If there’s a surfable ripple anywhere on Earth, Ben Gravy will sniff it out.
The latest stop on the novelty-wave specialist’s never-ending quest took him to Canada’s Petitcodiac River, where he chased the elusive phenomenon known as a tidal bore—a wave created when an incoming tide pushes upriver against the natural flow of water.
The setup sounded promising. According to Gravy, the incoming tide surge measured roughly 20 feet, transforming the river as seawater rushed inland. The actual wave, however, was another story. Turns out, even 20-foot tides don’t make 20-foot waves.
Rather than a roaring wall of water, the tidal bore resembled little more than a moving bump sliding up the river channel. For most surfers, it would hardly qualify as a wave at all.
For Ben Gravy, it was perfect.
Armed with one of his trademark oversized soft-top surfboards, Gravy paddled into the tiny surge and somehow found enough energy to glide along its face. As always, the wave itself wasn’t really the point. The adventure was.
“This thing is a true modern miracle,” Gravy marveled.
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The Petitcodiac tidal bore has become a local attraction in New Brunswick, drawing spectators eager to watch the river suddenly reverse direction as the Bay of Fundy’s famously massive tides surge inland. The Bay of Fundy is home to the highest tides on Earth, making it one of the few places where tidal bores of this scale can occur regularly.
Naturally, Gravy wasn’t content with simply riding the wave.
In one of the video’s highlights, he managed the river-surfing equivalent of shooting the pier, timing his ride perfectly and gliding beneath a bridge as the tidal bore rolled downstream. It wasn’t quite Malibu Pier, but it gets points for the novelty factor.
The wave won’t be appearing on anyone’s list of the world’s best surf breaks anytime soon. But that’s never been Gravy’s mission.
While most surfers spend their lives searching for perfect waves, Gravy continues searching for interesting ones—and somehow keeps finding them in the most unexpected places imaginable.
As Gravy always says, “for the dream!”
Related: Ben Gravy and Zeke Claim ‘Historic Biggest Ferry Wave on Record’ (Video)
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