The Magazine of The Sierra Club
Maya Gabeira Found Fame on a Borrowed Board
The "indestructible" Brazilian and lifelong environmentalist pays homage to the borrowed board that launched her career.
"I'm not quite sure what draws me to big waves. A lot of it is the challenge and the difficulty. The fear." | Photo courtesy of Pat Young/Lululemon Athletica
Maya Gabeira makes a living riding giant waves. The Encyclopedia of Surfing describes the 28-year-old Brazilian as "indestructible," and in 2009, ESPN awarded her the ESPY for Best Female Action Sports Athlete. She's been surfing since she was a teenager, and her environmentalist roots run even deeper. Her father, Fernando Gabeira, cofounded Brazil's Green Party in the 1980s, and Maya was often at his side during speeches when he ran for mayor of Rio de Janeiro in 2008. She is also a high-profile supporter of Oceana, the international ocean-conservation group. Her rise to surf stardom started on borrowed gear.
![\"My first big-wave board was never actually mine. I borrowed it from a friend, and I rode it for two or three years and then gave it back. It was 10 feet, 4 inches. Orange and white. I took it everywhere. That is the board I'll never forget. It was the on](/sites/default/files/uploads-wysiwig/2015-5-Enjoy-Artifact-Surfer-Maya-Gabeira-Surfing-WB-2.jpg "\\"My first big-wave board was never actually mine. I borrowed it from a friend, and I rode it for two or three years and then gave it back. It was 10 feet, 4 inches. Orange and white. I took it everywhere. That is the board I'll never forget. It was the on")
Gabeira at Maverick's in 2006. | Photo by Fred Pompermayer
In her words: "To be a female big-wave surfer, it doesn't take courage as much as it takes determination. I was 17 when I started. I'd just moved from Brazil to Hawaii, and I could barely speak English. I was so ambitious and fresh into that scene that it never occurred to me that it was going to be difficult. I didn't realize there weren't any women out surfing places like Waimea Bay. If I'd known how hard it would be, I might not have taken it as a professional path.
"My first big-wave board was never actually mine. I borrowed it from a friend, and I rode it for two or three years and then gave it back. It was 10 feet, 4 inches. Orange and white. I took it everywhere. That is the board I'll never forget. It was the one I discovered myself on.
"I had my first really memorable big-wave session on it at Waimea Bay. This was on February 6, 2006—Super Bowl Sunday. They were the biggest waves I'd surfed up to then. It was crowded, sunny, beautiful, a solid 20-foot day. I was very scared. I remember riding this one wave by myself, which is rare at Waimea. That wave stuck with me for a long time.
"The same winter, I brought the board with me the first time I left Hawaii in search of big waves. I went to Maverick's [in Northern California] and Todos Santos [in Mexico]. I got a little bit of recognition out of that trip, so that's kind of where my professional career started.
"I've always enjoyed doing things that demand absolute focus. Riding big waves is so intense and dangerous. Those are moments when I'm fully present. So many days we're just living our lives and nothing memorable happens. I think it's beautiful to have something in your life that, when it comes together, you can remember the date and everything that led up to it."
