Australia, Indonesia, Mexico, the Canary Islands, Puerto Rico, ... All these world class destinations are often associated with boardshorts and rashers, and not with thick wetsuits!
However, at the end of the summer, we decided with Pierre le Duff, Anthony Demon and Benoit Riouallon to find world class surf in thick rubber. We now have only one thing in mind, discover the "Cold Coast".
Chapter 1 : First steps
We arrived at the destination airport at around 11pm after hours of waiting and travel. The car was booked for 9am the following day. Bad timing on our part! This was our punishment:
We left the airport an hour later. We were now heading for the coast which was 6 hours away after a funny night sleeping on wetsuits and deluxe carpet!!! Mist, rain, sun, beautiful landscapes, we felt overwhelmed by emotions. We ended up the day pretty amped with our first session, as a welcome gift.
Chapter 2 : Sun
Direction the backpacker's for our first night. The hostel wasn't great but we found our place. Large dining room, spacious kitchen, internet, TV and a huge collection of old VHS...
Early wake up for the team. We headed towards the spots under a beautiful blue sky. The sea conditions were perfect with light offshore, but the swell had dropped. We still managed to surf small and funny waves all day :
Chapter 3 : Rain
Our fifth "mousquetaire" greeted us after one day. It was the rain! It was the beginning of a long adventure and we made the most of it doing a two day road trip to the north. We discovered the local wildlife, crazy landscapes and ghost towns (a big point on the map is not alway a lively town)!
Chapter 4 : THE spot
Five days after landing, the swell and the wind began to come back. After a long search, we found DA wave that was the signature of the trip.
A shallow reef with a hollow right. It was short but fun. We surfed it for four days, only for our pleasure!
Chapter 5 : Party
There were moments that will stay in our memory for ever. That Saturday night, wasn't a Saturday night like any other!
We were welcomed with open arms by Boydie, the youngest rider in the area. First stop, a concert in a pub on main street. After several drinks, we went to the local night club, which is not recommended by most people in town! It was just a perfect moment with friends in a festive atmosphere. Part of the group ended the night with an after in a big house in the middle of nowhere. Hard to explain how some finished up there!
Chapter 6 : The calm before the storm
It took us almost two days to recover. There wasn't much waves during that time so we couldn't care less!
Big conditions were back. The waves started to pump up to 6 feet (see photo No. 11). The weather at time was like Armageddon: gray sky, rain, stormy. Getting some pictures was a recurrent issue in wet weather... so we decided it was time for us to shoot video from the water!
Chapter 7 : A sunny end
The sun returned on the last day of our trip, as a farewell gift. We rediscovered a spot that we were itching to surf. A left with a ramp at the end of wave! I've had hardly seen such a dry slab. Commitment was the key to ride the wave all the way to a nice carpet of algae!
Big up to Boubou, Antho and Beubeu for this crazy trip. We will upload the video summary in few months! Next stop, a volcano island in the middle of winter.