LE MORNE
Austrian wave sailor and ex PWA competitor Tom Hartmann lives part of the year in Mauritius and has also set up a company (SION) which sorts out all your logistics once on the island. We were put up in a very comfortable apartment with splendid views over the lagoon and majestic Le Morne. It’s situated in a town where the atmosphere feels a little more real than the contrived surroundings of a hotel, and you get to meet colourful characters like the fella who runs the American café. By the paraphernalia on the walls, he was a bit of a golf nut and within a few words, after I mentioned I played golf, he was inviting us for a round! Unfortunately not taken up due to it being windy all the time, which Carter must have been thankful for so as not to endure any more humiliation in our history of sporting encounters!
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
I’ve made the sojourn to Mauritius a few times now and straight away had to stop myself from taking the beauty of this island for granted. It’s insanely picturesque and rates up there with anywhere on Earth I reckon. Especially as you drive around the impressive mountain of Le Morne and even more so when you pull into the shaded parking lot and the wave comes into view. The first words I heard spoken of this wave was from an animated Josh Angulo as he revered about the wave, its speed, how gnarly it was at low tide and the rip current when the swell gets big. And experience has taught me, it’s all true! At over 6 feet, I’ve sped mid face down the line at warp speed and still not been able to make the section, having to straighten out and grind my fin over the reef. They were single fin days of course, now it is a bit easier with quads! Also during the infamous Trilogy, Ricky Van de Toorn launched into a massive air, tried to avoid the cameraman, landed flat, snapped his tibia and fibula and then proceeded to get smashed even more in the line-up. Horrible! I’ve been stuck in a rip barely able to swim. Once I’d already made it back into the lagoon but was starting to get sucked back out again through the rip in the channel. My hand has never being happier to touch the side of a rescue boat! Both of these scenarios probably would have been fatal without the assistance of having a boat out there. Safety is a necessity, especially when One Eye is maxed out! Our week however, had not one iota of drama to report. The swells were moderate at head to logo high, the trades were perfect 5.0. My absolute perfect recipe for wave sailing enjoyment. Having not sailed for a while, I was reminded how energy consuming long wave-rides were, with my first few waves leaving me gasping for air and forearms burning. My body’s cells slowly remembered, finding rhythm and flow, slowly finding myself again.