"Thahupoo": The big 9 / 11 swell

Australia’s Jason Polakow, who has twice won the PWA Wave Sailing World Championship and is one of the world’s finest surfers, gives a highly personal account of his most recent surfing projects in Bali and Tahiti. In this travel report, he continues to talk about his extraordinary trip to Tahiti.

"The morning arrival into Tahiti did not disappoint. Sand covered the roads and some homes had been washed away. The bungalows at the Intercontinental resort on the Island of Bora Bora had totally been destroyed by the massive swells. It was not exactly refreshing that on this day four years ago, two planes flew into and destroyed the Twin Towers. It was definitely shaping up to be a 9 / 11 swell.

The morning boat trip out to the break is about as nerve racking as catching a set wave for the first time. I watched nervously as huge waves pounded the reef. The echoing screams from the impact of the waves sounded more like a 747 hitting the water. I swear I could hear my name being called, not in a good way but in an evil way, like a paedophile would lure a young child with a lollypop.

Sitting too long on the boat can result in a downward spiralling effect. The body goes into a vegetated state as you sit there contemplating whether or not you are ready to tackle such a feat. Every bomb wave that you watch punish the reef seems to take another notch of confidence from your belt. Excitement slowly and inevitably turns to melancholy.

With this prognosis starting to invade my body, it was refreshing to see Robert at the other end of the spectrum. He was lit up like a match stick and you could see that he was ready to surf some waves. Most people would instantly make the assumption that they were crazy, but in Robert's case I know he is! If you looked up 'crazy' in the dictionary, you would more likely than not see a brightly coloured picture of Robert's face.

Before I could say, 'Robert, you're a crazy bastard,' he was already on the back of Poto`s jet ski, itching for a set. He was quickly wiped into a bomb and pulled in, but was too deep and he ate shit. I realized right then that he had forgotten to put on his life vest, which in my eyes is about as important as having your penis attached to your body! You can basically double the length of time you are underwater without a jacket, and on a morning like this one, you would have to be a crazy mother fucker to catch any wave without one.

After getting plucked out of the soup bowl, he made his way back to the safety of the boat. I thought he was in need of some sort of medical attention but he simply changed boards and started a montage of double and triple aerial surfing rotations assisted by Poto`s jet ski. Everyone in the channel was screaming for more, but Robert was more intent on rigging his windsurf equipment. Shit, I mean why not? He had already got barrelled, put on an aerial show, so why not go windsurf? If I was to put the wind velocity into context I would say a mosquito would have had more chance at catching a wave. At any rate, after seeing such an armada of water sports at Teahupoo within a 15-minute period, I was looking forward to witnessing this one.

From experience, I knew the troubles of tow-in on a windsurfer when the wind is super light. You sometimes get back-winded at the bottom of the wave and setting yourself up in the right spot can also be a task in itself. It’s not at all like regular tow-in surfing. The sail is a real hindrance and the only love you get is the small updraft of wind once you're on the wave. I had done windsurf tow-ins at Cloud Break in Fiji with disastrous results. The sail sometimes inhibits you from going down the line, and the battens back-wind, pushing the board inward towards the breaking tube. I could only cross my fingers for Robert as the impending set wave reared its ugly head.

You know those pictures that stay locked in your head because they're just not right? Like an African boy testing his manhood by trying to slap a fully grown lion in the wild. Well, imagine a crazy Tahitian on a windsurfer getting towed by a 400-pound jet ski on a huge swell with no wind in the middle of the ocean. It just doesn’t fit. I mean, how often do you see something like that?

As Robert approached the bottom, I could see that he was in trouble. Everyone else was hooting, but as a fellow windsurfer I could see the technical problems that were arising. The battens in the sail slowly inverted and he had trouble getting the nose of the board to point towards the channel. I cringed as my friend got completely barrelled by this huge green wall of water straight from the depths of hell and a 'hold dow' that even Jacques Cousteau would have been proud of.

With his equipment totally trashed, he made his way back to the boat. I mentioned to him that he should be wearing his life vest. He replied casually, 'If you think I should, Jas'. I guess he didn’t care, but we were all glad that he finally decided to put one on. Well done, Robert. Good effort!"