Brawzinho had a bit of a shocker and was unable to put it together in his heat. Early on, he suffered a tremendous wipeout, a kind of blood-curdling scorpion/double-backflip over the falls after a mistimed air. After that, it seemed he was rattled, just shaken, though he managed to stay in rhythm with the set waves. Ultimately the waves caught him again and sent him down to shish-kebabs. But we can’t discredit Braw’s opponents, Federico and Marc, who sailed smart and made their committed turns in the right sections! I love watching the progression in these two riders, as they are both starting to pull away from the pack in terms of unique style and approach. Marc’s been delightful to watch in Maui, pulling some of the fattest 360’s out of anybody. And Fede has been in Chile for half a year, and it shows in his Port waveriding.

Being the first heat at Cloudbreak allows for a lot of uninterrupted downtime. In the channel we have a fleet of small “village-boats”, open boats perfect for rigging and stowing gear. Then we have the flagship Thundercloud, a trimaran sailboat capable of hosting a multitude of sailors, live-cast crew, and casual spectators like myself.

I was lounging out on the Thundercloud throughout the day watching these perfect Cloudbreak waves, the best waves any windsurf contest has ever seen. All at once it hit me that I was possibly among the most fortunate people on the planet to have all of this, to have the resources, time, support and equipment to be sitting in the channel at Cloudbreak, nailing an epic swell with all my friends. It seemed odd and funny that I was even here, and as I scanned the faces of friends aboard I wondered if they felt as giddy with the euphoria of being so whimsically out of place, so totally detached from the mundane, firmly planted in sacred space and privileged company. Did they also wonder, incredulous in their private thoughts, “how did I even get here?”.

Here I was again, in Fiji feeling so good, with so much going right. The urge to move came in a flush of nervous adrenaline. Something in my head simply said “do it now”. Seeing those waves peel in total perfection, seeing the fragility of the moment, everything going so right. Who knows how long it would last? In a matter of minutes I was outside the break, having convinced Morgan to come with me, the two of us waiting for the last heat to end so that we could freesail. Even just one last wave. When the signal flag was lowered aboard Thundercloud, the heat was over, just then a set rolled down the prodigious reef that forms, at its tapered edge, Cloudbreak.

As I wrap this story up, the night having past with me in restless solitude, the morning brings in my friends and fellow sailors; they saunter into the breakfast cue haggardly after an exhausting day.  Everyone is collectively experiencing that “surfers high”.

The faces of the men and women of the Fiji Pro have that glow streaked across their sun kissed and pink faces. Surfing out there at Cloudbreak is more than an indulgence in a favorite food or pleasurable experience, it is a cleansing visit to a holy site. It is such a beautiful place so powerfully charged with the beating heart of the ocean that surfing in it realigns your life to that primordial energy.