GREEN LIGHT
Finally Thomas declared he was going for it and reached into the back of his car to grab his 4m, tiny wave board, harness, mast, boom and deck-plate. Once his decision was made, that was it; Lecky Gayda, Aleix and Timo all followed the Frenchman on the steep descent down to the water, all kind of oblivious to the dangers of launching off the rocks down below. Graham was slightly apprehensive, since he is more of a Maui local, has sailed Jaws before and knows the dangers this place can serve up, even on a so called ‘small day’. Were the guys being reckless doing this whole thing spontaneously with no on water safety? I was pretty sure Tommy T could handle himself in a big wave situation but as for Lecky and Cederic, who knows what could happen if either sailor had to take one on the head out there.
By 3.45pm Traversa had lead the way and jumped off the boulders while the others nervously watched his fate. He just crept out through the surging waves without getting pounded. Within two or three minutes he was already out to the line-up and setting himself up for his first wave. Last time I saw Thomas sail at Jaws he was incredibly impressive and by the looks of the way he approached his first ride, today he was not going to mess about either, charging deep from behind the peak with no fear whatsoever. With Tommy T belting a solid mast and a half Pe’ahi special straight off the bat, the others were left with no choice but to follow suit. After witnessing the first wave of Thomas, Graham Ezzy had to rush back up to grab his gear, there was no way he was going to miss out on the session no matter what risks they were taking.