A surfing cinematographer in Hawaii captured the moment a charter boat teetered on the verge of disaster while returning into the harbor in the heaviest surf of the year.
Bruno Lemos, a longtime resident of Hawaii, felt sure the boat returning from a sunset cruise would capsize, as did the others standing nearby him on Magic Island overlooking Ala Moana Harbor between Honolulu and Waikiki.
Lemos told USA Today/For The Win Outdoors that he was drawn to the site last week to photograph surfers in the biggest south swell of the year in Hawaii.
“I drove for one hour, all the way from the North Shore to Ala Moana where normally we see the most powerful waves on the South Shore,” he told For The Win Outdoors.
“This incident happened around 6 p.m. right when the biggest set of the day came, closing the entrance of the channel where the boat comes in for docking. So when I see the boat close to the lineup, I switched from shooting still to shooting video because it was clear something was about to happen.
“Everyone around had the same feeling as me—that boat was in trouble.”
Passengers held on for dear life as a wave hit the boat and turned it sideways. Fortunately the boat caught the next wave like a surfer, thanks to the maneuvering of the captain.
“At first I thought we would witness a very bad scene,” Lemos told For The Win Outdoors. “But when the boat’s captain managed to get out of the surfing zone, I was actually really [happy] for everyone.”
Photos courtesy of Bruno Lemos and ViralHog.
