Watch: John, Nate, And Ivan Pioneer A Confusing Elbow Of South Pacific Reef

Watch the episode here.

“It’s actually pretty crazy how many of the good waves have that clear drop-off in the reef, whether it’s shelfy or has big holes in it,” said John Florence in our recent Stab Interview. “You can tell pretty quickly which waves are worth chasing from the boat. And now with drones, it’s even crazier. You’re two miles out, flying the drone in, scanning the whole reef as you pass by it. 

“The more you travel, the better you get at reading the swell and wind conditions, knowing where to be and when. At the start of the trip, I’d think, this is a good reef, so I’d head there and the wind would be off. It sounds pretty straightforward, but when you’re out there, it’s hard. You’re staring at this one reef that looks perfect on Google Earth, but the other one is 300 miles away, and the wind’s going to be right there. You’re making these calls, and it’s funny how you can convince yourself to go to the spot with onshore wind, even though you know better.”

After spending a healthy chunk of time in New Zealand last episode, the latest episode of VELA opens with the Florence clan taking courageous venture through a Southern Ocean storm blast.

Their destination? Fiji — where they discover a very strange reef pass.

“We waited for this wave for about a week,” says John. “Every morning we’d go look at it when it was small, and it was a two footer just grinding along this little reef. Eventually the swell came that we were waiting for, and the wave did something so different from what we all expected it to do.”

Click above to watch the trio of Florence brothers solve the shallow water equivalent of an eight-sided Rubiks cube.

Watch the episode here.