A few weeks after graduating high school, my dad, my friend Russ, and I took an unforgettable surf trip. Surfers love to travel - to surf new breaks, and to experience new cultures. I don't know what it is, but surf travel has this certain feel to it that is totally different than any other kind of travel. Maybe it's the anticipation of great surf and new experiences . . .
The flight to Tonga from Los Angeles was . . . pretty bad - 13 hours, overnight, and I don't sleep well on planes. So, we got to Tonga, and I was dead tired and somewhat nauseous. We immediately crashed in the huts and caught some shut-eye before hitting the water. This is Russ and I in front of our "fala".
As luck would have it (and luck does not always have it, especially with surf trips), we hit amazing surf: 6-10 ft. faces all day, every day. Dad and I are goofy foots, so the fast, hollow lefts of the spot called Hotels were like heaven compared to the slower, sometimes fickle rights that dominate most of Los Angeles. The water was amazingly clear, too - you could easily see details of the reef while sitting on your board, looking down onto the sharp coral just 7 feet below. And what a sight it was! Tonga has some amazing sea life - blue, orange, and purple fish, coral of all kinds and colors, and although I didn't see any, I'm sure they had sharks, turtles, and all kinds of interesting animals.
These photos came from one of the last days we were at Ha'atafu. The surf had dropped significantly that day, so we brought the camera. It was much easier to manage taking pictures, not losing the camera, surfing, and staying out of everyone's way when we weren't worried about getting caught inside on a big set. When I say keep out of everyone's way, I mean, keep out of the way of the other surfers staying at Ha'atafu and the three other locals who surfed there. They called that "crowded." Compare that to one summer day at County Line, where I counted over 120 surfers in the water! Crowded? It's all subjective.
As experienced surfers, we knew that bringing a few extra boards would be worth the hassle of bringing them with us . . . This was one of my favorite boards. This is the sad tale of this board: I had caught a good little wave and was nearing the inside section, where most of the waves would close out over a shallow section of reef. I decided a little to late to pull out and as I tried to exit off the top of the wave, the lip caught me and threw me earthward. I landed on my back directly on the middle of the board, snapping it in two. It wouldn't have been that bad, but I immediately found myself in a heavy rip-tide, pulling me out to the open sea. My situation was somewhat dangerous. I had been surfing for almost three hours and my arms were tired, my board was broken (making it more difficult to swim or paddle), and the rip tide was pulling me further out to sea. I was already about 200 yards from the beach and from safety. If I didn't make it out of the rip tide, I could be miles from the island in hardly any time at all. To get back, I mustered what strength I had, and swam parallel to the shore to get out of the rip tide. I got out of the rip, but not out of trouble. I still had to navigate through strong head-high surf, over a section of shallow reef, then paddle through the shallow and sharp lagoon to the beach. After a long and tiresome swim, I finally made it and with both pieces of my board, too. We left the board in Tonga, but kept the memories.
This Tonga adventure was a special one - my Dad and good friend, perfect surf, amazing food, new friends, flea bites, and some great memories.
Great memories John! I remembers so well you getting sucked out in the rip and thinking "why isn't he paddling out of it?" just to find out you only had half a board and were at risk of cutting yourself up on the sharp fiberglass and attracting all those nice little sharkies that surely were not too far away. Great adventure. Dad
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