Looking out to sea. Perhaps wondering what was happening at Maverick's, wondering if they'd picked the right spot. As it turned out, about 20 surfers were paddling in circles at Maverick's at the time, trying not to get killed. Screaming for help, he got rescued only by a boat crew throwing him a life preserver. Conditions at Todos looked much better, though when the tide finally began to drop at noon, I felt a faint onshore breeze.
Nothing spoils surf faster.
If the swell didn't hit sometime soon, and if that wind kept building, this whole mission would end up a colossal waste of time. Suddenly, Killers turned on. Loya lay on his board and paddled for the horizon as two outsize sine curves bent out of the benthos and bore down on the crowd. The others followed. Malloy wheeled first and caught one, absolutely free-falling for perhaps ten feet, somehow landing on his board.