Free surfer Reef McIntosh makes his living at Pipeline. When Pipe is firing, Reef is on it, along with an elite fraternity of  ‘Pipe Specialists’ who — after years of paying their dues and showing respect for what is arguably the most revered wave on the planet—have earned their place in the hallowed line-up.

Asked about his most memorable moments from this past season on the North Shore, McIntosh recalled, “yeah, January and February were a lot better than December. We had solid back-to-back-to-back late season swells. It was insane.” Since Pipe typically puts on its best show from November through February, we wanted to quiz Reef on what he does during all that down time.

Q:  How does your routine change once the North Shore shuts down for the season?

Reef: When the Quiksilver house closes up in March, I usually go back to Kauai for a week or two.  Then…you know…I’ll go to Tavarua on Jeff Booth’s trip in April.  That’s usually a really good trip. Since I was a kid, I remember seeing all these great shots of Jeff surfing epic Cloudbreak. Unfortunately, this year it absolutely sucked, and I didn’t surf once.  But I brought my dad over for his 60th birthday and I had my girlfriend with me, so I really didn’t care so much. I just like being there.  

Q:  What other water activities do you get into when you’re not surfing? 

Reef.  If I’m not surfing, I’m pretty much surfing the couch, or I’m on the phone. Everybody thinks I have a manager or an agent, just seeing what I’ve done. But I don’t, so I spend a lot of time setting things up with sponsors, magazines and photographers.

Read more of the interview …

(Source: Global Surf News - Photo by Dave Nelson)