PAYING THE BILLS
Right now I teach fitness classes on the south side of the island but I do a lot of different jobs here. I am currently building a website for a company based in New Caledonia. I also did some filming work with Steven and help him with editing. I would like to live from windsurfing but that is how it has to be at the moment. I need to be flexible; it is not easy finding a job where I can do what I like. I don’t know what my schedule is going to be and want to keep it as flexible as possible.
WAVES
I like big waves and I have sailed Jaws four times. In New Caledonia we have a lot of big waves on the outer reefs. My very first session over there was in a mast high reef break. I destroyed a sail by the end of the afternoon. But that is how I have learned windsurfing in waves! I was thrown in at the deep end in big and heavy waves. Before I came to Maui it was not my dream to sail Jaws. I did not sail in waves enough when I was at home to feel confident to reach that level. Coming to Maui I improved very fast because I was able to go in the water every day. The first day was April the 5th 2013, a very late in the season session for Jaws! We were in the middle of the photo shoot with Simmer! Kai had the jet ski and I had a spot if I wanted it. It was him, Francisco Porcella and me in the middle. I was light enough to make it a three person jet ski. It is a good thing to be tiny actually! (laughs). I told myself I would go up there and check it out. If it looked too gnarly I was not going to sail. I think that is a good thing not to judge something from the idea you have of it but you need to see it with your own eyes. I scored a few waves but it was not until my third session that I actually scored proper rides at Jaws. The first two times were more onshore conditions. The waves were bumpier and it was kind of tricky to ride. It was harder to get into the wave. My third session was February the 11th 2016 and it was offshore Jaws and bigger! It was less crowded too. The first sessions all the best guys in the world were out there – Polakow, Kevin Pritchard, Thomas Traversa and Graham Ezzy, it was crazy! There were so many big names out there it was tough for a small girl like me to catch my first wave at Jaws. If you did not commit full on then the wave does not let you get on it. You have to be so committed and in February it was better because there were only the local guys out there. Levi Siver, Robby Swift and Robby Naish and they were all super cool with me. Levi was giving me a lot of tips, he kept telling me to go deeper. I was shouting back ‘I am deeper than Robby Naish, I can’t go anymore!’ It was offshore and smooth and a beautiful sunny day. I caught six waves that day and I was blown away. It was one of the best days of my life!