Day 183 Surfing

Frigates Reef
There are several famous surf spots in Fiji and Frigates is one of them. The surfing is at a break in the reef that we hear is a wet 40 minute dinghy ride so Salicorn decides to motor out in their 44 foot sailboat. Jim from Liahona and all of us from Southern Star go with them. The trip takes about a half an hour but is much more comfortable than the dinghy ride would have been.
Anchoring is tricky. The reef is mostly exposed and on the leeward side it drops off to a narrow shelf 20 to 30 feet deep and then to well over 100 feet. To get the anchor in place requires motoring up to a position quite close to the reef while carefully watching the depth gage. The moment it reads something less than 100, Rob lets go the anchor and hits reverse. It takes two tries but finally the anchor rests on the 20 foot deep ledge where it is securely locked onto the reef.
The surf is now only a 10 minute dinghy ride and the waves are “double overhead” high. (You can guess what that means). Since the tide is in, the reef near the surfing wave is a comfortable 2 feet or so under water, which means the surfer who falls is not immediately thrashed onto the sharp coral.
The boys do well and I try to take some photos but it is hard to get in position where the dinghy is safe from the waves and still close enough to get a good shot even with the long lens of the Nikon (which I usually do not take off the boat).
The boys take a break for lunch after about 3 hours and then go back out for another 3. Finally they are drug off the board (“Just one more…”) and we head for home. Everyone is exhausted, hungry and some are a little beaten up from losing the battle with the waves. Noneless, the stories of each ride complete with all the details are told repeatedly until we arrive back at the anchorage where we each go back to our respective boats.
This has been a worthwhile mental therapy session and the tired and sore muscles are nothing compared to the attitude adjustment that has been accomplished. If you know surfers, you know what I mean