Tahiti based French windsurfer, Charles ‘Charliboy’ Vandemeulebroucke, always had an ambition to sail Pe’ahi / Jaws. This winter he got his chance, but it wasn’t all plain sailing, read on as ‘Charliboy’ tells his interesting tale.
Words Charles ‘Charliboy’ Vandemeulebroucke // Photos Erik Aeder
Mo’orea, Tahiti’s sister island, Saturday 15th December 2018, 9 a.m. – I’ve been watching the swell on the charts for about 10 days. Every single update of every best swell forecast website there is. Some are good for the wind, some are good for the swell. Every 6 hours turning my screen on, night and day, to have a new look at how the forecasts are evolving. I feel like I now know exactly what’s going to happen there tomorrow. The peak of the swell will be between 12 a.m. and 3 p.m. – around 35 feet with perfect side-shore wind. I’m obsessed with this thing right now. Maybe because I missed the ‘Big Monday’ session three weeks before because of a WSL pro surf contest there. Then I missed the following big swell because my flight was cancelled and I stayed at Tahiti’s airport crying on my bags. And now this one would be my last chance before the extra second flight a week stops because of low season starting. But I’m hesitating with good reason. I’ve just arrived in a beautiful vacation rental house, staying with all my girlfriend’s family who have flown in from France and that I’ve never met before; obviously it would be really, really bad if I left now. So I did it, I made a call to Maui charger and French ex-pat, Rudy Castorina, asking for his point of view, his extra Jaws board and if he could book me a safety jet ski.
I book a flight leaving tonight and tell my girlfriend unpacking our bag that I’m leaving in a few hours. It was a pretty heavy start to the trip.
TIMING
6 p.m. Take a boat – Mo’orea to Tahiti.
8 p.m. Pack my bag.
9 p.m. Take a plane – Tahiti to Oahu.
6:55 a.m. Take another plane, Oahu to Maui.
8 a.m. Jump in my friend’s car.
9 a.m. Find some CO2 cartridges for my inflation vest.
10 a.m. Meet Vickey Abbott at closing out Ho’okipa for last minute checks and advice.
10:30 a.m. Find Maxi’s place, he’s my jet ski driver who already has my board – thanks Rudy!
11 a.m. Get some gas for the jet ski
11:30 a.m. Launch jet ski at Maliko Gulch.
12 a.m. Arrive at ‘Jaws’.
12:04 a.m. Watch a 35 foot set roll in.
12:05 a.m. Legs shaking, what the hell am I doing here?
ALONE
I’m now exactly where I’ve always dreamed of, my wildest dreams realized…and nobody else is around. It’s just me and my driver, a gift from hell. It definitely doesn’t make things easier, but does heighten the experience. Chasing a set of waves in the middle of the ocean at Pe’ahi when you are sailing alone and for the first time there is a pretty life changing experience. It feels like playing Russian roulette. After 45 minutes and a couple of medium sized waves, I was feeling more relaxed and ready to attack more, but so does this 3.5 metre grey shark I’ve spotted upwind! My blood is now boiling, my legs shaking again and my heart beating in my chest faster than ever! I didn’t expect ‘Jaws’ when I came to Jaws! It will take me more than 30 minutes out at sea to relax and feel able to take a wave again. There was still nobody around. The following 2 hours are the most intense windsurfing moments of my life, I caught around a dozen waves. Two triple mast high sized ones according to Maxi, who is an experienced man there. And I finish the session destroying a complete rig, there’s not even a piece of mast left in the boom, even the mast base is dead.
ENOUGH
That’s enough, I’ve had my fill … don’t play too much with fire. But right at that moment Rudy and Manu Bouvet arrive on their ski, they easily convinced me to rig another sail and come share a few good ones with them… so I did. But, as my instincts had told me, enough is enough, on the first wave with Rudy, I drifted on my top turn and kicked out early blown out the back by the wind gusting up the lip. I landed in the perfect position to have the worst vision possible of a long and heavy deep blue curtain of water breaking right in front of me. I was glad I found some CO2 cartridges this morning! Another rig gone, now it’s time for me to relax and watch my friends having a great time.
HOME
The following day, a Monday, I sailed Ho’okipa in mast high waves with only four other guys and come Tuesday it was time to go home. Wednesday I was back at work, trying to figure out if all of it was actually real. Life delivered me more than I could have expected from that trip. Those few hours were the summation of a lifetime of dedication to windsurfing, having the forecast knowledge, physical capabilities, contacts, equipment and the will to go for it; it was one heck of a ride! Special thanks to Rudy who made all this possible, Maxi for watching my ass, and Goya and Quatro for providing me with the best gear possible.
Charles ‘Charliboy’ Vandemeulebroucke.