CLOUDBREAK TURNS ON
You have all seen the articles from Jason Polakow and his sessions at giant Cloudbreak. Sick. I tried to get him to come along on this trip but his shoulder injury had not quite healed up yet so he had to pass. The wind at Cloudbreak is normally pretty light, and almost always quite offshore, making it pretty sketchy for windsurfing. You can get into the waves once out in the lineup, but getting back out can be difficult, and getting caught inside is a session ending event. The reef is VERY shallow and very sharp…and once you get caught inside you are not getting back out. The second day of my trip, the wind was already cranking at breakfast…quite unusual as it normally builds through the day. It was also more side–‐shore than normal rather than offshore. And the swell was pumping and forecast to pick up all day long. Things looked promising for a windsurf session. We arrived up at Cloudbreak around 9:30 am. In the boat with me were eight pro kiters and photographer Glenn Duffus. Eight kiters is already a crowd in the surf, especially at a point or reef break. Once you get your kite up when boat launching at Cloudy, that’s it. You have one session because landing your kite and getting your lines sorted, put away, and re–set to go again later is near impossible. If the boat is anchored you can leave your kite in the water with your bar attached to the boat…but out here the boat has to stay moving the whole time. The wind was solid and the surf was already mast high. Until the waves get mast high or so, Cloudbreak is too crowded with surfers to kite or windsurf. But once the waves reach a height where paddling in becomes difficult, it becomes one of the best wind and kite waves anywhere. I was going windsurfing! I get seasick on a boat faster than lightning. Even having taken Dramamine, I needed to get off that thing after just a few minutes of putting around watching the conditions. I rigged up as quickly as I could (just thinking of looking down rigging my sail on a boat makes me want to puke) and got out there. I planed right off the boat with a 5.0, which is really unusual wind for Fiji. The summer in Hawaii has not been the best, and I have not flown to Oahu to windsurf Diamond Head even once. So the last time I rode my favored tack was Kona wind Lanes several months ago. I sailed out back and waited for a set.