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Trip 7
June 25 - July 5 1999
DAY 1
Friday June 25
We've already been here a few days
staying with Steve Burling in his
surfcamp. The groms, Ryan Hakman
(Hawaii), Corey Ziems (Australia),
JeremyFlores (Madagascar), Jonathan
Gonzales (Canary Islands), along with
Steve's son, Michael or the
"Fish" as Steve informs us is
his nickname. He's a veryfriendly
likeable kid, and the groms are
instantly best friends.
I've heard good reports on how he surfs
and hope to sponsor Fish during this
trip.
7:45 am:
Paul's taxi is the first thing that
greats me today along with Captain
Martin
Daly's voice, so I spring out of bed to
give Paul a hand, down at the markets.
Paul is the chef on the boat. He is a
big lad from Maroochydore on
Queensland's Sunshine Coast and reminds
me of Les Norton from "You wouldn't
be dead for Quids" or "The
Godson". Heart of gold and a punch
to match, I bet! |
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On the way into town on the back of a
truck, we discuss last night's
activities. We were all invited to have
dinner at the local cultural centre
where we had a traditional feast, local
dancers performed, and there was also a
Kava ceremony.
I made all the groms get up and try the
Kava, so as Bernard and Horny could get
photos for the article. It looked like
everybody had a really good night, even
Jeff Hornbaker, who is sick as a dog
from flu that's followed him from
Australia. He managed a brief smile,
poor bugger.
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I'm currently sharing a cabin with Jeff,
I hope I don't contract the
"virus". He's dosed me up with
vitamins so I should be sweet. I guess
that means if I get sick, my story will
become kind of short, as I won't have
the energy to lift my pen or hopefully
we get that much surf that I'm too tired
to lift my pen at night, either way I
hope you understand. So Paul, how'd you
go last night? Paul had invited a young
lady, that he met at the supermarket the
day before to join us at the cultural
centre, for dinner. She arrived with her
bodyguard a massive local guy who had to
be 6'6'' and straight off Gladiators, he
was huge. Well it turned out he was her
uncle. The family had sent him to look
after their daughter, "you mess
with the bull you get the horns" so
to speak. He was actually really cool,
apparently you can't just ask a local
girl out on a date without someone in
the family playing chaperone. The only
downfall I suppose is you have to buy
two of everything, or in his case five
of everything. Lucky dinner was free.
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We had dolphins follow the boat to our
first surf, a lefthander two to three
feet, good potential, beautiful island.
I would love to see this with three to
five foot swell. Dinner was fit for a
king.
DAY 2
Saturday June 26
Surf's two to three foot clean
offshore. Beautiful sunny day, at
Gonad's Island. Martin, Paul and Peyo
surf it early. Then all the groms hit it
for a photo session.
Around 9:30 Paul the cook asks if I'd
like to go scuba diving, which I've
never done before. We went down about 40
feet and checked out the reef. The groms
were surfing. The break has plenty of
potential, nice and flat with a few
coral heads to make it interesting. I'd
love to see it with a few extra feet on
it. I watched a few waves pass over me
on the bottom of the ocean, while the
groms fly by me. Little Jeremy, who's
only 11 years old, makes the waves look
twice the size, this kids got all the
moves. It's like watching a living
talking Tom Mini Surfer. All the groms
seem pretty stoked, especially when
Gonad Man paddles out from the lagoon
and invites us in to his island for
coconuts. |
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After lunch we paddle in to check out
Gonad's Island. We climb up the first
cliff to check the over view of the
whole lagoon. It's absolutely stunning,
the view of the Indies Trader and a
perfect left breaking next to the stern
of the boat, and a right just off the
bow, no wonder Gonad Man chose this spot
to live, it's absolute paradise.
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The island's full of mandarins, lemons,
heaps of coconuts and wild pigs. You
could actually survive quite a while on
the island, if you were ship wrecked on
Gonad's Island. I make my way back to
the boat to fix a sandwich. Martin and
Paul are changing the new motor they
bought, as the old one on its last legs.
I give them a hand and we have the job
completed by nightfall. The groms arrive
back just in time for dinner. They
surfed Gonad's left again. Corey Zeim's,
the young bloke I brought along for the
trip, was rambling about Jeremy's tube,
four to five seconds, a three foot set,
apparently he just stood there in it, He
was also ranting and raving about it,
but in French as he's from Reunion
island, a French island in the Indian
Ocean near South Africa - "le
superbe tube". Anyway, the groms
must have got sick of his boasting so
after dinner they dacked him and threw
him overboard. He's pretty scared of
sharks so he was back on deck quick
smart. |
Had a few beers with Paul and Martin on
the top deck and watched the stars.
Tomorrow we decided we'll have a
treasure hunt. Gonad had told us about
an old English chocolate boat, which
buried a box of chocolate bars on the
island. But because he couldn't read the
map instructions, he passed it on to us
to try to help to find the "gold
chocolate bars". Tomorrow we will
look for it ...
DAY 3
Sunday June 27
Woke up early to see an amazing
sunset, pinks, greys, reflecting off the
clouds. Grabbed my small board as the
surf was about three feet and paddled
over to the lefts, and surfed for about
an hour on my own, then all the groms
paddled out and shredded it to pieces,
Jonathan especially (he's the current
European Junior Champion). He lives in
the Canary Islands, so he's not scared
of big surf, and he was getting slotted
on his backhand.
After breakfast we went on the treasure
hunt to find the box of chocolates with
the map that Gonad man had shown us,
Jeremy was super keen, as he's a
chocoholic. It took them a few hours to
find it but they finally did. The final
resting point of the chocolate bars had
a spectacular view of the whole island,
so we ate chocolate and watched the surf
peel down the reef. |
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Then it was a race down the hill to get
our boards and paddle out. Jeremy
guarded the chocolates like an Armaguard
man; no one could touch or have any of
them.
I just watched the afternoon session;
with their tummies full of chocolate the
groms went mental. Michael the young
local kid, and Steve Burling's son, was
charging. You could tell that he's grown
up on reefs all his life as he surfs
them like he's on a beachbreak.
Dinner was epic, a lamb roast just like
the RSL roast we all love to eat. Paul
is a master in the "Galley".
You sure don't go home with
malnutrition. Little Jeremy misses
dinner again as he's already crashed and
burnt after a big day in the water. You
see if he farts on any of the other
kids, as he quite often does, he gets
thrown overboard and with all the
chocolate he's eaten it's not a pretty
sight, but what more can you expect from
an 11-year-old grommet?.
DAY 4
Monday June 28
Kind of cloudy today but it looks
like the swell's picked up a little bit
maybe the odd four footer; Paul, Peyo
and myself paddle out early. We all get
a few barrels. The cotton wool kids wait
for the tin boat to take them out to the
line up instead of paddling out, they
miss the incoming surge we may have to
"code red" a couple to wake
them up... Josh Hoyer will arrive today
by seaplane as he forgot to renew his
passport and missed our departure.
Just after breakfast someone yells out!
"Plane de plane," a la Tattoo
the midget from the show "Paradise
Island" and sure enough, we look up
and it's the seaplane, right on time. |
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Josh unloads his boards and within
minutes is sitting in the lineup. The
pilots give Martin and myself a quick
joy flight.
It was amazing; we flew over all the
groms surfing the left. Now this is how
to check the surf. We see a few
interesting reefs with lot of potential,
they just need a bit more swell.
Lunch is Paul's famous pizzas. This
stops the groms in their tracks as he
keeps serving up slice after slice until
they can't move. They surf late,
conditions are perfect, so glassy, not a
breath of wind. Josh, the new kid on the
block, surfs very well. Josh is a
natural footer from Newport, Los
Angeles, with a hairdo like a skunk. He
turns out to be a really mellow, nice
guy and fits in well with the rest of
the groms.
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DAY 5
Tuesday June 29
Leave early - surf's dropped. Groms
surf a very shallow left for about one
hour. Peyo, Paul and myself go for a
dive. We head off. Leaving so much
potential but there's no swell. We check
another reef that Steve claims is a
version of Cloudbreak, a great looking
setup, but not quite enough swell
getting in. We head further up the chain
and find shelter for the night from the
strong winds, the groms go ashore
hunting shells. Next morning we awake to
small swell so we decide to go to the
closest island. |
DAY 6
Wednesday June 30
We spend half the day motoring to
the closest island to drop off Steve and
his son Michael, as they have to fly to
Australia for the Quiksilver World
Grommet Titles on the Gold Coast. We go
to shore to check out the island. It's
really quiet, with not many cars but
mainly pushbikes, and really classic
houses. Kind of like old Queenslanders
with bright colours painted on the
windows, which are surrounded by carved
architraves. Horny says it's like Tahiti
used to be in the 1970s-80s. Everyone is
so laid back on the island, I feel like
the record player is on the wrong speed.
Everyone moves real slow. We try and
arrange tickets ourselves, but can't all
fit on the plane with our gear and
surfboards so we decide to stay and wait
for the swell that's predicted for the
next few days. We farewell Steve and
Fish (Michael). They look like they
don't really want to go but they have
to, Steve's also president of the local
surfing association, so he has to take
the whole team over to Australia.
We stay overnight to hopefully be
greeted by a swell. On the way I decide
to do some hunting. Halfway through it
Martin yells out from the helm to look
over my shoulder towards the stern. The
biggest storm is heading straight
towards us; I just have time to run to
my cabin before the rain starts
bucketing down. Then the wind starts, 60
to 80 knots. This looks like the swell
we've been waiting for. For the next
three hours we head straight into the
storm. It gets pretty rough and no one
moves from their cabins. I hope the
groms are handling it, it's pretty
daunting if you're not used to it. I
know Jonathan and Jeremy get seasick so
they're probably spewing, literally.
I'll try and check soon! |
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It has to be timed well as waves are
crashing over and in our doors, and if
we time it wrong Horny's camera gear
will be drenched, not to mention my
disposable Canon 524-65. Lucky shot!
I'd hate to think if I lost that, so I
can fully relate to Horny's advice to
get it right. I decide to sit tight but
my bladder has other ideas. I hold on
for grim death but the crashing of water
running down soon gets the better of me.
I slip out without spilling a drop in
the cabin and in the bowl. I check on
the groms and just as I suspected,
Spewfest '99. "Sit tight, it will
be over soon guys." We seek shelter
behind an island for the night, a very
topsy-turvy sleep, hopefully swell
tomorrow...
DAY 7
Thursday/Friday July 1/2
We wake early, there's definitely
more swell but not what I expected.
There's three foot sets and it looks
pretty good. The groms hit it first for
photos. It's really shallow but there's
good barrels. Jonathan once again rules
this session sitting five to 10 feet
deeper and loving it.
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I surfed after they came in. It's very
inconsistent but I get one good set that
lines up properly. Now this wave does
have potential, it's such a good setup.
Steve had told us about this wave and at
least I got to taste one of them. Later
the swell dies "a one-day wonder
swell" so Paul and I decide its
time for the Tommy Mini Surfer classic
photo contest to begin. We swim over
with Tommy strapped to our backs and
begin operation big pit. As the tide is
getting lower the reef is starting to
expose itself. Tommy can't get enough of
this: he charges big double ups, late
drops over the falls backwards, and
still comes back for more. Both Paul and
myself have lost bark each from the
shallow end section while Tommy is
totally unscathed - amazing considering
what he was doing out there. |
Later that day I go ashore to look
around and pick up Horny. It's the most
picturesque sunset of all time. I can't
believe I left the Lucky Shot on the
boat - oh well, I'll have to store this
one in brain cam.
Martin and I look for shells while we
wait for Jeff. We find loads of great
shells. After about half an hour Jeff
shows us his famous Speedos, looking
ready to swim the 1500 metres at the Pan
Pacs. Martin informs me that the cone
shaped shells that I've been picking up
are highly poisonous if bitten. Great,
luckily I wasn't. We return back to the
boat, beer o'clock VBs all around, sorry
groms. Sit on the top deck,
contemplating the meaning of life.
Once again dinner is awesome. This is
the life; good company, great food and
location, location, location. Ah, I'll
sleep well tonight. We watch a movie,
Paul's choice, "The Killer
Tongue". This movie should be a
cult video; it's so bad it's good. If
you get a chance check it out, parental
guidance not recommended ... for
immature audiences only.
Good night.
DAY 8
Saturday July 3
We pull anchor early as the swell
has dropped and start our return. One
last surf check on the way before we try
and get back for the King's birthday
celebrations. It's still flat. But, you
guessed it, as we fly out the next day,
we see the lines of swell fanning in.
You can just bet on it...
But this has been one of the most
beautiful places I've ever visited, with
the potential for waves incredible as
most of the surrounding Islands are
uninhabited reef and the islands are
practically untouched. One wave in
particular, with a couple of feet on it,
would have been mind-boggling, really
shallow but super hollow. I couldn't
imagine what this place was doing the
day we flew out.
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