Tangaroa's Gold
photos courtesy of Sean Davey
by Sean Davey
posted 2006-08-31
the south pacific's new big left
As we near the north-west edge of the island, we begin to notice a lineup that wasn't obvious from the water - although I did suspect that it was just an illusion given the angle that we're watching it from, because no one had seen any waves that looked this good from the water. Huge lefthanders would randomly appear, steaming down the coral shelves, looking something like a tropical but unorganised J-Bay.
Photo by Sean Davey
We couldn't really tell how big it was with no one out for us to judge against. Tim was thinking eight foot, but my hunch was it was closer to 12-15 foot on some of these. All the same though, it was real messy and only a few of the waves had this look. Despite the tumult, it still sowed the seeds of interest in our minds and we relayed the info to everyone back on board that evening to a mostly sceptical reception.
Finally a break in the weather and we are seeing things from a whole other perspective. It's amazing how much difference a little sunlight can make, especially when you've been doing it tough at sea for almost a week. All the boys paddled out to a still-wind-affected, but less threatening lineup. Although it was apparent they were struggling with the conditions, they made the most of it and we had our first actual surf session in the bag. It wasn't really anything to write home about, but it was reassuring to know that we had a start on things. The wind quickly picked up a couple of notches and everyone's over it, keen to move on to another island and scope the surf potential there. With that little bit of foreplay in the bag, we're all toey as a Roman sandal for a taste of the real deal...
Photo by Sean Davey
A deep sleep and not long after I'm awakening to the sight of an island in the distance, bathed in sunshine - land had never looked so sweet! Just around the leeward side and we struck liquid gold! Boards were hurriedly waxed up in anticipation of some real waves. Like so many other surf trips, it was much larger once someone had made it into the lineup. Marcus scratched into the first real legitimate wave of our trip, a heaving five-to-six foot barrel. From there on in, it was on like Donkey Kong!
It was such an unexpected reward for our past week of hardships. Filthy four-to-six foot barrels reeling through with relentless consistency - the occasional larger bombs reminding one of a mini-Teahupoo. Who would have thought? All these years, they always said this place was a waste of time, not worth the effort - "The reefs are too shallow", "It doesn't get enough swell", "There's no good reef passes", and so on. I can tell you, this day proved them all wrong. This wave was as good as anywhere I've been. Two hours into our session, and we spot Makua hiking out across the reef just as the session is at its best. He then proceeds to get one of the waves of the day. Talk about charmed! The kid can do no wrong. Probably the best looking wave I can recall from the session was one that Mitch caught - not a drop of water out of place, so perfect.
Photo by Sean Davey
After all the hardship, no one expected to get the quality of surf that we'd just experienced. We hadn't enjoyed the chase, but, we sure savoured the sweet taste of success!
Apparently, there had been good surf here for almost a week. Such is the nature of surf expeditions. It's easy when there have been others before, laying it all out for you. We on the other hand were scouting frontiers, looking for still uncovered gems.
It's quite amazing, the sheer number of islands out there that have great waves, but are never surfed at all, except for the occasional passing sailor. There's so many places on the map. Just throw a dart and get going.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sean Davey is a Hawaiian based Aussie ex-pat, who specialises in travel and water photography. His work appears in magazines all over the world with great regularity. Apart from the surf industry which Sean has been a major player in over the years, he shoots with an eye towards art more than usual commercial considerations, which helps to set Sean's work apart from the pack. Sean's work has appeared at several art galleries and shows, in Honolulu, San Francisco, Laguna Beach, Sao Paulo (brazil) and Sydney. His next show will be held at The Canon Gallery in Honolulu. Opening night reception will be between 6.00-8.00pm on the 1st of November 2006. The Canon Gallery is located 210 ward Ave, Suite 200 You can also check out sean's work at www.seandavey.com.
