Nathan Florence Attempts the Impossible, Tries to Paddle The Right (Video)
Over the past few years, Nathan Florence has demonstrated a remarkable aptitude for traveling the world, paddling out when the waves are pulsing and finding the cone of the day/month/year at any given spot.
Case in point in Nathan’s latest video: After flying in from Chile to Western Australia, basically a full day’s worth of moving, Nathan announces the next day he’s going to paddle The Right, the notorious tow-only unidirectional slab he has not seen in person.
“I don’t think anyone has done it on a standup yet,” he said. “We’re aiming to paddle some legit ones. Not some normal insiders, a proper wave.”
When he arrived with local boy Ned Hart, the Australian immediately called the brown water kindy “evil,” likely due to recent rain and runoff. A promising start. For the next three hours, Nathan sat on his 8’ dodging jetskis, a few brace bodyboarders and mutant south wedges. He eventually gets a smaller one, but it’s not what he came for. It’s not often Nathan heads back to the channel “embarrassed and frustrated.”
Maybe The Right is one of the few waves left that just can’t be paddled. From the prone standpoint, the speed, thickness and steepness of the peak make it look downright impossible. And this is on a relatively “approachable” day. But as Nathan explains, given enough time in the lineup and in the “right” conditions (sorry, had to), the potential is there. Tip of the cap to Nathan for having a dig.
“The thing is with that wave it’s total commitment,” he said. “If the set comes, you have to make the decision to go and be so under it that you’re either going on the wave or going over the falls. There’s no looking or pulling back. If you’re able to pull back, you were never going to make the drop, I think. So a lot to think about. Will definitely be back. Will try again. I think there’s a better day out there. There’s always another swell.”
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