Like Gandalf, I have also just returned from the Maldives (boy it feels cold in Melbourne!).
[Photos below if you can't be bothered with my life story
]
I jumped on a pretty nice boat, the Carpe Diem, way down in Laamu (south of the central atolls). There were ten of us at the beginning (one was injured and had to stop surfing), and seven of us had surfed together on previous trips. I was the only guy on a sup, but most of the other guys were on longboards.
Fortunately we shared really well and didn't have much competition from other boats so I rarely surfed with more than 6 in the water. Ialso surfed from the crack of dawn and sometimes over meal times so I had plenty of waves to myself or with just one or two others.
We started surfing at a break called Ying Yangs. It was a bit of a challenging wave; you had an inside section that took out just about every guy surfing there at least once, and the peaks shifted left and right. They ranged from shoulder to head-and-a-half high. But the challenge made it interesting - you had to think your way through the wave and respond to everything it threw at you.
We temporarily surfed at a break to the north called Machines (needs moreeastin the swell), but returned to Ying Yangs (loved more south in the swell which dominated at the time). I had a great session at Machines; I had it to myself for an hour and shared it with one of ourgroup for another 2 hours. Just clean, fast waves (but not huge) - lots of turns and pretend barrels. (Also went on two SCUBA dives with huge manta rays!)
There was a new swell rising with more west in it so we headed to Thaa atoll for a break called Farms, also known as Mikado (inside and outside). There was a 15-20+ knot cross wind which made it challenging on a sup, so I mostly surfed a break nearby called Chambers on the lee side of an island. That was a cracker - caught some fast, fairly big waves there.
The swell grew, but the wind wouldn't go away... We had ten nights on the boat, but we had to get off up at Male which required approx 17 hours sailing (and they are not allowed to sail at night), so we had to leave...
Our next session was quarters (just south of Male), and that may have been the best surf. Hardly a breath of wind, and shoulder to a bit over head high waves. I was riding the 8'7 acid and I am still smiling. You took off on a first peak, chucked a few turns, and if you could get in the right position you could then shoot through an inside section and pretend to be barreled while staring at a shallow reef. I pretended lots of times and had a ball. I didn't always make it, but there were no injuries. A three-hour session. Nice.
Sadly the next morning, at the crack of dawn, the current was really strong and the waves were smaller which took the fun out of it, but still caught a couple of OK waves. Then we had to sail to Male and fly home...
I had my 9'1 Sunova Acid (125L) for the windy/lumpy days, and my 8'7 Acid (106L) when the conditions were good enough. I used them approx 50/50. Fortunately I had dropped 5 kg or more to 90 kg so I was pretty happy on the 8'7. That board is perfect for waves like that.
Boy, what an essay...you still with me
I did this trip with Perfect Wave, but I have already booked on a sup-only surf trip next year on the same boat with Moon Tours (no affiliation or favors or anything, but if you are a top guy book on the trip www.moontours.com.au), although now they have a trip on the more luxurious Carpe Novo which is bigger and just a year old - I may upgrade. I love these trips because it gives you something to look forward to and train for (and lose kgs for) - and you get to challenge yourself on the waves - push yourself a bit. I am 55 years old and I am not giving up!
Anyway, enough bs.
Unfortunately I don't have a lot of good photos. They were only taken at random times. I did collect GoPro videos and will edit them together at some stage.
These are my mates and the crew:
Guess which one is me!
I do like a late take-off...
This was the tricky section at Ying Yangs.
Yes, I made it this time.
This is the tricky section from another angle.
And another angle...
I made it this time too.
Here's me pretending... I did that a lot. A few times I was covered up (in my imagination only I am sure).
And one guy from a nearby island resort got excited so recorded the end of a wave.
cantSUPenough
> 9 months ago, 4 May 2017
Perfect.
