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Posted on Friday October 28th 2011 at 11:41 a.m.
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The swell started to arrive Sunday afternoon, but the peak was reached Monday, October 17th. McNamara and Macias rode waves of 15 meters, with Garrett riding one around 20 meters. GMAC, as he is also known, decided to traditional paddle with his Waimae gun, successfully catching and riding the largest wave paddled into this year and the largest ever paddled into in Portugal, 15 meters.
"There was so much wind and so much water moving that we had to choose the perfect place to paddle", said GMAC, continuing: "The waves were perfect for the first swell of this year's exploration. It was a good warm up for the waves to come."
The swell diminished on Tuesday, but still Garrett and CJ, accompanied by Andrew Cotton - the English surfer that also participated in last year's exploration, returned to Nazaré to surf the waves of Praia do Norte that reached 5 meters.
McNamara is back to embark on another mission exploring the waves of Nazaré, in the ZON North Canyon Show 2011. This is the second mission of a three years project, initiated last year. This is a Nazaré City Hall and ZON project to internationally promote the region as a destination for surfing, show casing the unique aspects of the "Nazaré Canyon".
The "Nazaré Canyon" is a rare geographical phenomenon, the biggest in Europe and one of the largest in the world, which can be explained as a gap on the continental plate with 170 kilometers of length and 5 kilometers of depth. The "Nazaré Canyon", that is located right in front of Praia do Norte, receives the swells from the Atlantic Ocean and creates waves with abnormal size, compared to the rest of the Portuguese coast.
NAZARÉ MAKES HISTORY ENTERING INTO THE BILLABONG XXL GLOBAL BIG WAVE AWARDS 2012 WITH GARRETT MCNAMARA
Nazaré makes surf history with the largest waves ever ridden in Portugal. Garrett McNamara's wave has been entered into the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards 2012, considered the "Oscars" of big wave ridding. This is the first time that a wave from Portugal has been entered into the competition.
The pictures from Portuguese photographer Wilson Ribeiro are already at the site of the event in www.billabongxxl.com, in the "Biggest Wave" category.
Miguel Sousinha, president of Nazaré Qualifica, said: "It's an honor to be selected to this award. It's the recognition of the uniqueness of Praia do Norte and it's one more step in the way for the consolidation of the communication strategy of Praia do Norte as a destiny of excellence for sports waves."