Soul Surfer Johnny

“You guys know about Bruno, don’t you?” asked Waltah. About half the Texans and Tyronys did not know the story of Bruno, who was already famous in the late ‘70s. He was a 15-foot hammerhead shark who lived at the Point, the second primary surf break in Puerto, about two miles down the beach. It was a world-class left-hand point break that could hold perfection into the 40-foot range. It doesn’t start breaking until main break goes over eight feet, and doesn’t get good until main is in the 12-15-foot range. So it doesn’t get ridden all the time, only when the surf’s big. “Bruno has lived at the Point for years,” Waltah told the crowd, “nobody knows how long. He was here when we came and started surfing the Point. It’s his territory,” he said. “But he never bothers the surfers, and the surfers never bother him. He was almost tame, he was so used to having surfers in the lineup.” All the surfers were paying rapt attention to this tale. “They say he likes to come up under surfers’ feet, and brush them as he cruises underneath, just to scare the be-jesus out of them. One surfer told me Bruno came up under him one day, and stopped. The guy said he actually stood up on Bruno’s back, put all his weight on Bruno, and he didn’t budge.”