A couple of local windsurfers joined us on the water, stoked to see some new faces in this remote area of the world. They told us about the endless windsurf potential in Tassi with various options to find the right wave. During the day the waves picked up and my wipeouts got worse. Eventually I crashed hard after a mistimed 360. When I came up I realized that my 4.5 didn’t work anymore. Two battens were broken and a whole batten pocket ripped out completely. It was impossible to repair it with tape and the only windsurf shop was about 7 hours away. Due to my limited amount of just two sails, I had to find a solution to be able to use the sail in the following days, with strong winds forecast of around 35 kts. Luckily I found an old needle and some yarn in a corner of our mobile home and spent the next few hours trying to get the sail back in one piece. It looked terrible because I was using different colors of yarn but somehow it seemed to work out. In the following days we sailed and surfed our brains out, slept in caves or on the beach and moved around the northwestern part of “Tassi” in search for wind and waves. It is a diverse area called Marrawah that also showed its potential during the Red Bull storm chase in 2014. Every swell with westerly directions will sooner or later hit the coast with full force. With southerly winds the best spots offer side-offshore to side-onshore port tack conditions and within a few kilometres you’ll find flat water spots for a speed run or up to over mast high suicide conditions. If you are not sure where to go ask for “Tappo”, a super friendly local that is known for his accurate wave predictions and world-class forehand slaps in table tennis matches. Together with his “mates”, he was one of the first windsurfers on the island and has dedicated his life to riding Tassi’s waves.
“ I think it’s good to switch off the phone from time to time and create your own stories and adventures! ”