Sport-heute: Sailing

23. Juli 2010, 15:14

Tavarua

I have been to Fiji many times over the past twenty-five years, with most of my trips having been to the tiny private island of Namotu, which is a windsurf and kitesurf paradise located about a twenty-minute boat ride off the coast of Nadi. At only a couple hundred meters across and about half that wide, Namotu is an amazing little resort. With three good waves, Namotu Lefts, Swimming Pools (a right), and Wilks (a right) there is almost always something to ride. I have been friends with the owner, Scotty O’Connor, for most of my life, and I have watched Namotu evolve from a rustic little surf camp into a high-end private resort. Until this summer, I had never stayed on the larger and more famous island only about a mile to the East of Namotu, the island of Tavarua.

Brüttisellen, 23.7.10 Red. (mk) To most surfers in the world, Tavarua is a dream destination. Over the past couple of decades, the world’s top surfers have competed there in some of the best waves on the planet. An exclusive surfing paradise, accommodations are by the week, and much of the year is booked long in advance by groups of friends. The private island at only 36 acres can host 36 guests in 14 guest bures. Neither Namotu nor Tavarua are inexpensive, but they are both all inclusive, and feature full bath, mini bar, ceiling fans and AC. The food is awesome, and more importantly the waves can be unforgettable.

Tavarua features two world-class waves: Cloudbreak and Restaurants. Both are lefts and both break like machines. Cloudbreak is an outer reef with deep-water exposure. It has a dredging barrel whether it is two feet or ten feet and really starts shining when the surf is above six foot Hawaiian. Restaurants is right off Tavarua, about 150 yards from the beach, and is one of the fastest, most perfect lefts I have ever seen. At low tide though, it breaks on nearly dry reef. There is also a playful right (Tavarua Rights) and a little wave off the beach called Kiddieland, but it is Cloudbreak and Restaurants that have made Tavarua famous.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to join Kai Lenny for a two-week window on Tavarua by legendary surf photographer Tom Servais. Tom spends several months per year shooting on Tavarua, and both guest groups and the owner of Tavarua, Jon Roseman, were ok with having a couple of standup guys join in. So with all green lights and my schedule open, I threw down the credit card and flew over for the second week of Kai’s stay (I could not stay the whole time, as the first week went over Easter… and with a three-year-old, I was not missing that!).

Kai scored some clean small days the first week, and a pretty good-sized swell the day before I arrived. The forecast looked decent for my week, but how quickly things change! My first day was one to two foot, with slightly onshore winds. It was good to get out and get wet, but not really what we were hoping for. The next day was even worse. The surf went basically flat, and the wind picked up to twenty knots. Kai and I went kitesurfing for an hour and boosted some big airs, but there was not even a six-inch wave to ride. As excited as I was to be on Tavarua, the forecast did not look great for the rest of the week. Although I would have loved to have waited it out, duty and family called, so I jumped on a plane back home. The forecast for early the next week had potential, so I promised to keep an eye on it and fly back if things transpired.

As luck would have it, the swell came together, and four days later I was back on a plane from Maui to Honolulu to Samoa to Nadi, along with four production SUPs: a 10’8 gun, an 8’10, an 8’4” and a 7’3”. I arrived back on Tavarua late Saturday afternoon, and Kai had just come in from windsurfing Cloudbreak. Kai said that the surf was a solid four foot, the winds were perfect for sailing, and he was totally stoked! I missed it, but I was there for standup anyway, the winds were dying off, and the surf was on its way up.

The next morning we were on the 6am boat out to Cloudbreak. The winds were dead and the surf was a consistent five foot Hawaiian with sets up to eight feet solid. There were six of us in the water, three short boards, one longboard, and Kai and I on stand-ups. We kept telling each other that if this were on Maui there would have been 100 guys out. Kai rode his 8’0 and I was on my 8’10.”

The waves were perfect. A rising tide made for a relatively safe inside section. At low tide the reef goes basically dry, so if you get caught inside or wipeout on an sup, you are in for a really ugly time. As the tide comes up, you can paddle in over the reef and work your way back around to the break… a long paddle, but doable. The best is not to get shut down though, and if you do, to get your board as fast as hell and get out before the next wave.
I managed to ride all morning and only got worked around the inside once. As with many spots, the more risk you take here, the more you have to be willing to pay for it riding an sup. Kai was ripping, but lost his paddle pulling into a barrel, and spent the next half hour searching for it on the inside with no luck. There is so much current running around that it simply disappeared. The next boat brought him out a spare, but about a half hour later he lost that one too…With neither of us ever having lost a paddle before, we learned that in an open ocean spot like that, especially if it is cloudy (making things hard to see on the water) we need to put a red ball or something below the handle so that you can see it if you ever have to let it go!
In any case we both had the sup session of our lives. Kai was riding both front side and backside and making both look like his natural foot. He surfs switch better than anyone I have ever seen. I was in heaven going left. Somehow being a goofy footer on Maui leaves a lot to be desired, and I had flown twice to Fiji in one week to finally ride some heavy frontside lefts. By the time we took the boat in for lunch, we were surfed out, the tide was a bit high, and the afternoon session was shaping up to be fantastic!

That afternoon we surfed six to eight foot Cloudbreak while Jon Roseman and the boatmen / lifeguards towed. Watching Jon pull into barrel after barrel with ease showed just how much time he has spent riding and mastering this wave. With perfect tow-in sized surf, this was the sup session that I had been dreaming of. Our high performance boards allow us to ride waves like never before. For sure Standup makes even the smallest waves fun, but this kind of wave combined with a board that you can really drive off the rail takes things to a whole new level.

We got caught inside a couple of times by some solid 8ft plus sets, so having the ski there was handy for helping retrieve a board after a broken leash. When you see a set outside you paddle like hell, but when it is big like this getting caught inside is inevitable… so you’d better be prepared for some beatings. Wave after wave, Cloudbreak never sections off or closes out. It is perfect. Paddling into the sets was pretty easy, as the lineup is fairly consistent and seldom runs wide. From there the wave is as tough or as easy as you want to make it; playful if you pump down the line, or dredging barrel if you stall back in the pocket. I ended the day with the claim that this was the best sup session that I had ever had, and I could not wait to get back out there.

In the late afternoon Kai and I surfed perfect waist high Restaurants all by ourselves. We were getting 150 yard long rides, wave after wave after wave. Every one broke exactly the same, and occasionally a head high set would come through. It was sup heaven. Anyone could surf there. Just don’t wipeout or straighten out near low tide, as the reef goes nearly dry with coral heads sticking up here and there just to remind you of what waits below if you do make a mistake.

The next morning the winds were light but had turned slightly making Cloudbreak a bit disorganized. We surfed Restaurants again, with occasional overhead sets and perfect offshore winds. Two more sessions during the day with a final evening surf as the sun went down culminated in a couple of visits to the reef. Two waves in a row I was dragged along the bottom, giving me some minor war wounds on my hand, arm, knee and chest. Coral cuts are mandatory proof that you were on a tropical surf trip! Kai had an even better one on his shoulder from an earlier meeting with the bottom at Cloudbreak. It looked like a tiger had clawed him on the back.

At six am the next morning we were on a boat, filled to the brim with both of our sup equipment, Kai’s windsurf, tow in, short board, and kitesurf gear. The check in from Nadi was interesting with our 11 pieces of luggage, but that’s what credit cards are for. The plane ride home was one story after another. It’s unreal to be able to surf with someone like Kai, and to be part of his evolution as a waterman. Although I am thirty years older than he is, we have a blast riding together. Kai had spent sixteen days on Tavarua, and had spent more time on the water than anyone could believe. My second two-day visit was short and sweet, and left me reeling for more. I timed it right, and got one of the best surf sessions of my life. I want to thank Tom Servais, Jon Roseman, the whole Tavarua Crew, Jeff Booth and the other guests on island for allowing Kai and I to Standup at these amazing spots. Tavarua is incredible, and I can’t wait to get back to Fiji. It is a board riding paradise, now standing high on my list of best SUP spots of all time!

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