The twin-prop plane banks hard to the right as the captain announces that we have begun our descent to Walvis Bay Airport. Outside the small window lies a sea of undulating yellow, a vast ocean of desert and sand dunes that stretch into the belly of Africa. Most of the passengers have their heads pressed against the window to get a better look, but Thomas King stares straight ahead, gripping the armrests of his seat. His palms are sticky with sweat. It's not just the motion of the plane that unnerves him. Somewhere below us lies the ferocious wave known as Skeleton Bay, a mile-long ride that breaks with unmatched speed and power along the edge of the Namib Desert.
A former big-wave surfer, King has dreamed of riding this anomaly since it was unveiled to the world in a 2009 SURFING magazine article. At first, he simply wanted to tackle it on a surfboard, but King later hatched an audacious plan: He was going to ride the wave on a SUP.
King has always been a versatile waterman, riding shortboards and longboards in-between his big-wave exploits. It was inevitable he would try standup paddling, and as soon as he picked up a paddle, he was hooked. The South African quickly became one of his country's top competitors, winning the Huntington Beach Pro trials in 2014 and charging waves like Sapinus in Tahiti. At the same
