The Last Flight to Tahiti Part 2

Comment Share Posted on Thursday March 25th at 11:47 a.m.

Insight from Sam Hawke on the epic St Paddy's day at Teahupoo...

The night before the swells due to hit and I'm lying down in bed at George and Palomas house right on the point at Teahupoo. I just had a feeling that tomorrow was going to be good, the whole mission was the craziest trip ever, sequences of events that had culminated in us being here waiting for one of the swells of the decade. I'm meant to be at university, but that's the last thing on my mind having already missed a week due to having a operation on my nose I was about to rack up another 10 days worth of absences. I still can't actually believe I was here. A few people had hit me up saying my claim to fame in South Australia had expired and I need to prove myself somewhere again. That just got me wound up, I knew that the time would come and that we would score good and if they wanted to moan about it then they should stop surfing and get a perm, I knew we would get the waves, we always do.

On skype at midnight talking to Corry Scott, he says the swell never really arrived in Mahia only 12 foot. My heart sank I was thinking that's not right he's punkin me or something. I somehow managed to get this out of my head and get some sleep. During the night there's a high tide, and I can hear waves washing through the lagoon and up onto the beach. This is a good sign. We got told that only on the massive swells like backwater or Sunday bloody Sunday does the water wash up and onto the house.

It's morning, super early 5am and its light, the roosters have been up for hours and we get up and rush straight to the balcony to check it, its bigger maybe 6-8ft but there are massive sets hitting the outer reef and we knew the swell would not kick in until lunchtime. But there is no sign of Danilo Couto, he was due in at 2am but never showed up. If he doesn't arrive then we can't use Pablo's ski and will have to pay $US600 for the day excluding gas, money which neither of us have.

Danilo finally arrives and I knew straight away we would get along just fine, he is just like Doug except in Brazilian form. Frothing at the mouth to get out there. So we launch the ski in the lagoon and head on out into the line up, we are not the first nor were we the last to show up. Its 8ft and perfect , we only have one board between us so Danilo heads out for a paddle amongst some big names and gets some bombs, we sit on the ski hoping the forcasts are on the money. The who's who of big wave surfing, Carlos Burle, Coco Nogales, Shane Dorian, Ian Walsh, Brian Conley, Danny Fuller and the local boy Monoa Drollet, Raimana and Poto. Then me, I felt abit out of place really it was my first time and I'm sure they thought who is this kid. Swell increases and some bombs start to come through and then like the flick of a switch it's huge and consistent.

Danilo and Dougie tow first, and I get relegated to the support boat driven by local madman named Norman but its algood. Not that I didn't mind waiting around. Being the youngest I knew I would be last it's a given..and its like that all the time back home, I really need my own ski ( hint to anyone who wants to give me one!)

I think it was good to spend the day watching everything unfold, for a few reasons. Firstly, it was mayhem in the beginning, everyone was on to it and a wave didn't go through unriden all morning. It was amazing the waves like nothing anywhere else I have ever seen. You might think you've seen heavy and I'm sure you've got your secret spot which breaks like pipe but this place you have to see it to believe it. The noise of the waves, the way it draws off the reef and the thickness of the lip is so insane it's so round, if I could draw a wave to be created it would be Teahupoo. The suns out, everyone is getting the most insane waves I have ever seen anywhere and its all a dream really. Doug gets Danilo into the wave of his life, and then Danilo tows Doug into this monster. I was jumping up and around like a little girl I couldn't believe it he was so deep on this thing, Dougie drops down it and rides through the barrel for an eternity and it looks like he's coming out then the foam ball catches up to him and eats him up. He gets worked and I'm laughing at him because I know he's about to get smoked by the next set with 5 waves in it. He came up okay Danilo did a great job in picking him up of the right hand close out section. Dougie beaming ear to ear, says it was better than his bomb in 06 and he didn't even come out.  He loses the board into the lagoon and they spend an hour looking for it.

A local tow team have found the board and they come up to our boat. I tried to grab it off them saying it was my mates, but this guy grabs my hand and pulls it away, im thinking ae this isn't right. Turns out this team thinks Doug and Danilo called them of their wave, ends up that they kind of did, and now it's you take our wave, we keep your board. Lucky for us Danilo speaks French and they finally get the board back. At the cost of a new tow board on our return to Tahiti. The whole time I though oh no I'm not even going to get a wave now if we have no board, the wind had come up slightly more east and I had just seen some heavy as shit go down. A local tow team cut of Danny Fuller and nearly sent the ski over the falls on a 15 footer. I got a bit of a bad buzz from it all, I knew this wasn't the Tahitian way everyone else had been the friendliest people I'd ever met.

Dougie collects me from the boat, Poto gives me a few bits of advice as well and he basically said you're going to get the bomb I know it. Jeez I thought I doubt that look how many teams are out here But I'm up super pumped and ready to get spat out of the devils womb.. first wave and its all on not a big one but still hits the bowl really clean.. drop down set my line and I'm flying through this sickest shack... first time I have had backhand no hand pits.. get spat out into the next section and boom go round the roof on the west bowl and get pumped. Got pretty worked and was thinking shit I'd hate to wipe out on a bigger one. Dougie comes to get me on ski , I get 4 waves on the head and bounce of reef. Welcome to Teahupoo Sam. After I get on the mat the ski hits a piece of and I hear hold on Sammy!!!

After getting heaps of waves and getting spat out of the best waves of my life I say yeah this is awesome. We did not want to be greedy so we pull the rope in and sit out the back for a rest . But its only Dorian and Ian Walsh out, they are waiting for the bomb, they have waited hours in fact. Doug laughs and said this isn't right theres no one else out, come on one more.

I don't know how it happened that I got that wave , but I really do think it was meant to be.. it was St Paddy's day and we were in green as much as we could. People can laugh at it and say you were lucky to get it but sometimes someone's looking down on you and someone was that day for me and Dougy dizzle. Dorian and Walsh take the first one of the set, we go the second..Simple as that...

That wave, I don't think I knew how big it was until I was dropping down it , all the other waves I was at the bottom setting a line before I new it but this one was just....big! last thing I see is Dougie screaming at me in a voice id never heard before from him.  Fuckin go Sammy! And then it was all on, I just thought shit this is loose! Give it to me, the wave had a wobble in it so dropping down was werid, it went straight for the bottom and I was going so fast, the Al Bryne tow special handled the juice as per always. I looked out at the channel at the bottom of the wave and everyone was trying to get the hell out of the way.....the wave was closing out in the channel and I was headed straight for the right hand close out, I tried to pull off sort of but it just closed out and boooom got so worked, so violent my ears popped from the pressure I broke my nose again when I got hit by the water and my Quiksilver vest got ripped off. I relaxed like always but found myself swimming to the top. Finally came up, half dead soon to be closer to dead as the water draws out from under me and I  get sucked into the right again, and a huge one lands on me and really takes it out of me, one of the worst wipeouts I have ever had. I get out of it and Dougie comes racing towards me on the ski, get on the mat , get on the mat go go go...... theres another one behind it. If he didn't get me then I was toast, I had nothing left.

Everyone in the water stood up and gave us a standing ovation, so amazing I just wish I could have taken it all in, I could't see and wasn't really breathing but I could hear it and Dougie was beaming he just said you've done it bro we killed it..

From there it was a bit of a blur I had really bad headaches but it wasn't until we got to the land that it sunk in for all of us, we had been part of a very special day , all of us getting the waves of our lives..We were so tired but still managed to talk for most of the night...

We would be in deep conversation then suddenly Danilo would say oh I'm sorry, I wasn't listening guess where I was... Out there getting spat out of those pits, in my head.... Cant get it out of my head, we burst out laughing , such a great feeling. Something that will be hard to replicate anytime soon im sure.

Its weird because even if I didn't have a sponsor I know I still would have got there even if I had to sell my liver..Because once you get a taste you know that you'll kick yourself if you miss the swell. Sacrifices have to be made, for me there were many.. Just had an operation on my nose then broke it again....broken nose yes... vision in embedded in my brain which I will never loose.. you cant pay for that.

In saying that my sponsor Quiksilver got me there and made sure I had the gear I needed, big ups to you guys at Quiksilver in Auckland , cheers for taking a chance and trusting in me, hope I am paying you back well.

Its great to be back in the south and at uni, I just want to surf everyday and surf better and better have as much fun as I can.Great start to whats going to be an exciting winter season of big wave surfing for NZ!

Hope you liked the day as it through my eyes sorry for boring you all with the novel . Yeaahhh buooyyee!!

Click on the picture below to view all the shots!

Keep tuned into online-surf.com for more of the adventures in Tahiti and the deep south later on in the winter.

Sam

Check out more photos of Sam who may be a nominatied for the Billabong XXL Monster Tube, the award for the most intense barrel image of the year!

St Patrick's Day, Teahupoo Links

Doug Young & Sam Hawke Surf Monsterous Teahupo’o
Billabong XXL Monster Tube - 7 photos of Sam
Close Up Interview with Doug & Sam
Campbell Live Interview - Kiwis conquer monsters at Teahupo'o
TVNZ News - Kiwis surf monster wave in Tahiti
Surfline : Historical Swell Analysis Teahupoo