A TYPICAL DAY
So how does a typical day work on the Fanatic/North shoot? Well it actually starts the night before when we check the weather for the upcoming days.
Myself, Craig and Klaas Voget sit around a computer and check what wind, waves and sunshine are coming our way and try and take it from there. Obviously if there is a decent swell coming then waves are the priority or if it’s howling windy we may opt for jumping and if it’s flat and moderate trades then freeride or race might be the call. With SUP shots thrown into the equation as well, there is pretty much something going on every moment from dawn ‘til dusk. When you have an awesome forecast it is fairly straightforward to make plans but Maui is often a victim of gusty, showery trades which can easily throw a spanner in the works and totally washout any plans you have made for the day. So once we have a rough plan in mind, an email goes out to all the riders informing them where and when to be on location and what we intend to be shooting and how. Sounds simple enough but like I said the weather often has its own ideas and doesn’t always play ball with the plan. Most locations on Maui, you are not allowed to windsurf before eleven so it usually means we will meet somewhere by ten am to start rigging and making sure everything is ready to so we can be out on the water right on the dot. It is easily possible that we might start the day with a dawn sup shoot and then go straight into the windsurfing, possibly right through the whole day and even into an evening flash gun session after sunset. That sort of schedule may sound ridiculous but believe me it happens!
Craig Gertenbach explains his typical day – “Of course, given the size of our operations, it´s not like the office work is simply left “on-hold” while we are on Maui, so before or during breakfast I try to sift through the email slew which has arrived from the working day in Europe overnight. Then we are off to the beach, with some nice equipment loading before hand to help us wake up and work up a solid sweat! Once we reach the location, we have to unload all the gear and try to get setup as quickly as possible to maximise conditions. Then shooting starts, the staff on the beach is then constantly on hand to make sure we have everyone on the right gear and of course usually rotating gear, sometimes as often as every 5-10 minutes, depending on the type of shoot. Broken gear needs to be taken for repairs immediately, riders off to hospital here and there, lunch for over twenty people needs to be bought and so the day goes on and on.