Beginning before dawn on Tuesday, streams of cars and people packed the streets and shores of tiny Princeton, California, all moving in the same direction as if drawn by some irresistible force.

That force was the "Super Bowl of Surfing."

On one of the most beautiful days ever seen along the often foggy and windswept San Mateo County coastline, thousands of spectators and 24 of the world's ballsiest surfers turned out for the 2006 Mavericks Big Wave Surf Contest at Pillar Point.

From the start of the first heat at 8:00 AM, huge mountains of water the size of small office buildings, the world-famous Mavericks "The Voodoo Wave," could be seen rising up out of the horizon, just beyond a large set of rocks at the apex of the Pillar Point reef. Occasionally an unnatural beast of a wave would rise up head and shoulders above the others and crash with such concussive force that it would elicit a low murmur of admiration throughout the crowd: "Ooh-hoo, that was just a slab, man, that was a fucking slab."

The biggest waves came in tightly packed six- to eight-wave sets moving at more than 20 MPH. Most contestants chose to wait until the back end of these sets before dropping in because all waves in the Mavericks break funnel through the inside rocks known as the "Cheese Grater." If a surfer eats it on one of the first waves of a big set, they are in great danger of being unable to recover and paddle out of the break before the remaining waves crush them into the reef below. At their zenith, the waves were showing average face heights of 30 to 40 feet. In typical Mavericks fashion, the waves were mostly breaking left to right, but Nathan Fletcher was able rip a couple of short lefties. Last year no riders went left.

Of the 60,000 spectators estimated to have been there (attendance figures varied wildly), probably only about 100 had unobstructed views of the entire break, not counting the press, who got exclusive access to the restricted clifftop vantages of Pillar Point US Air Force Station. Many spectators decided to go postmodern and watch the event on the huge mobile Jumbotron screen that event organizers had set up in the parking lot. The Jumbotron offered some much needed close-up views and provided nice context when compared with views from the cliff tops.

For those unable to see all the action, a PA announcer provided some much needed play-by-play. Note to selves: next year add a pair of cleats and a tall stepladder to our Mavericks daypack.

Like the US Open at the Olympic Club or the San Francisco Grand Prix, this was an important local sporting event of international significance, but it was really an event to attend rather than to watch. Most of the spectators probably never even saw a single surfer, except on the Jumbotron. But they were there, and 25 years from now when the old timers are sitting around the Old Princeton Landing or Ketch Joanne's telling fish stories, the 2006 Mavericks surf contest will be one of the tales they'll tell. Today was the stuff of local legend.

We're not sure which was more dangerous, the surfing or climbing the steep, crumbly cliff faces in hopes of catching a glimpse of somebody doing something out in the surf. Throughout the day, spectators down on the beach or at lower points along the cliff faces, had to be alert for a constant stream of debris coming down the cliffs, knocked loose by spectators higher up who were scrambling for better position. The unregulated access to the cliff faces was just an accident waiting to happen all day, and during the final round, three spectators were struck by falling debris from the cliff tops; one woman was seriously injured. Mark our words, because of this incident and the damage inflicted by thousands of people scrambling up the sensitive cliffsides, spectators will not be allowed to sit on the cliff faces next year. In fact, Clayton Jolley, Half Moon Bay Fire Protection District operations division chief stated Tuesday that "those rocks are unstable, people shouldn't be out there. Maverick's is a great event, but it's not a spectator event." Uh-oh.

The rest of the day was perfect though, and the mood was very mellow, from the festive spectators to the surprisingly restrained law enforcement presence. Every "cool" high school boy within 50 miles was on the beach with his crew and a cooler of cheap beer, making a scene and being seen. For the most part, the squirreliness one might expect at a Slipknot or System of a Down concert was kept to a minimum, but there was plenty of teenagery to go around. The boys were not without their natural counterparts -- blonde (natural or otherwise) surf betties and Paris Hilton misfires in midriff shirts and short shorts displaying the coolest and hippest in stocking caps, oversized sunglasses, and faux-retro t-shirts. It was a marketing demographer's dream scene.

It was surprising how many school-age kids, many there with their parents, were given license to play hookie and check out the event. Of course, given the huge numbers of adults truant from their jobs, and the fact that this may have been the biggest event ever in the history of Princeton/El Granada/Half Moon Bay, nobody seemed to mind. Kids, dogs, and adults were running around loose, laughing, smiling, and shaking their heads in admiration and amazement -- everybody was intoxicated by the sun and the energy.

The weather definitely added to the festive and positive atmosphere. Days like Tuesday are about one in 365 out on the coast: not a cloud in the sky, not even a breath of wind, temperatures in the seventies. This was February on the coast?

Down in the water, the first round saw some gnarly upsets, with last-year's winner Anthony Tashnick, all-around favorite Peter Mel, and three-time past champion Darryl "Flea" Virostko failing to advance to the semis.

Last year the judges reviewed the competitors from boats down in the channel, but this year, they watched from the cliff tops of the Air Force installation to get a better overall impression of each ride. Each heat lasted for 45 minutes; riders could catch as many waves as they wanted, with the their top two rides counting for points. For each heat in the first round, as well as the semi-finals and the finals, there were six surfers in the water competing for waves.

After more than six hours of mind-boggling waves and incredible surfing, the finals seemed almost anticlimatic. Spectators and competitors alike seemed satisfied just to have participated in the glory of the event. In fact, the finals were almost overshadowed by the unexpected. During a brief lull, a noncompetitor was able to slip into the queue and catch an unauthorized ride, much to the amusement of the crowd.

Acoustic-reggae-surf-rockers Bag of Toys kept spectators entertained after the semi-final round, and legendary local jammers The Mermen maintained the day's energy before the awards ceremony with their always trippy reverb-rich sounds.

Officially, the winner, Grant "Twiggy" Baker from South Africa, received a cardboard check for $30,000 and a $4,000 diamond-studded Reactor sports watch (Don't ask us why anybody would want a sports watch worth $4,000 -- does it have a Velcro watchband?). Unofficially, Twiggy got the eternal admiration and respect of his fellow big-wave surfers and every single person out there who caught a glimpse of the watery terror that he braved and bested. Twiggy also got to keep fellow competitor and reknowned surfboard shaper Randy Cone's surfboard, which he borrowed for this event. Before the competition, Cone had told Twiggy that if he made the finals, he could keep the board.

Tyler Smith of Santa Cruz won second place and $10,000, while Brock Little of Hawai'i won $5,000 for third place. Evan Slater won the Green Room award for spending the most time ensconced in the menacing embrace of the Mavericks tubes. The Jay Moriarty Award for inspirational relations in the surf community went to Matt Ambrose.

For those that missed it, NBC was there filming for their Maverick's Surf Contest special to be aired on May 13, 2006.

Long after the last cars had inched their way on to Highway 1 and headed for home, the sounds of relief, camaraderie, and pure joy could be heard drifting across the darkened waters of Pillar Point Marina from the contestants' afterparty at the Harbor House in Princeton. Ain't we lucky we got 'em, good times.