Jackson looks at his father with understanding, takes a deep breath and says, “OK.” Then he grabs his board and heads back out into the waves for a second session by himself. “It’s so dangerous out there and the risks are so significant that if I get one really good wave, I’m good for the day—I’m good for the year, sometimes.”.That might seem like an odd attitude for someone who earns his living by surfing, but Dorian is forging his own way as a professional surfer, and it’s working out for him just fine. The second release, the Shane Dorian, is crafted in collaboration with world renowned professional surfer, Shane Dorian. We use cookies to deliver a reliable and personalised Magicseaweed experience. “The waves are getting better,” Jackson says. Photos by Kirk Lee Aeder.Shane Dorian spent eleven years as a professional surfer on the World Championship Tour, retiring in 2003 to concentrate on surfing extra-large waves. Moments later his board broke free of the water and Dorian went into a free fall, a bad turn of events that onlookers had every right to believe was about to end terribly. While he sometimes hunts pigs, sheep and goats, he mostly goes after deer these days. “All the introduced mammals in Hawai‘i are really hard on the native forest and our watersheds,” he says. “I need bow hunting to keep me sane.” Some people surf after work to blow off steam, he says. The wave pushed him deep into one of Mavericks’ notorious trenches, where an underwater waterfall effect can pin surfers to the bottom. The kids call him Uncle Shane or just Jackson’s dad.Dorian spent eleven years as a pro surfer on the World Championship Tour before retiring in 2003 to focus on riding big waves. Now he can hardly keep him out of the water.“I’m done, buddy,” Dorian says. Dorian didn’t want to push his son to follow in his footsteps; he let him find his own way there. With or without contest wins, he’s still regarded as one of the best big-wave riders in the world today.But he kept on surfing, and after he turned fifteen he began spending half of the school year on O‘ahu’s North Shore, during the big-wave season. The entry fee is a can of food for the local food bank. People tend to have time for you here.”,Near the entrance to the property’s long driveway through the woods stands a cutout of a deer for target practice, as well as one tall tree displaying a dozen ram skulls. “As far as surfing big waves, you’re crazy if you paddle out without knowing the absolute basics and having a plan in case something goes wrong.”.A steady stream of locals pat Dorian on the shoulder and shake his hand with friendly greetings. In smaller surf, one is never enough. His big-wave exploits have won him numerous accolades and awards, including the Billabong Ride of the Year Award in both 2015 and 2016.

“We don’t buy any red meat in my family, and we eat meat pretty consistently,” he says. “Anyone who surfs should be doing CPR courses and learning how to save people’s lives, because it doesn’t take big waves to kill somebody,” he says.

He’s encouraging but firm. But the experience deeply rattled him, making him think about leaving the sport. Through a collaboration with Billabong and a Canadian company called Mustang Survival, which builds marine and aerospace safety suits, Dorian came up with a wetsuit equipped with a built-in air bladder and CO2 canisters.

Surfing on the North Shore sharpened Dorian’s competitive skills, and soon he was part of the loose-knit group of young, dynamic surfers who emphasized aerial maneuvers and tail slides in what became known as surfing’s New School movement. But just as he returned to the surface, another monster wave engulfed him, sending him back to the bottom for another long hold-down.When Dorian surfaced he was dazed and half drowned. He knows that because Jackson is small for his age, it’s easy for other kids in a crowded lineup to block him from getting waves. Dorian began bow hunting when he and his wife moved into this house in an effort to keep the wild pigs, which would dig up anything the couple planted, in check. “It’s so dangerous out there and the risks are so significant that if I get one really good wave, I’m good
 for the day,” he says. Hunting soon became Dorian’s favorite hobby. Here, Dorian takes the top of a fun-size wave
in Kailua-Kona.Just before the start of the 2015 Pe‘ahi Challenge. He’s hunting and fishing and skateboarding and surfing and generally spending his time out from under a … The New Schoolers included the likes of Kelly Slater, still a close friend of Dorian. He enjoys taking care of an orchard that consists of 110 fruit trees at an elevation of 4000 feet above sea level. “You go down to the beach, and people are spending time with their kids, teaching them how to throw net [the traditional Hawaiian fishing method] and how to clean fish. Dorian began bow hunting when he and his wife moved into this house in an effort to keep the wild pigs, which would dig up anything the couple planted, in check. With the pull of a cord, the bladder inflates on the surfer’s back and rockets him or her back to the surface.“I think the inflatable vest has changed so much as far as the safety aspect and people coming home to their families at night after the swell,” Dorian says.

The nightly routine will have to wait.If there’s a wave too big, Shane Dorian hasn’t found it.Story by Kyveli Diener. But he also wants his son to gain confidence to paddle out without him. His father watches from the rocks. It’s built to be a rugged watch that is at home … Dorian received his first surfboard, from his dad, on his fifth birthday. The approach translated nicely to the small, glassy, high-performance waves of Kailua-Kona, where Dorian surfed during the other half of the school year.Dorian’s mother lived in Hōlualoa, the small upland town in the Kona Coffee Belt above Kailua-Kona—a short downhill drive to the beach. That, and he is hoping that by not getting back in the water, he will get them home sooner for the nightly routine of homework, dinner, bath time and bed.There was a time when Jackson showed little interest in his father’s sport. When the board reconnected with the wave’s face, Dorian was still on it, regaining control and riding the wave to completion. ".So, here he is, in super rippable conditions doing just that.