FRENCH POLYNESIA - HOPE AND FEAR!

FRENCH POLYNESIA – HOPE AND FEAR!

The South Pacific Ocean consists of thousands of islands and atolls that were discovered and populated back in the day by the Polynesians. Those brave explorers challenged the deep blue waters of the Pacific with their small two hulled canoes navigating by the stars, the currents and winds to take them to new lands. My destination on this boat trip was French Polynesia; in particular the remote Tuamotus archipelago, composed of 78 atolls and hundreds of small islands or “Motus” as the locals call them. Most of these islands are deserted and completely virgin territory but I knew there was potential for waves in this region. Our plan was to explore the Motus, then continue on to Moorea and finally, if luck was on our side, sail the gnarliest wave on the planet ‘Teahupoo’ in Tahiti at the end of our journey.

STORY KAULI SEADI // PHOTOS MARIA FERNANDA SOUZA, MARKUS BECKERS & MATHIEU FOULIARD

(This feature originally appeared in the November December 2014 issue of Windsurf Magazine. To read more features like this first, Print and Digital subscriptions are available. Prices include delivery globally for 10 x issues a year!)

TUAMOTUS
The Tuamotus are the oldest volcanic islands of French Polynesia and it explains why they are so flat now. Originally they were mountainous like the more recently formed Tahiti and Moorea but over millions of years, the Tuamotus were eroded by the wind and disappeared underwater. The coral that surrounded those islands grew up over thousands of years, making the geography that we see nowadays of unique rings of coral with lagoons of sheltered salt water inside. Over time the coral was gradually eroded forming a thick sand which accumulated into land. Then coconuts floated to shore on these islands in formation and started to grow into palm trees, evolution at work ! As a windsurfer, the best result of all this natural transformation are the “passes” or channels that form into a reef that connects the inside lagoons to the main ocean. These reefs are normally curved around the islands and make some of the most perfect waves on the planet!

We started our journey from the south east of the archipelago so we could sail west with the trades with the wind in our favor. Our first stop was Fakarava where myself, my wife “Nana” and one of my best friends Claudio meet with Cathy and Markus who were waiting for us on the Mormaii Sail Boat for the start of our 35 day adventure. We loaded up with supplies, prepared the boat and headed to the south of the atoll where there was supposed to be one of the most beautiful dives on the planet. Once we arrived, it was really like stepping into paradise! There were only two dive centers and a few bungalows on a couple of the small islands and maybe another ten islands around that were completely covered with coconut trees, white sand beaches and crystal clear waters. We could see sharks and rays from the top of the boat around seven meters down in the turquoise water.

On the first day the winds were around 18 knots from the northeast, and I was so excited to go check the pass and check the waves and wind direction. It turned out to be too offshore and light on the inside, so I settled for a kite session inside the lagoon. The next day the wind stopped and turned to south east with light intensity so we decided to scuba dive, as Fakarava is known for some of the most insane diving in the world. I have to say the dive session was the most amazing experience of our lives. We saw around 250 sharks in big schools just hanging in the deep pass where the waters are flowing with the strong currents so they don’t need to move much to breathe. It was mind blowing to see these underwater giants right in front of our eyes.

PERFECT WAVES
We knew there was a solid swell arriving in a couple of days so we proceeded to check another atoll where it looked like the swell could really push in. We made the right call, the waves were insane and there were just three local boogey boarders out there. I could just not believe myself, very long rides barreling over some crazy shallow reef, perfect wave after perfect wave. So I simply had no choice but grab my 7’4” SUP and join the fun.

People are so kind in this part of the world; they really apply in their actions the true aloha spirit. We were made to feel very at home, surfing all day long and then afterwards there was delicious coconut water waiting for us on the beach while listening to locals playing their Ukuleles.

Soon though, it was time to pull up the sails and head to the next atoll. We were already running a bit low on supplies, so we decided to look for a bigger town in the next harbor and stock up. We had been counting on catching some fish but we were warned that most fish had ‘ciguatera’, a toxin caused by algae, in these atolls so we decided to play safe and not eat fresh fish! Some friends from shore came with some great news, they said that on the next atoll the waves wore firing since the swell direction was much better. After sailing overnight we arrived to the reef break; it was like one of those drawings on paper that I always dreamt about, a perfect wave! It wasn’t big, but it was just insane; I scored so many barrels I did not want to get out of the water. I probably stood out there on my SUP for about 6 hours, and to finish the day there was a huge cloud of birds that came to the lineup following a school of small fish that were swimming through the break. Everywhere in Tahiti you feel blessed to be so close to nature.

NOT QUITE A PERFECT PARADISE!
As the days passed by, I couldn’t be happier to be on Tuamotus, this place blew my mind and was without doubt one of the most amazing places that I ever been. But that same landscape that for us makes the place so perfect, is the same one which makes a tough life for the locals to make an economic profit. These islands are flat and very vulnerable to tsunamis and storms. The soil is also poor in nutrient as is formed only by dead coral, being rich only in calcario, which makes it hard for any agriculture. Besides that, the freshwater on offer is limited, depending mainly on the rainwater that they capture through the roofs of their houses.

For this reason, local people have to adapt to what the land has to offer. The one thing you`ll find the most in Tuamotus is coconut trees. There are an incredible amount of things you can make out of a coconut, as you can eat its meat, drinks its water and use its dry skin as wood for making fire. It also produces copra, a final product of the sun dried coconut which will be squeezed for producing coconut oil. The Tuamotus are also one of the few places in the world where the black pearl oyster ‘Pinctada margaritifera’ , can be found and this species is the one responsible for producing the rare and valuable black pearl. So nowadays one of the most important economic activities in these islands consists in farming these oysters and inducing them to produce the pearls, offering jobs for much of the population.

MOOREA
After a two days sailing heading southwest we arrived to the Society Island archipelago and the first island we visited was Moorea. There, I found a totally different landscape, with greenish high mountains, a characteristic of young volcanic islands. As we were approaching, I saw a huge splash coming out from the water surface to the sky in a v shape, followed by the appearance of a huge black spot that submerged quickly. It was a humpback whale mum with its calf swimming peacefully in really shallow waters. The baby, curious as they are, came really close to the boat, and that’s when we felt comfortable to snorkel with them.

This was another mind blowing experience, seeing these huge animals, underwater, swimming so close to us. At this time of the year the humpback whales come to this area to reproduce, give birth and feed the calves in the warm, safe waters of the south pacific ocean, so it is common to see them really close to the shore. There was another large swell forecast so we decided to check the south west pass of the island and a left hand wave we had heard about. We arrived too early and the waves were still small. I waited patiently for a couple of hours and then it started to build really quickly. As the waves were building, so too was the current and the channel was getting smaller. I even had to jump up to my semi gun sup 8’6” because the 7’4” was too small and the big sets were starting to intimidate me!

I couldn’t believe that we started with ten surfers and by the end there was only myself and another guy with a SUP on the water until he broke his leash and I got worked really hard on a closeout big set. I swam back to the boat and told Markus, the captain, that the locals where warning that if the waves would get any bigger as forecasted we would get trapped inside the bay with the boat, because the pass would close out, so we decided to leave immediately and head to Teahupoo!

TEAHUPOO BECKONS
Tahiti was our final destination and Teahupoo was my only goal. With this huge swell combined with the strong wind that was forecasted hopefully I would be able to windsurf. I was so anxious I could not really sleep during the crossing just thinking about the famous wave and the consequences involved.

I’m not sure how it all came together but I think I’m probably the luckiest guy on the planet! You can count on your hand how many days you actually get wind in the correct direction to sail Teahupoo, but we scored two days in a row! The first day was smaller but really fun to get dialed in with the wave and the spot. There were no paddle surfers out, just a few tow in guys. I took something like 50 waves until I was exhausted. Then I saw a little boat approaching on the outside. It was Charlie, a local sailor, asking me how it was and told me that tomorrow was the best forecast he has ever seen for windsurfing Teahupoo. So I decided to take just a few waves more and rest for the next big day.

After an anxious night, dawn finally arrived and I have never felt so excited about windsurfing conditions in my life. The wave was looking better than any Cabo Verde session I had scored before and I thought those conditions were unbeatable ! Teahupoo has incredible speed and at the same time the volume of water that is moving over the lip is so crazy. You can clearly see the deep blue water on the outside and the super shallow reef inside. This is what makes it such a unique wave because the wave face grows under sea level and the entire ocean is behind the wave. If you look from behind you can’t even see the swell.

I was like a kid in a candy store; there were so many sick waves with just Charlie and I to share them. I used my 4.6 KS3 and 83 litre JP radical quad which were the perfect toys for the conditions.

THE WAVE!
My first waves, I felt dialed in with timing from the previews day but I had in my mind that today was going to be the day to score one of the big bombs and try to go as deep as possible! It didn’t take very long to happen; my 4th wave was the one! I went for two waves before but somehow I didn’t manage to catch them. Finally I looked behind me and spotted a huge swell approaching . I was not in the perfect position but I knew this was the biggest wave I had seen all day and it could be one of those waves that I have dreamed of riding all my life. So I took my chance and went for it even though I knew I was a bit late for the west bowl. I just had to go because I knew I would regret it if no other set like this would come again, you have to take these chances when they come along!

Once I started flying down the face of the wave I realized how late I was and I had to improvise the bottom turn and make it a lot earlier than I expected because the lip was coming like a mountain over me. I had two options, either attack and hit the lip to be able to gain speed or go straight and most likely get completely destroyed by the lip. I took my chances and turned my board as fast as I could towards this huge lip; there was not even time to correct the sail position I just wanted to get up there as fast as possible to escape from potential disaster!

All the wind disappeared from my sail on that super critical bottom turn so I hit the wave with zero wind in the sail. I felt like I was upside down as I came off the top but the wind finally filled the sail and helped me to glide forward on the aerial. The ride was not over yet but ! On my way to landing the aerial I experienced something that I have never felt before on any other windsurfing wave. The massive spray from the inside of the barrel just hit me like a ton of bricks. The power completely tweaked me and took me down hard on top of my board. I think my foot went inside the deck as I landed and completely broke the board and also badly hurt my ankle. I could not believe that was game over for me on that day because maybe I won’t ever find conditions like that again for windsurfing during my life! That wave was by far the most amazing experience I had so far in my windsurfing career and a moment I will never forget, the good and the bad, the hope and fear ! Finally I would like to say Maruru (Tahitian for thank you) to Alex Decian, a local windsurfer from Tahiti that helped us and made us feel so at home in these incredible islands. Kauli Seadi and Maria Fernanda Seadi.

THE FRENCHMAN
Along with Kauli on this incredible day was a Frenchman, a crazy Frenchman ? we wanted to know more ! By the power of Facebook we were able to track down Charlie and here’s what we found out. My full name is Charles Vandemeulebroucke but everybody knows me as Charliboy in the watersport world. I just turned 30 and have been windsurfing since I was 14 years old. I was born and lived for 28 years in the French city of Dunkerque, close to Belgium (where my last name is from). I am a physiotherapist/chiropractor and studied in Bruxells, Belgium. For 7 years I have been sailing for Naish as a French team rider, I only wave sail along with some Kitesurfing and SUP, competing on the pro tours of both. I moved to Teahupoo 2 years ago, first for a month but never left. I surf pretty much every day in barrelling waves and live in front of the surf in my beautiful house, built on piles. I now have my own business here so everything is set up and I won’t move again for a long time.

Tahiti is probably one of the most difficult place to access for a windsurfer; there is only a few local windsurfers, the spots are hard to find and if you break your mast you’re 1 mile from shore with the current going out. It is an amazing place though because it’s still wild, people are nice if you respect them and you won’t find any hotel with thousands of tourists. The nature is insane in Polynesia, colours too and the quality of ride in any surf sport is the best, that’s what makes Tahiti so special !

Scoring this day was not luck, I was ready to do it and waiting for a day like this for a long time.I sail Teahupoo when it’s good, it needs a bit of size to get good in windsurfing and a special wind too. You get a lot of windy days at Chopes during the windy season (Tahitian winter) but to get clean and perfect, a really precise angle is needed, a few degrees out and it is unsailable. Combine that with the need for a clean swell and the fact that you have to be at Teahupoo to know it (no forecast can predict the rain and wind accelerations here) makes the days here pretty rare to score and challenging for a visitor. It is the only spot that can handle super sized swell, if it’s not that big the other spots around are more fun with jumping and longer waves. I’m the only windsurfer guy around here so I’m not taking too much risks if I’m alone. This day was special, massive swell, perfect angle and with the best wind I’ve had there, sun and just Kauli and I out. It wasn’t crowded with surfers like normal probably because of the wind and the fact that we had a few big swells in a row so everybody was surfed out.

I used my Naish Chopper size L and a custom 82L quad fin board. I rented a special boat for that day so I only had to focus on the ride. I wore a Life vest above my harness in case of a wipe out. I only do this at Teahupoo because you can easily get knocked out or worse there so you need to float !

It is a unique feeling to sail a wave there, the fastest I have been on a wave windsurfing by far. The wave is sucking so much water that you always have this feeling of accelerating down the face of the wave. First you have to do a takeoff, like a surfer, even if you’re full speed you have to jump into that hole when the wave is suddenly pumping. That hole that day was twice the height of our sails …. really scary. Then you need to take speed from the face of the wave but there isn’t really a face so you have to take the low line like Tow surfers ..and pray…a big wave there took more energy from me than any session anywhere else. What Kauli did that day is the craziest thing ever done in windsurfing probably. I was in the channel when he took that wave, the biggest of the day and cleanest too, insane 15+ feet and he hit the lip from underneath and then flew until the worst wipeout I’ve ever seen in my life. After that wipe out I had the break to myself for 2 hours – it was the perfect day. At night my hands were still shaking but not too bad to drink a beer for every wave I took …I got crazy that night with local friends who where here watching the session. The best thing about this day, I’m still here and ready for the next one !