RUDY CASTORINA
Friday the 13th April 2018 7:00 p.m. – We had been sailing really amazing conditions every day for a week at Ho’okipa. It was long hours on the water as it was photoshoot time, my body was tired but happy. The Simmer team knew there was a possible chance of scoring Pe’ahi on the weekend. It was a slim chance, especially this late in the season, nonetheless my jet ski was ready and I prepared my board, my Patagonia inflation vest and checked everything was good to go!
Saturday April 14th 2018 6:45 a.m. – I was the first one on the cliff and during the next half hour a couple of sets rolled through; just enough to say it’s worth doing the mission to Jaws! But for the next two hours nothing happens, so we were on standby. I sent reports to Kai Katchadourian and Vickey Abbott as we always stay in touch.
9:40 a.m. – I cruise by to visit my official jet ski partner. He thinks the peak of the swell had passed and decided to not be on standby and to spend the day with his family. My wife and two kids had decided to go on a little trip to the other side of the island to Kaupo to let me get in the zone and be fully focussed. Now I was on my own!
10:10 a.m. – I am now without a jet ski partner but I don’t want to miss this possible session. I call Kai and tell him I am on standby in case something changes. He is down a jet ski partner too, so we decide to team up. Kai lives for Jaws! He has flown all the way from Finland for a potential session out here before. This would not be our first rodeo together, it felt good.
10:30 a.m. – Back at home I continue sending messages to get some reports but so far nothing. I start thinking about the other options for the day, time is passing and I feel I need to get something going. I could sail an outer reef, go surf Honolua bay and get barrelled or foil some never ending swell. I could tell I was getting antsy.
11:40 p.m. – Kai calls, “I am at the Lanes lookout with Vicky, it looks like the swell is building, I am going on the cliff to put eyes on it. I’ll call you from there.” The wait is killing me, but for some reason it feels right. I breathe and mind surf.
12:15 p.m. – It takes a while for Kai to drive all the way to the cliff at Jaws because of all the recent rain. Nowadays the road to the lookout spot often gets out of control, tourists get stuck and there is only one access road! Finally the phone rings, it’s Kai, “Brawzinho (Marcilio Browne), K.P. (Kevin Pritchard) and Ross (Williams) are out there, it looks ok, we should go get a piece!” I answer “Let’s do it, we’ll meet at Maliko in one hour.” Going through the routine and whole process of preparation is always good and the more experience you have the better. I am getting super pumped but with no expectations, trying to stay focussed to not forget any details.
1:25 p.m. – Kai is not here, I am getting ready, what’s going on?
1:40 p.m. – Kai shows up at last, he was stuck in traffic from the Haiku flower festival.
Vicky shows up at the same time, we help her launch and keep an eye on each other. She always has a great energy and is extra motivated to go sail in big surf. This is going to be fun.
1:55 p.m. – The upwind ride begins. Straight into 20 knots of wind and seas of 20 feet. It was gnarly.
2:15 p.m. – As we arrive on location, the spray of the waves blows in the air 20 feet, even on a small day this place is intense. Brawzinho, Kevin Pritchard and Ross are done, Kai starts rigging, half on the ski half in the water, it’s no walk in the park doing this I assure you.
2:30 p.m. – Kai is sailing, he picks up a nice little bowl (mast and a half), the session is on. I assist on the jet ski to probably the biggest wave ridden at Jaws by a woman kitesurfer, Olivia Jenkins. Woohoo! Her boyfriend Patri McLaughlin, also a top kitesurfer, is laughing on his ski, he is stoked and tells me that it’s getting better. That confirms what Kai and I thought – high tide was at 2:00 p.m. and it would either kill it or make it! It looks like the latter and we have struck it lucky and the swell is picking up.
2:37 p.m. – I want to go sailing but we have no anchor for the jet ski! My first solution is to wait for Kai to get a couple of waves then we switch, so I keep an eye on him in case of a wipeout and vice versa. But don’t be fooled, the jet ski is no magic carpet. When something goes wrong you are going to get a few on the head no matter what! You have to be ready to eat it, survive it and this is when the jet ski will race in and grab you. Then you have to go after your gear, or what’s left of it before it ends up on the six foot shorebreak in the rocks of no man’s land. My second option is to find a mooring for the jet ski but then we will have no safety!
2:44 p.m. – Finally between sets I see the mooring. I decide I can’t wait around, it’s cloudy on the horizon and late in the day, so the wind could drop; I decide to moor the jet ski and rig. I unroll the new 4.7m 2019 sail Kai brought for me. It is a five batten sail. I am shocked, I never sail with a five batten sail out here. I hesitate for a minute, but I have no choice.
2:59 p.m. – I am sailing upwind. The wind is light and only some of the time I get planing. The sail feels fine. I tell myself to go deeper, always go deeper. I line up with my landmarks and start rolling into the first bowl, make the drop, find a clean spot and lay down a bottom turn. The giant wall is right there staring back at me! My Jaws board (made for me by Fabien Vollenweider) is knifing so well and it feels like butter going up the face and carving back down. Wow! This board and sail combo is just amazing, an overload of adrenaline rushes through me. I scream with excitement, the session could just as well be over now, but we are junkies for more of this as long as there are wind and waves to carry on sailing! At that moment just that one ride was enough to make this Jaws mission worth my day!
4:44 p.m. – We all meet up in the channel for a break to drink water and it feels like it might be time to stop. The clouds are moving in, a huge squall came down on us and the wind dies! This is a clear sign that our windsurfing session is over. With big smiles on our faces and our head full of amazing views that we witnessed during sailing, we begin the last leg of the journey back to Maliko.
5.30 p.m. – Everybody is back on land in one piece, photographers and videographers welcome us with big smiles, laughing and high fives. We check out quick previews of the shots and our whole crew is super stoked!!
7.30 p.m. – The jet ski is all cleaned up, adrenaline is still rushing through my blood and my body is electrified! I am going to a birthday party and will celebrate a day that I will remember forever. April 14th with a few sailors out at Jaws, can’t beat that!
Sunday April 15th 2018 9:00 a.m. – It’s the morning after the epic session and my body and mind are sore! Riding Jaws is always a huge commitment, first mental, then all the organization and timing that goes with it, it’s a journey. I am a pilgrim to the Mecca of Pe’ahi!
Riding Jaws is always a huge commitment.