barley and Koa Smith get coned off their gourds (again), and that was so big it actually closed out the bay. 

Unsatisfied with his harvest from the swell of the decade, Gubbins set up camp in Namibia, staying at a friends house for an entire month before the next swell. 

“I was there almost 30 days, and I surfed only three of them,” Gubbins confessed to Stab

You might be wondering what Gubbins did he did in the downtime. 

“My wife came for two weeks—she left our kids at home in Perú,” Gubbins explains. “We did a road trip across Namibia, just seeing all the animals and experiencing the dunes in the Sossusvlei.

“Skeleton Bay aside, Namibia is an incredible country.” 

Finally, after a month-long slumber, a new Atlantic Ocean swell reared its head. Gubbins called in some Peruvian tube reinforcements—Gabriel Villaran and Miguel Tudela—and milked the Namibian point from sun-up to sun-down. 

While this swell wasn’t quite as impressive as the first, size-wise, Gubbins had a better command of the lineup and jagged several submarine caverns. 

“Skeleton Bay is definitely my favorite, and the best, wave in the world,” he says. “There’s nothing like it.”

08AA952E 5901 41AA 815A BC19CB3F87AF

The reason the second swell was smaller than the first is that it took a more southerly track across the Atlantic, meaning that instead of running into Africa’s southern tip, the storm made its way around the Cape of Good Hope and into the Indian Ocean, where infinite world-class waves reside.

With his eyes still bloody from a 12-hour African marathon, Jonathan checked the swell charts and did the only logical thing: he booked a one-way flight to Denpasar, Bali ($1,000 USD), with plans of landing in the Indonesian surf mecca and catching the six-hour ferry to its neighbor island, Lombok. 

About one week and 10,000 km later, Gubbins was dancing along the reef at Desert Point, waiting for the sets to subside so he could sprint past the impact zone and into the lineup. Unsurprisingly, the same front-footed approach that drove Gubbins to double-digit tubes in Africa led to similar success in Indo. 

88533F2D 7B3A 4068 817A 5E26ACBE6F8D

“The idea is to get the best barrels at these spots. That is the job,” Gubbins, who is practically the Billabong equivalent of Bruno Santos, told Stab. “But surfing Skeleton and Deserts on the same swell is unreal. A dream come true.”

Where did you get the best waves? we asked.

“Definitely Namibia.”

From the viewer’s perspective, it may not be so clear, but keep in mind that Skeleton Bay is one of the most infamously difficult-to-film surf spots in the world, so it goes without saying that some of Jon’s best rides likely went undocumented (especially since he wasn’t using a GoPro, which is pretty core).

And which would you rather surf, Skeleton or Deserts?

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

One Cold, Unforgettable Winter At Uncle Robbie’s

Reflecting on four months spent living with 1988 Pipe Master Robbie Page.

Feb 11, 2025

Channel 51: Pipe Pro Post-Show

Coco Ho, Dooma and Josiah Amico discuss the juiciest storylines out of the opening CT.

Feb 11, 2025

Did the Australian Surf Industry Walk So The Cycling Industry Could… Run?

Industry Roadmaps, with former Globe head-of-design turned MAAP co-founder Ollie Cousins.

Feb 10, 2025

Microdose: Lungi Slabb

Australia's most instinctive young barrel rider leaves some notes for the forthcoming CT. 

Feb 9, 2025

Lexus Pipe Pro: Tyler Wright Triumphs, Barron Mamiya + Leo Fioravanti Deadlock For Men’s Crown

Victory goes to the Hawaiian, thanks to having the highest single scoring ride.

Feb 9, 2025

Watch: Channel 51 — A Lexus Pipe Pro Finals Day AltCast 

Live on Red Bull TV, featuring Coco Ho, Damien Fahrenfort, Josiah Amico, Hughie Vaughan, and…

Feb 8, 2025

Pipeline Erupts, Perfect 10s Drop, Slater Feasts On The Blood Of The Youth

Jack Robinson, John John Florence both eliminated despite posting 10s*.

Feb 8, 2025

Stab Highway East Coast (USA) Presented By Monster Energy, Episode 3

Outer Banks secret sessions, Waffle House meltdowns, and the worst way to try an air…

Feb 7, 2025

“When I Stand Up, I Want To Kill – Fucking Redlining Like I Want To Ruin The Wave”

Triple Crown winner Finn McGill blends vintage Pancho Sullivan power with a Stab High-worthy air…

Feb 7, 2025

International Crime Syndicate Steals Millions From California Surfers, Gets Caught By Local Vigilantes

Victims include: Taro Watanabe, Reef McIntosh, Tyler Gunter, and 'Snapt' creator Logan Dulien.

Feb 6, 2025

Attrition at Pipe: Six Specialists Eliminated After Grueling Day At Lexus Pipe Pro

Moana Jones-Wong, Erin Brooks, Vahine Fierro + other big names axed.

Feb 6, 2025

Big Idea, Small Budget, And A High Level Of Danger?

Who’s Stab gonna call: Miles Pitt.

Feb 5, 2025

The Story Behind Sammy Pupo’s Backdoor-Inflicted Shiner

“Everything went blurry and for 15 minutes, I was stumbling around, barely able to walk…

Feb 5, 2025

Once A Pipe Master, Always A Pipe Master

Robbie Page stars in Oxbow's 'Walkabout'.

Feb 4, 2025

Born or Built? The Psychology of Confronting Heavy Waves

Nurture in nature with Shane Dorian, Carissa Moore, Al Cleland, and CJ Hobgood.

Feb 3, 2025

SEOTY: Albee Layer Stars In ‘Pure’, Rants A Little, And Reveals His Post-Surfing Career Path

Plus, the one that got away.

Feb 2, 2025

Jah Bless: More Rasta Freesurfing Clips

Point break porn ft. two Dead Kooks ‘Yin Yangs’.

Feb 2, 2025

The 2024 Eddie Winner On Addiction, Jail Time, And His Long Road To Glory

The Stab interview with Landon McNamara.

Jan 31, 2025
Advertisement