Consider the subtleness of the sea; how its most dreaded creatures glide under water, unapparent for the most part, and treacherously hidden beneath the loveliest tints of azure. Consider also the devilish brilliance and beauty of many of its most remorseless tribes, as the dainty embellished shape of many species of sharks. Consider, once more, the universal cannibalism of the sea; all whose creatures prey upon each other, carrying on eternal war since the world began.
Words FINN MULLEN, CHARLES ‘CHARLIBOY’ VANDEMEULEBROUCKE //
Photos TIM MCKENNA, BEN THOUARD, CHARLES ‘CHARLIBOY’ VANDEMEULEBROUCKE
Consider all this; and then turn to the green, gentle, and most docile earth; consider them both, the sea and the land; and do you not find a strange analogy to something in yourself? For as this appalling ocean surrounds the verdant land, so in the soul of man there lies one insular Tahiti, full of peace and joy, but encompassed by all the horrors of the half-known life. God keep thee! Push not off from that isle, thou canst never return!” – Herman Melville, Moby Dick. American author Herman Melville saw Tahiti as paradise, literally and metaphorically, but what is it like to actually live and windsurf there. Charles ‘Charliboy’ Vandemeulebroucke is a French physiotherapist/chiropractor and windsurfer that moved to Tahiti’s famous break of Teahupo’o four years ago. He tells us his reflective tale of life at his adopted home.
“I wish I was not working today, I would even say that today I wish I wasn’t living in Teahupo’o. Living in ‘paradise’ isn’t all play and no work; it just makes those working days harder! It’s 7am, on my way to the office …one of those days you just don’t want to go, as like most of the days here, heaven is just a mile away. The pristine waves are thundering on the reef, I can hear them and I can see them behind every tree. Crystal clear blue water with a wash of white on the reef behind. I wish I didn’t have 12 patients this morning and the same in the afternoon. I wish time would fast forward to my lunch break; I would drive back home and prepare to battle the waves like a gladiator before his fight.
Every 20 minutes I’m tracking and checking the wind and waves on my phone, trying to predict the weather and figure out the best options to sail. I wish my heart could calm down. I wish I could sail Teahupo’o today but I know I have to wait for the conditions to be right. Swell too west and you’ll get swallowed by the west bowl. Wind too light and you’ll be stuck in the impact zone. I wish I could sail Teahupo’o and survive and my brand new gear survive it too!
I wish I could have a clear sunny sky and trade winds to go with that perfect swell. Get back home, get in the speedboat to take me out and have the spot to myself. I wish I could rig my one and only Goya Fringe 5.0 and my Quatro Quad, my best tools to knife into the glassy bowls. I wish I could have the best session of my windsurfing life. And hopefully I’ll get pics from Master photographer Tim McKenna to remember it by. And if things go well I wish I could get back to work on time without bloody cuts. I wish I wasn’t dreaming. I wish I was living a perfect day. I wish I was today!”
“ Living in ‘paradise’ isn’t all play and no work; it just makes those working days harder! ” CHARLES ‘CHARLIBOY’ VANDEMEULEBROUCKE
