Kaulapapa

DEEP IN THE BARREL

You don’t have to go far to find the wave: A perfect long right which breaks in front of the village: hollow, fast and extremely powerful, it’s a perfect barrel. It doesn’t

take long for the boys to rig aboard the Searcher and get out onto this virgin wave. I haven’t seen such perfection in years in Hawaii. It could be in a film, or at least in the best surfing magazines, and with wind on it as well !! The offshore orientation of the wind gives the wave the most perfect shape, but makes taking off that much harder. With no room for error, the wave breaks at supersonic speed, any slight hesitation punished severely. Without further delay, the first victim is taken, as Scott goes out with the lip, having ventured a little too deep into the bowl…..broken mast.

Meanwhile, Robby now recovering from his sea sickness is linking turn into turn, Bjorn gets a big aerial as Tristan lays into a bottom turn and Vittorio has the waves of his life !!! They return 3 hours later, smiling from ear to ear after an unforgettable session.

Three days is quite simply not long enough for a trip to paradise ! But it is easily equivalent to 3 or 4 weeks normally spent searching for spots on this kind of trip. Conditions every day and a motivated crew at our disposal for the entire trip. Food that great restaurants would be proud to serve, music and films on board and Red Bull on tap (thank you Bjorn). In short, it felt like we were living in another time, at the heart of one of the last mystical spots of the Hawaiian Islands whilst at the same time we seemed oblivious to the fact that bombs were now falling over Bagdad.

INTERVIEW WITH THE RIDERS

Hawaii and the opportunity

Tristan Boxford: I have been coming to Hawaii now for about seven years, each time for a longer stay and each stay shrouded with an increasingly overwhelming reluctance to leave. Originally I was drawn to the islands to come and do what I love best, spending every single day in the ocean, windsurfing and surfing. Although that

is still the case, it has become more than that for me now, as I have been lucky enough to discover what a magical place it is and get a taste of its true ‘aina’ (spirit) whilst learning more about Hawaiian culture and tradition. Indeed, the more time I spend on this isolated land mass, the more attached to it I become, so much so that I am now a house owner on Maui and am proud to be able to call this beautiful island my home. Therefore being given the chance to go and discover a more untouched part of Hawaii with a group of good friends on a 100ft luxury boat was like winning 10 years worth of lottery all at once! What’s more, the idea of riding a wave that very few people have ever ridden, far from everything and anyone except for just your fellow discoverers and a quiver of boards and rigs is what the spirit of the ‘Search’ is all about.