Brazilian professional surfer Pedro “Scooby” Vianna takes an epic spill from his board during a storm in Nazaré, Portugal. By February 28, Scooby was tearing down the tide at 45 miles an hour on his rattling surfboard. There was a 70-foot mountain of water avalanching behind him. The seething spume nipped him from behind and sent him bombing into the fray in a violent back flop.
Scooby’s friend and fellow Brazilian, Lucas "Chumbo" Chianca, rode in on a jet ski to pick him up before the next monster set rolled in. Scooby grabbed ahold of a rear tow board latched to the jet ski, and they sped away in an attempt to outrun the next wave. Chumbo soon lost control in the choppy whitewater, and the jet ski capsized near some dangerous rocks. Another massive wave was right behind them. Two people now needed a rescue. How did Scooby and Chumbo finally escape the chaos? Everaldo "Pato" Teixeira, a veteran big wave surfer from Brazil, tore in on yet another jet ski. In a deft and coolheaded rescue bolstered by years of experience, Teixeira rescued Chumbo and Scooby, both of whom were relatively unscathed. This episode ended well and became one of the main highlights of the Big Wave Season, the drone video went viral after it was used on a Red Bull Production and later licensed to National Geographic, reaching 20 million views in few days, dozens of media outlets picked up the story, the footage is currently being licensed for several feature documentaries across the globe, and is now perhaps the most viewed piece of footage of Nazaré.
