Star-studded and
eco-friendly, the Roxy Crossing is an
entirely different kind of surf trip. SG
joins the girls in the Indian Ocean for
an unusual sojourn.
The Cast:
Lisa Andersen
Birthday: March 8, 1969
Star Sign: Pisces
Home: Ormond Beach, FL
Highest professional ranking: Number one
on the WCT 1994-1997 |
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Veronica Kay
Nickname: VK, Vern
Birthday: December 8, 1980
Star Sign: Sagittarius
Home: Encinitas, CA
Highest professional ranking: NSSA
National Champion
Kate Skarratt
Birthday: January 5, 1973
Star Sign: Capricorn
Home: Wollongong, NSW, Australia
Highest professional ranking: Ninth on
the WCT in 2000
Megan Abubo
Birthday: January 258, 1978
Star Sign: Aquarius
Home: Haleiwa, HI
Highest professional ranking: Second on
the WCT 2000
Caroline Sarran
Nickname: The Froglet (because she's a
grom and she's French)
Birthday: December 24, 1984
Star Sign: Capricorn
Home: Anglet, France
Highest professional ranking: 51 on WQS
in 2000
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Picture this:
I'm on my way to an unknown,
watery destination and my only job
is to surf all day, every day for
2 weeks. I'm on the Roxy Crossing,
a unique and dreamy surf journey.
For the last couple of years, Roxy
and Quiksilver have rented a
beautiful boat - The Indies Trader
- Captained by legendary seaman
Martin Daly and travelled across
the globe in search of new surf
spots. So what's new about that?
Well, apart from making incredible
discoveries and sharing them with
friends, the exciting part comes
with the scientific research
that's involved. The Indies Trader
actually has a mission to chart
unknown coral reefs and sea life,
and the surfers on the trips get
to help out. Not only were we
being schooled on the art of
riding perfect waves, we also
learned a lot about what was
happening underneath them. |
My cabin mates for the trip were old
friends Veronica Kay, Caroline Sarran,
Megan Abubo, and the ever-astonishing
Lisa Andersen. As experienced
travellers, there was a great effort
made to leave the conditions up to fate
and accept what came our way. Trips like
these can easily turn nasty as the
combination of high expectations,
disappointment, and people in close
quarters takes it's toll. Luckily for
us, early on in the trip a pact was
made: Live in the moment and we shall be
rewarded, whatever the outcome. We
couldn't have made a better decision.
Our destination was a cluster of islands
in the Indian Ocean. Though this part of
the world is no longer the guarded surf
secret it once was, it's still most
surfers' idea of paradise, and rarely
surfed reefs wait patiently adventurers
around each bay. The water is an intense
aqua-blue - a colour not yet described
by Crayola - and each bit of reef shines
vivid and breathtakingly beautiful on
the ocean floor.
The first day brought us strong winds
and an inky blue ocean. Would the waves
be good? It was time to find out. We
pulled anchor from our resting spot and
motored around the headland. "Looks
really fun," Veronica said as we
watched five to six foot right-handers
peel down a coral atoll point. While we
watched, the wind dropped and the sun
broke through the misty tropical cloud
cover. We all climbed into the tin boat
and sped toward the roping line-up.
The action was on. Lisa who hadn't
surfed since the birth of her son Mason
was the first to snatch one, reminding
us all of her natural energy and making
it clear she was still surfing as well
as ever. Veronica did her thing with
what appeared to be a minimum of effort.
Veronica has an impossibly cruisy style,
yet manages to pull radical turns and
slots nicely into barrels. I love
watching her and get motivated from her
tireless enthusiasm. Megan's style is
really powerful yet it exudes feminine
grace. Her moves are super energetic,
especially her patent forehand snaps.
Caroline has a really smooth style for a
young surfer and I like the way she
completes her turns and works on a fluid
transition. And as for me, well, I just
love surfing reef breaks. I felt every
part of me boom with excitement as I
paddled out for more waves. The
conditions were perfectly suited to my
surfing so I never wanted to leave!
After hours of zipping down the reef, we
made it back to the boat, knees weak,
and slept like logs. |
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The surf dropped overnight, but still
left us with some ripable rights at
another secret spot. It was one more day
of surfing to excess. We were all so
surfed out we had to come in when it was
still firing! That's the great surprise
of a trip like this - total surf
exhaustion. After some food and a nap we
ventured out on a great left I had been
eyeing since we first arrived. All in
all it was a great day. And we couldn't
have asked for much more.
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In between surfs, and on the smaller
days, we were lucky enough to experience
the underwater world with Craig Shuman,
a marine biology research assistant we
aptly named "Reef Check."
Craig's job was to check the reef at
every new surf spot and document the
marine life around it and the health
state of the reef. Megan and I went down
with him a few times and assisted in the
counting of fish and animals in the
area. It definitely made me look at
coral reefs in a whole new way! The
detailed analysis that Craig turned in
at the end of the trip is not only vital
to global, scientific marine research,
but to the general public as well, since
the can read the summaries on
Quiksilver's Website.
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After a few great days of surfing with
the group, Veronica and I intended to
get up for dawn patrol, and sneak across
to an island to surf before anyone else.
No such luck: I slept in and we didn't
hit it until 7:30am. There was no wind
and perfect rights peeled down the
point. Megan pulled the sickest forehand
gouge on the right, and Veronica scored
barrel after barrel. Caroline was
looking to get tubed too, while Lisa
busted her fins out more than I've ever
seen any girl do.
That night the boat turned into a funky
nightclub, full of our crazy crew moving
with more groove than Michael Jackson.
It was great to let our hair down after
such a fun day of surfing and let's face
it; we all like to try a few moves on
the dance floor! Megan and Veronica
definitely won the grooviest dancing
award. It was a fitting final night to
the crew as Veronica was leaving for
Australia the following morning. We made
the night last as long as we could, but
eventually we collapsed. Before we could
believe it, it was time for the captain
to take Veronica to the airport. Lisa
and Caroline were off the very next day,
so it was up to Megan and I to hold up
the wave count - a hard job to do!
Life was grand from everyone's
perspective…and then tragedy struck.
While taking Megan to the airport we
heard via satellite phone that the world
trade centre was hit. We sat in shock
and listened to CNN radio. How could
this have happened? Should we leave?
What could happen next? What did it
mean? Who did it? We asked the same
questions that people everywhere were
asking. It brought a stark reality to
our Indian Ocean paradise, such a
violent contradiction to the perfect
world we had experienced for those past
two weeks. |
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It made our pact to live in the moment
ever more significant. As surfers, we're
blessed with an appreciation of nature
and the choices we're presented with
each passing second. You can never
appreciate each moment long enough, so
accepting life free of expectations will
make you realize the richness of your
life so much more. You never know when
something you love is going to be taken
away from you so you'd better enjoy it
while you can.
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