Montauk Pioneer - October 10, 2008

Aloha! With waves of economical disaster pounding the concrete jettyies of Wall Street while simultaneously reaching out to main street USA, others have been riding global tidal waves. In one case, a wave generated by an Alaskan glacier.

The secret to good surfing is when the surf rider is in possession of a well conditioned mind and able to remain calm even in the midst of grave danger.

For Hawaii's, Garrett McNamara, aka G-MAC, it was through his parents, surfing the North Shore of Oahu island and Aloha that keeps him riding big waves. His love for the land (aina), sea (kai) and its inhabitants that allowed him to embrace the big wave riding challenge with passion and trusting his senses. It is this skill and gift that grants him safe passage through the gateway of surfing's equivalent of the Garden of Eden, and into surfing's most euphoric out-of-body experience.

G-MAC and his Tow-in partner Keali'i Mamala, the best duo on the Big-Wave competition circuit today, seek out elusive surf in excess of 40 feet using the internet and cutting-edge marine forecasting tools to locate big rollers. These kinds of waves are always spawned by storm generated winds traveling across a long fetch one week in advance.

Mamala and McNamara train extremely hard while engaged in rigorous exercise through ancient underwater cave diving and rock walking regiments coupled with land-based breathing exercises as was the case with the great illusionist, Harry Houdini. To his credit, Keali'i Mamala owns the current world record for the largest wave ever ridden without the aid of personal watercraft in 2007 at Maverick's.

"Riding 40' plus surf is like driving down a dirt road at 200 miles per hour with an avalanche only a few feet behind you as it threatens to gobble you up," say's G-MAC. To gain deeper access within the mind of the world's best surfer, as noted by his peers, please visit www.garrettmcnamara.com.

Montauk sports a unique stimulus, contained within the bubble-like shield, preserving copious amounts of positive energy in varying wave forms that allow the mind to excel effortlessly. It also allows it to travel deep within a broad array of subject matter that can strategically assist those seeking to manifest their soul within an Alaskan or social-economic big wave riding experience.

When I questioned young Hawaiian professional surfers Jason Magallanes, Makamae DeSoto, Keali'i Mamala, G-MAC, Puna Moller and Kainalu Froiseth last month while huddled around my vehicle during the Surfer's Healing event regarding their unbiased opinion of our beach and scene, the overwhelming consensus was; "Uncle, the Mana (an impersonal force or quality within people, animals, and inanimate objects; a concept of our native Hawaiian oceanic tongue) is definitely strong here," says Makamae DeSoto, son of All-American linebacker Manny DeSoto, a well decorated surfer from Makaha.

For the sake of our youth and the preservation of one of six special locations on this globe, I am hoping that you too will harness the "Mana of Montauk," as if it were a carte-blanche pass to gain entry into the spiritual realm of surfing and permit your soul to manifest within everyday experiences, transforming those special oceanic moments into a big wave riding experience with the grace of a gull gliding like the wind over the ocean.

Quote of the Week: When you examine the lives of the most influential people who have ever walked among us, you discover one thread that winds through them all. They have been aligned first with their spiritual nature and only then with their physical selves.