TONGA RIKI
The bay of Tonga Riki on the south-east coast of Rapa Nui has no equivalent on earth. On a bright autumn morning, we are waiting for the RFWO to appear on the horizon. That bay is also where our chances to wavesail are at their best on the island. A large and stunning horse-shoe shaped bay made of lava rocks on one side and thousand feet high cliffs on the other melts into a fluorescent green pasture where wild horses play. In the background, Raro Raraku volcano stands proudly in front of the intense look of 12, ten metre high Moais that are perfectly lined up, a few metres from the ocean. These mysterious and huge sculptures, most likely representing the ancestors of the community, complete a scene that would give chicken skin to any visitor before they can take their first selfie. That is a statement on how powerful the scenery is! Nonetheless what makes Tonga Riki for us windsurfers the spot with the most ‘’Mana’’ on earth (energy or force in Hawaiian) is that, on the right day, a perfect A- frame peak peels in the middle of the bay! If the ever shifting winds cooperate and blow from the south-west on a south swell then the right hander will be sailable and should deliver a memorable session. That is a little too many “ifs” one should say but as we all know, memorable windsurfing sessions don’t come easy.
As of today we are far from it: the swell is small and there is hardly any wind which, for once, is a good thing. If it was not a calm day, the RFWO would have no chance to set anchor in the bay. There is no safe moorings on Easter Island and the constantly changing weather hardly ever allows a boat to stay at the same place for more than 2 days. It took only 6 days for the trimaran to cover the 2300 nautical miles from Valparaiso, Chile to Tonga Riki. That same boat went 46 knots in a speed record attempt a few months ago. Even though there is no point in getting anywhere close to that speed if the expedition wants to complete its journey in one piece; some 30 knot plus runs are a daily routine on the trimaran. On the next morning we all get invited on board to go around the island to get to a safer mooring as the wind had already shifted to the east. While the trimaran is slowly getting lifted above water as the wind fills up the sails, some of the sensations I get remind me of windsurfing! We smoothly get to 30 knots as we keep accelerating in what seems like an effortless move from the boat. It is far from maximum speed and I can only imagine what it would be like to handle such “a sea monster” in race mode for weeks on end!
We arrive back on dry land after throwing anchor in Anakena Bay, one of the two sandy beaches on the island. According to island oral traditions, Anakena was the landing place of Hotu Matu’a, a Polynesian chief who led a two-canoe settlement party here and founded the first settlement on Rapa Nui. The stunning pink sand contrasts with the green covered hills on top of which several majestic Moais stand tall. The scientists of the expedition plan an on-shore sampling of plastic debris in this breathtaking landscape followed by a workshop with local kids. Kids are great for such missions as their low centre of gravity and good quality eyes are a must to spot micro plastic. Lou and Shadé share a screen and a bucket of water to filter the sand and have a pair of tweezers each. Overlooked by Marco Simeoni, the president of Race for Water Foundation they are in charge of filtering a 50 cm square of sand by 10 cm deep. It is hard to imagine the amount of micro-plastic Lou and Shadé collect in such a small amount of sand, representing the highest density of plastic collected so far by the expedition! When we put into perspective the fact that Easter Island is the most isolated island on earth with only a population of 5000, that gives a good idea of how far plastic travels, how bad it has taken over the oceans and how long it is around for. As far as one of the consequences goes, we all have seen the heart-breaking images of the decomposed bodies of thousands of Albatrosses. They suffocate to death each month, in a hopeless effort to digest the numerous plastic debris they have mistaken for fish. Fish do the same thing and we humans eat fish. In a way, one can find justice in the entire process: by going full circle, plastic debris partially ends up in human bodies who, in the first place put it in the oceans. Recent scientific researches on human body cells show the presence of plastic.