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THOMAS TRAVERSA: SCORING BIG

Thomas Traversa takes us on a wild ride through East Galicia and the west coast of Portugal as he recounts his latest big wave sessions. 

WORDS – THOMAS TRAVERSA // PHOTOS – Pierre Bouras, Mathieu Pelikan for France TV 

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Because of the Covid travel restrictions that we all had to deal with, I have spent more time than ever in Portugal and Galicia over the last two years. They were the only two places I could travel to and regularly score epic conditions in the winter, and fun conditions in the summer. And with the PWA tour having been paused these last 2 years, I had the opportunity to score every single swell I wanted there too. 

ADDICTED 

One could think I would get bored of sailing the same spots over and over again; at least this is what I used to think. The reality is that I became addicted to sailing these coasts. On each session I learned more about optimal tides, swell directions and what wind forecast I needed for each spot. Less is more, as they say, and the consequence of focusing on only 3 or 4 spots gave me some of my most exciting and scary, as well as fun sessions in a while. 

EAST GALICIA 

Let’s start with East Galicia. I only discovered the potential of that area 2 or 3 years ago, and it has everything that I love: relatively good weather, friendly locals, beautiful landscapes, consistent winds, and 2 heavy perfect waves that no one else is riding! It’s pretty insane to think that places like this even exist. I already had a big session earlier this year with Leon Jamaer at Illa Pancha, the big wave spot, so I wasn’t sure I would come back this winter. That was until I got contacted by an English production company that wanted to film a short movie with me. 

SURREAL 

It all sounds a bit surreal, but they had come across videos that we filmed with Jamie Hancock and other people in Galicia, and they wanted to film there. Usually I go there when the forecast looks epic, but this time we had a short window to shoot, so we decided to go there with a more normal swell: only 3 to 4 metres, nothing gigantic, but they wanted specific images, so we did not need to have the biggest waves ever. When I met Pierre Bouras, Jamie Hancock, Luke and the movie director Jack on the first day of shooting, I wasn’t expecting anything special. It turned out that we scored 3 amazing days of waves. It was light and tricky winds, but picture perfect waves and beautiful skies.  

RINLO 

The third day wasn’t even supposed to be good, but the forecast improved as we were there, and I had my best session at Rinlo. After getting dramatically dragged on to the rocks as I attempted to jump in the water, I escaped miraculously without any damage and already felt like the luckiest man on earth. The wind was extremely light and gusty, but I managed to catch a couple of waves that I will never forget. Pierre Bouras was doing the safety for me and the video crew with his jet ski. Luke Raistrick was filming from the water; Jamie Hancock was on land operating the drone with Jack, the director, looking over his shoulder. There was solid mast high waves barrelling, all for me to share with my friends watching and filming. After 2/3 good ones, I dropped into a bomb, drew a long bottom turn and sneaked under the lip of a perfect barrelling wall of water. After that ride I realized we had just scored the shot we wanted, I’d had an amazing wave ride and we were all stoked! I sat on my board and raised my arms in the air as I watched another set roll in, offering us the most beautiful view we could imagine. Then 3 dolphins cruised by, making the moment even more perfect than it already was. Sometimes I feel like I am breaking too much equipment, devoting large amounts of time looking at forecasts, and driving too much, for only a few waves. As well as spending lots of time, money and energy trying to bring people along to get pictures and videos … it can almost feel like it’s all too much, almost pointless… and then this happens. Nature offering us a perfect moment, seizing it, and all feeling genuinely blessed and happy at simply being at the right place at the right time, doing the right thing. 

SECOND MISSION 

Only 2 days later, I am back in Portugal welcoming a TV crew from France. They want to film me riding big waves, and the conditions are looking good for Peniche and Nazaré. I know they want me to go to Nazaré, but I want to take it easy and hope to go to Peniche. I had enough emotions in Galicia, and Nazaré is always very scary, scarier than anywhere else. On the morning of the first day the sky is filled with sand from the Sahara, it looks very weird… the swell is solid but the wind was not blowing as it should, probably because of the sand in the air. We spend the day at Peniche, but the TV crew convinces me to go spend the night at Nazaré, “in case it would be good there” the next day. The swell is supposed to get bigger then and the wind is forecasted to reach 35 knots. A part of me hopes it will be too windy and messy, so that I don’t have to sail there again! And a part of me hopes to score it… I was there earlier this winter and had big expectations, but the conditions were not worth trying on that day. I park my campervan in front of the spot and go to bed. 

IT’S ON 

 In the morning the wind is quite strong, but the sea is stormy and the swell is not really there; I feel relieved in a way. We shoot some interviews, meet my friend Mat Pelikan who came from Lisbon to film with his drone, and we all go and have a coffee in town. Time is passing and I am already anticipating the session in Peniche in the afternoon. As the TV crew goes to their hotel to get ready for the drive, I decide to walk back to my campervan on my own, and pass by the lighthouse to look at the ocean. In the last hour the swell has become much bigger and cleaner, the wind is solid, 25 knots side to side-off, and the biggest waves are breaking in the best spot I could imagine. Close enough to the lighthouse to form the famous ‘teepees’, but far enough from the cliff to leave kind of a clear channel to ‘escape’ from at the end of the ride. Not really a channel, but by Nazaré standards it looks kind of safe. From the beach at least! My friend Lourenco who usually does the safety for me is in Morocco, so we have to find another jet ski driver at last minute. Mat Pelikan has good connections with the local tow surfers and in no time he has arranged a good driver for me, who can be ready to go 30 minutes later. 

PREPARATION 

 I do put in a lot of time, focus and preparation to windsurf Nazaré, but this time I did not want to organize too much, because I did not feel like having that extra pressure. Looking at these waves and trying to visualize myself riding them is already something that I find uncomfortable, and having different people on hold and waiting for my decision just makes everything even heavier. But once I made the decision to go, it all goes very quickly. I drive straight to the harbour, get my equipment ready and put my wetsuit on while the TV crew is filming everything they can. I don’t want to have to think about them, I just want to go as fast as I can, before I start to think too much and change my mind.  

THE LINEUP 

I meet To (short for Antonio) Cardoso, the jet ski driver, as I jump on his ski, and explain to him quickly what I have in mind and how he can support me on the water. Basically his job will be to pick me up if I crash or get caught inside and bring me to the beach; he should not worry about my gear too much. The other part of his task is to stay at the peak, and help me choose the waves, or at least help me not to choose a small wave if there is a bigger set right behind.He brings me out of the harbour, and after a couple hundred of metres, we reach the wind line. I start to rig in the water, and once I am done, I slowly sail upwind for about 15 minutes. It is always a special moment… windsurfing in what feels like open ocean, getting closer and closer to these huge waves, passing in front of the iconic lighthouse, watching the sets breaking from outside, and trying to figure out where I should position myself. I always spend some time on land, looking closely at the lineup, so I don’t feel completely lost once I am on the water. Like always, what looked organized and clean from the cliff, looks like the last place you want to be riding from here – in the middle of brown swell lines, broken by a choppy wind swell. 

DANGER ZONE 

The hardest wave to catch is always the first one, because you don’t know what it’s going to be like until you really drop in and put yourself in the danger zone, where pretty much anything could happen. It turns out that my first wave is not too bad; I get a decent bottom turn and safely reach the shoulder… the tension starts to go down, replaced by adrenaline. My jet ski driver, To, is helping me so much, and every wave I commit to ride he tells me “no”, waving his arm if it is a bad one, and screams “GO!” and puts his thumb up when I am on a good one. After 3 or 4 nice rides, I already feel satisfied and I start to think of going back to the harbour, but To is pushing me! “Man, you are in control, keep going and catch a big one!” he tells me. I have to crack a smile and decide to refocus on the moment, forget about the harbour, my camper, and a nice cup of coffee… just focus on the water, the waves, and the cliff!  

THE BIG ONE! 

The cliff… I am getting closer and closer to it, where the waves are the biggest and the most unpredictable. A big set comes in and starts to form one of Nazaré’s famous huge ‘teepees’. I go for it and I am in the perfect spot. It is not 25 meters high, maybe 8 or 10 “only”, but the wave sucks perfectly, the water gets glassy and I drop all the way down to the flats and lay a big bottom turn… the lip looks so heavy! The wave starts to run down the line so I have to cut my turn short, but I feel like this was the ride I was hoping for, smooth and powerful, big and fast. After that one I definitely want to end my session, but To convinces me to go for more. I catch a wave on the next set, but I already know that I had my moment, and ride it safely. I sail back to the outside and sail downwind to the harbour, extremely happy and grateful for To and his positive energy and support. I’m so glad I made the decision to go, and am sure I will come back and try to get an even bigger one, one day.