Annals of Adventure–Just Keep, Surfing, Surfing, Surfing..: The local Indians call it Pororoca, which means “Great Roar.” The rest of the folks who live along the Amazon just call it “The Murderer” or “The Monster.” Just what the hell are they talking about? Some stone-age beast lurking in the jungle? Maybe a plus-sized jaguar? Nope. The Pororoca is a tidal wave, but not just any tidal wave. It happens only in February and March, twice a day over a three day period. Take the Amazon River at high tide, a full moon, and the billions of extra gallons of water added by seasonal rains, and you get an utterly predictable wall of water–up to a mile and a half wide, moving at almost 20 mph–sweeping toward the Atlantic. For most river dwellers, the arrival of the Pororoca means run like hell for high ground, wait till its all over, and then return home to salvage what remains. But for a few hardy, possibly insane, adventurers it means something entirely different. It means the world’s longest surfing wave, a wave that sweeps the surfer through piranha infested waters, past floating logs and crocodiles, and through clouds of the world’s most voracious mosquitos. And, if the surfer survives all that, the Pororoca may just mean a new world record. At least that’s what Picuruta Salazar hopes. Last year the laid-back 43-year-old Brazilian hopped up on his long board, caught a ride with the Pororoca, and surfed it for 37 minutes and 7.5 miles. Cowabunga, Dude. That was a world record, and this year Salazar will be back to try and break his own mark. The Pororoca window opens wide from March 27 to March 29, and Salazar and a crowd of other extreme surfers will be there to catch it, rip it, and…hopefully…survive it. This is some crazy surfin’ sh*t and TWC will bring you all the action in late March….



Salazar Sets Off: “Man, I hope I don’t need to take a whizz in the next half hour….”

(Photo: Rick Werneck via SurferVillage.Com)