I've got some backstory. Did a series of interviews for a surf mag about that day years ago. One of the guys I talked to was Ryan Moss, a surf photog who was on the green boat.

So, we got out there and were in an amazing position. Our boat driver was phenomenal. He’s been in some situations you can only dream of, if you’re a filmer, or a photographer. We were really far in, there were no boats in our way, and every clip prior to that wave of Raimana’s, we were in the best position possible. And you can’t really ask for more than that.

I remember going to the back of the boat, because I felt more comfortable shooting from there, when all of a sudden Raimana’s wave came in. I was so focused on documenting his wave I didn’t realize the situation we were in, suddenly, the whole entire ocean pretty much just went black in front of us. Raimana made the wave and the next thing I know everyone is yelling and screaming, terrified, and I hear the engine starting to gun it. I tried to grab on to the first thing I saw, I think it was the cooler. I put my camera underneath me like a football, and was thinking, “Here we go, we’re gonna flip. We’re done. There’s no way we’re coming out of this alive or in a good position.”

After that it was pure chaos. As soon as I regained awareness of where I was, and what was going on, I looked back and saw that a Hollywood producer who was with us, and a guy from Ventura who was friends with the producer, were in the channel. They didn’t have any experience in the water, let alone in big surf, and definitely were not in physical shape. I remember going, “Oh my god, they’re gonna die. There’s no way.”

They probably took two or three more waves on top of the head, and all my attention went to them. I knew my camera was fried, Elliot’s RED camera was broken, and Pat, Alex Gray and I were still on the boat, along with our two drivers. I yelled to Pat and Alex to throw me my swim fins, so I could go in after them. These guys had no chance of survival if someone didn’t go in and save them. I mean these guys are, literally, completely out of shape. But, by that time, they had already been rescued by Shane Dorian’s ski, and one other Tahitian driver who had gone in after them.

We had no say in their decision to come. I remember a specific discussion beforehand. They’d brought me on because Shane recommended me for this project, and between Pat and I we have a lot of experience in big waves, in Tahiti especially. We had a conversation about, “What if?” What to bring, and what situations could potentially happen, and when I saw what the swell was doing I like, “Hey you guys know, no joking around, I’m scared shitless by this. I was there that day, I know what could happen, I don’t think we’ll be in that position, but you never know.”

Afterward, one of the guys, Brookes, he was really shaken up by the entire incident, and he asked me, “How do you deal with this? How do you deal with being in these situations?” And I just lied to his face. I told him, “You know what, your spirit is strong and your body is weak, you should just walk away from this knowing that you’re stronger than you think.” I just tried to make light of the whole entire situation to him. But, in the back of my mind, I wanted to tell him, “You are so fucking lucky, you have no clue how lucky you are.”

You can read the entire thing here.