"I mean, I've been seeing those types of waves my whole life. But I was never brave enough to do it. I always thought, 'Maybe I could get one from there'. Then, the other day (a December 8 session) kind of catalysed that slightly."<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mel was referring to a session last month in which he'd already jagged a massive Mavericks ride. The previous wave was bigger but did not result in the deep, flawless barrel that Mel scored in the latest session.<\/p>\n
"We've had bigger swells, bigger days, right? That was just one of those waves," he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n "We've always thought about, talked about trying to put ourselves in those positions towing-in but we were kind of frightened. And I think with the bigger board, and just the way I was slower into it, I wasn't going as fast, so I didn't outrun it. <\/p>\n "I was just pitted and that was because I paddled, you know? It's just one of those things where you think you can paddle it. You think you can do it but you just don't know until you do it. And finally, I got an opportunity."<\/p>\n Mel admitted that he'd had a curious reaction to the ride: "Depressed", wondering if that was as good as his life would ever get.<\/p>\n