Cloudbreak Was Beautiful Yesterday

Breaking an extended period of lacklustre energy in the Pacific, the switch was flicked on yesterday morning at the world’s favourite Fijian atoll. Around sunrise, four-to-six-feet clean runners were served on tropical platters which, as forecasted, almost doubled before noon. Those unlucky enough to be around during the transitional period were met with painful west bowl barrages that steamrolled the lineup and shifted the takeoff zone a good 100 metres wider. The initial crowd, consisting of tourists, locals, resort staff (some of which had whipped over from Tavarua resort, closed for offseason renovations), bloomed during the user-friendly half of the day but quickly dispersed once the stakes raised leaving only a handful to share standing rooms for the rest of the afternoon. While Tyler Warren and Torren Martyn were scratching in on oversized twin fins, a few opted for ski-assisted entry giving them a headstart on the roll in and a quick escape from the dreaded shish kebabs.

“It felt like there were so many barrels out there,” said Torren after spending nine hours on three different boards. “It was just the wide ones you had to be worried about; you had to get out of their way.”

“That’s gotta be the most amount of time I’ve spent in the water for one day,” gleamed Mr Martin.