THE FORECAST
The forecast was pretty epic. When a swell is inbound in the South Pacific, it is coming from a low pressure that is sitting near Tasmania. This pushes the southwesterly swell towards New Caledonia and then on to Fiji. Swell from the south / southwest is the best direction for us in New Caledonia. For this session we had a 3.5 metre swell at 16 seconds forecast from the prime direction, which usually means it can be double that size in the sets! The wind was supposed to be light, but perfectly sailable at around 15-18 knots. It was a little bit cloudy, but hey, you can’t have everything. My friend has a little boat, so we organised that to head out to the reef, but as well as transport, we also use the boat for safety if needed as we all know the spot pretty well.
LOGISTICS
Getting out to the break is not simply just loading a van and going sailing. We have to plan what gear we need to take as the boat is only a 4.7m Zodiac, so it doesn’t have a great deal of space. For this forecast, I took one board, three sails, three masts and two booms. We loaded up at my friend’s house and then attached his trailer to the car before driving about an hour to reach the launch spot. Once there, it’s about a 45-minute boat ride to the reef and that is when you really start getting excited. Everything has to be carried out as efficiently as possible, but we are now well-versed with the process, so everything went to plan.
FEAR FACTOR - THE WAVE
This story is from the Issue 435 - July 2024 edition of Windsurf.
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This story is from the Issue 435 - July 2024 edition of Windsurf.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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