“It was a unique and surreal experience, starting with the landscape of a sea with drifting icebergs, which is different every day,” the professional surfer, who lives in London but spends almost half the year in Portugal, told Lusa news agency.
It all began with a challenge launched by Spanish surfer Jorge Abian, which involved some preparation and many risks, in a very icy location where the water temperature was minus two degrees, without waves, and culminated in the production of a video documentary that is now circulating worldwide.
From Iceland, a group of four people traveled in early August to Ilulissat, in southwestern Greenland, to a place where 90% of the population is Eskimo, where they stayed for nine days without access to electricity or running water.
“We were three hours away by boat from civilization, which could turn into six or seven hours if there was more ice on the way,” said Eurico Romaguera Gonçalves, who started surfing as a child and became professional at 23.
The surfer from Figueira da Foz took advantage of the time of year when conditions are not so harsh and managed to surf a wave caused by the detachment of ice from a 200-meter-high glacier, equivalent to the implosion of a skyscraper.
“It makes a lot of noise, it sounded like thunder. It’s very intimidating and I was very scared at some parts of the trip, but fortunately everything went well,” he said, emphasizing that he was “very lucky.”
“We only caught the wave on one day. It was very lucky because it was a very short trip. Theoretically, we should have stayed there for two weeks, but it’s tough, very tough, because it’s very cold and there’s no electricity or running water,” he added.
The feat was recorded in a video that is now circulating worldwide through YouTube and various platforms, as well as appearing in world-renowned surf magazines and on Spanish television.
“I don’t know if this experience is to be repeated because we really took a lot of risks and it was quite dangerous, although fortunately it went well,” said Eurico Romaguera Gonçalves, noting that the initiative could be repeated, “but under different conditions.”
With new challenges ahead, the surfer is in a period of filtering proposals and will remain in Figueira da Foz until the end of September, actively participating in the organization of the 11th Gliding Bernacles, which will take place from September 18 to 22.
Eurico Romaguera Gonçalves considers himself one of the “10/15” national surfers professionally linked to ‘freesurf’, a variant outside of competition that consists of testing boards, wetsuits, and promoting international surf locations.
