A very good friend of mine, Nick, a local kiter, encouraged me as well. He told me that he would sail out with me and accompany me through the channel, keeping an eye on me. Without him I maybe wouldn´t have gone. I took my biggest sail, 4.7m, to be able to make it through the channel. In the lagoon I was planing well with the 4.7, but in the channel I was only bobbing around due to the strong current. There was so much water moving, and I couldn´t see the horizon with all the white-water and couldn´t tell if I was ok to get past the sets coming in. But now there was only one way to go. My legs were shivering when I passed the most critical corner, so much further outside than normal. There were mountains rolling in. Around the corner the swell was much more organised but the current was still a lot stronger than normal. Even 2 kilometres offshore the water was ‘dirty’ from all the sand being dragged out with the current.
I positioned myself on one of the mountains. I was still full of adrenaline but a lot calmer than on the beach. Unfortunately I was fully overpowered with my sail; the offshore wind accelerating on the huge wall. When I was doing my first bottom turn the wave was starting to build more and more… I felt like I would never reach the bottom speeding down that monster. When I looked down the line I wasn´t able to read the wave and backed out. Safety first!
The dimensions here were totally different. It took me several waves and a lot of watching until I tuned into it and calmed down a bit. I just rode three waves, but they will always stay in my memory. There was so much energy out there. The detonations and the thunder of the wave breaking behind me was monstrous. But nevertheless, when riding those beauties everything somehow was quiet around me. I was fully in the moment, fully concentrated. Part of the ocean. Part of this energy and the nature. Everybody who was out there was cheering for the other person. The atmosphere was so energized. Days like this are a gift which I will always remember”