big friday

first hit

summer at my second home was waaay to short this year... it might have been three weeks, but it hurts more and more every year to kiss afiartis goodbye and go back home and back to work. i didn't shoot too much this summer, played with the gopro a little bit, but mainly surfed as long as possible every day.

just say no to four-O...

of course, we had one big day again. all stations were closed. proper rescues would have been impossible. it didn't look exceptionally strong in the morning, so we chilled a bit at breakfast. the guys from the station were out already with sails around 4.0
when i saw them coming in again after only one turn, totally exhausted, i started to get a bit nervous. andy was telling me that there was no freakin way and he took the smallest sail he had rigged at the station.

harald, backloop try onefooted... or lets say: blown away

breakfast was history at that moment already. totally hyped, i rigged my 3.5 that i only bought for conditions like this. from the beach, you could already see the gusts ripping water off the surface: whiteout! the rigging was done in record time, still it felt like hours.

looks crowded, but we were the only ones on the water... harald, myself, andy and freddy

when i finally jumped in the water, i started hyperventilating already. i knew that i was gonna be so dead after just a couple of runs. surfing overpowered just takes its toll and has absolutely nothing to do with what you do in 6 or 7 beaufort.

backloop try... almost!

the waves were quite big (well, afiartis is flatwater so it seems kind of blasphemy to speak of 'big waves' here) and in combination with the high wind it was pure insanity: once you hit the lip and the wind catched the board you were only flying. always in mind to keep the center of gravity low.
man, did i fall! i took some really bad beatings that first hour and i couldn't remember to ever have surfed overpowered like this.
after an hour (it might have been way less), i started to get cramps, so before it got dangerous, i went back to the beach.

airjibes are way fun at 9+ beaufort

on the way home

later in the afternoon, we took a quick ride over to the wavespot, but it was super crowded there, so we headed back for another session... tried haralds small waveboard and liked it. definately need a small one like this! :)

and thats how it looked from the masttop :)
klick on the picture to see some motion!

its days like this, that you remember for the rest of your life. even though its not even fun to ride. its just pure survival and the thrill to be out in such conditions. i don't want more of these days, i just want one or two every year.

yes, i love that island! :)

thanks heidi for the shots!