Surfing in Maldives

Just before we left the Maldives we got the chance to go out to a reef where there was a nice wave we had been looking at for a couple of days by now. Sitting at the stern of the boat imagining ourselves riding on that distant wave. Obviously a good point break for surfing. We could see how the waves broke nicely to the left and curled into a tunnel. The last day we jumped in to the tender and set off towards it. We rented some surfboards at a resort close by. 

When we reached the reef there was already a few surfers there. They had a tender boat tied up to a mooring bouy and there was another mooring bouy left there for us to tie on to as well. It was me, the captain, an engineer and a deckhand who surfed. With us in the boat we had two of the girls that came along for just chilling and tanning. And another deckhand who came along for fishing. The deckhand who surfed use to be a pro surfer since very young age and ha use to be competing for money. He use to be sponsored by billabong and I could tell he knew what he was doing. He had rented the shortest surfboard I ever seen. He threw it in the water and jumped down on it feet first. He landed standing on it and as he was sitting in the water with the board under his feet he was immediately in one with the board.  He had been out here the day before this day when I came along. Sohe had told me how it was a perfect pointbreak for beginners. He had been missing surfing for a long time now and he told me how the wave was curving around the reef like the shape of a horse shoe where he had been riding it around the island for a few hundred meters. I guess he could tell that I didn’t really know what I was doing when I went in the water. I threw the board in the water and dived in next to it, then crawled up on it. Well I am from Scandinavia. Someone once told me that Europeans doesn’t know how to surf. It is not in our blood. Whatever. I have been snowboarding since I was a kid and longboarding around the roads. Even a bit of downhill with sliding gloves when I was staying in Italy. That is awesome stuff by the way. I have tried surfing a few times but only with small waves by sand beaches. Never by a reef before. Last time I surfed was a few month ago in Sri Lanka. Then I had a long foam board. So I can’t really say I know how to surf. Now I was on some kind of middle sized short board that my pro friend had choosed for me. I knew that the water never really been my element. I am impressed by the ocean and I have been spending years on boats and ships navigating around all over Europe and over the Atlantic ocean to America. But as a rule of thumb I have always said that “If I am under the surface, something went wrong”. I have never tried diving or submarines.
We started to paddle towards the pointbreak. I was so excited about going surfing and it all felt really cool to begin with. But I wasn’t the quickest one of us paddling on the board, I must admit. I knew that it takes a lot of power in the arms to be out in the water on a board. It is all about paddling hard in order to try to catch up with the waves. 

I was trying to figure out how to position myself in order to be able to catch the waves. I saw where they were braking and I was picturing myself being right there paddling up to speed, leaning forward going with the wave, rising up my upper body like a cobra on the board and throwing up one leg in front middle, riding low. I know the theory of how to do it. So far I was well driven by me will power an enthusiastic. That’s where I was going. I thought I knew what I was doing. Quite we spread out a little bit as we were positioning ourselves to catch the waves. We rolled over a set of waves which we let passed. I needed to reposition. I needed to get closer to where they break. I paddled further. All of a sudden someone screamed my name. I looked over my shoulder and saw the captain yelling my name again “Rasmus! Get out of there!”. He was pointing behind me. I looked where he was pointing and saw a wave behind me just about to break. I don’t know why I kind of felt surprised. I had been planning to take that bastard and ride it. I should have known that it was coming. I was exactly in the position where I had pictured myself earlier. Now I needed to be moving forward a lot quicker then I was. This wave was a killer. I realized that I was way too slow for this one and that it was rising up pretty quick. But how the hell would I get out of here now. I guess what I should have done was to somehow get down under the surface with the board and come up on the other side of it. Or just be paddling faster, like a crazy person and hoping for the best of luck or that some sort of miracle would get me to ride this wave. That’s what I was doing. For a second I thought I would make it. But I couldn’t. I was way too slow. The wave was a lot higher then I expected, I realized when I was in it. I felt how I got sucked back in to it at the same time as it just totally broke over me with tones of water crushing it right in my face. I was holding my breath as I were tumbling around up-side down, rolling around under the water. I had no idea of my board. I was completely without control. A few seconds later I came up in foam pretty goddamn slapped up. I had felt the power against me. A couple of meters of wave beating me with one big slap. It was heavy. Quickly I had to get up on my board again. “That was nothing”, I told myself. But now I had to back off. I had to reposition myself quick to a little more safe place. I started to paddle as if I had fire in my back only to get the next wave coming right over me again. I tumbled around under the surface again before I got back up and rapidly pulled myself up on the board, trying to get out of there. I paddled as quick as I could and took long draws with my arms. I looked over the shoulder and saw the next big wave coming pretty soon. I just freakin’ went for it. Full power! I did all I could to make some speed and I really tried to catch this wave. I had manage to get out a little bit from the worst location where the waves were breaking the hardest and I was actually pretty well located by now. I leaned forward as I was paddling my best when I felt the wave rising under me and from behind. It certainly moved me forward a lot. I could feel how it was pushing me for a while. By the time I lost the wave and rolled over it on the backside and I felt pretty satisfied that the wave at least didn’t almost kill me this time, as the two first did. Now I was pretty close to land and had to get back out there. It wasn’t really a ride. But the wave had moved me pretty far. I had to make a big turn now and come back in a loop outside of where the waves were breaking. Of course I couldn’t just swim straight back against the wind and current. But I was already exhausted. Not completely exhausted yet but much more tiered then I thought I would be. I had to paddle back in a little bit slower tempo because I had to collect energy for my next go. I couldn’t give up this soon. I had to give it a go again. After a while I was back out there where the waves where breaking. It took me a while though. I saw at least two of my colleagues riding the waves. It looked amazing. I located myself pretty much at the spot where I managed to catch the last wave. But this time the waves didn’t break at the same place any more. At least that’s how it felt like right there. I had to lay on the board and wait a little bit. Which was good. I had to save energy and I also I didn’t want to put myself in danger again. But after a while I realized I had to get a little bit closer. So I moved closer only to realize I was getting to close. I was wrong. They were still breaking there. I just arrived at the location in between the sets of waves coming. Quickly I turned around and distanced myself from it. There were a few good opportunities to catch the waves which I didn’t take because I wasn’t ready. I was holding off a little bit. I am not too crazy. Then I relocated myself and got ready and just started to paddle as much as I could again, trying to catch the next wave. I started to paddle well in advance in order to get up to speed by the time the wave would get to me. I looked over my shoulder and saw how big it was. To me it felt pretty big and now I was paddling even faster. I was paddling for my life.  Soon I felt how it was pushing me. I kept on paddling and it took me forward and I was shouting. I was riding it. I stopped paddle and grabbed my board and put up my knee on it. I was balancing and I was certainly riding the wave. It wasn’t for long. Just a few seconds but it felt for long. At least about ten seconds. It took me forward pretty quick and it really moved me pretty far. I felt that I had control but I didn’t even manage to stand up. The wave took me forward pretty fast now and it moved me quite a bit closer to land. It ended with that I felt off and ended up under it as it was breaking over me. I tumbled around again under the surface and was completely out of control. I felt the reef with my foot as I was rolling around under the water with my arms around my head. I had no idea of where my board or body parts were. When I came up to the surface again I felt really satisfied. I had been surfing. I was tiered as hell and a little bit scared about that I het the reef with my foot. It could have been my head. Now I felt like I should paddle back to the boat. I was completely exhausted. It was a little bit of current and I was so tired that I could almost not make my way back there. I was struggling. I had to stay calm and let it take some time. As long as I go around in a loop and stay away from the ways I’ll be fine no matter how tiered I am. I saw the other guys about a hundred meters away from me still waiting to catch a good wave. As I slowly kept on paddling towards the boat I suddenly noticed the deckhand who use to be a pro surfer, elegantly riding a wave passed by me. That looked sooo good man. Slowly I got back to the boat and crawled back up on it. Finally I could allow myself to rest. It felt good. I was staying there with the girls and the other deckhand who were fishing while the other three guys were still in the water with their surf boards for a while.
When they finally also returned to the boat we decided to go around the island and check out the pointbreak on the other side of the reef. At the other end of the shape of the horse shoe, so to speak. The boat ride were really nice as we passed through the current and over those long swells which would become these good surfing waves by the time they would hit the reef. When we reached the other side we met a girl in the water on a surf board. She looked like she was having a hard time. She was bleeding a little bit from her face and she asked if she could get a lift. She looked exhausted. The current was a little bit stronger on this side as it seemed like. It looked a little bit tougher here. We picked her up and drove her out to the boat she came out with, which were a bit further out behind us. That was like a local wooden boat that took tourists out for surfing, I guess. We dropped her off there and decided to go back to the other side again, where we started.

When we got back there, the fishing deckhand who were driving our tender boat wanted to just quickly go back to the yacht to get some more fishing gear. So we who were going to surf were about to be dropped off at the point break again, then they would come back after they’ve picked up the fishing gear. I was standing up in front of the tender boat thinking for a while, just about to jump in. But I hesitated for a while and said “I might need to consider this”. I was in doubt. Is it really a good idea for me to get back in there? Well, I can’t just be giving up, I thought. I have had some rest now. I should give it another go. I waited for a while. The other three guys jumped in with their surf boards. I jumped in last, even if I was still a little in doubt. The tender boat set off towards the yacht and we started to paddle towards the pointbreak. The last thing I heard was the girls in the tender boat shouting to me. “Put your legs more together”. I put my legs more together and started to paddle only to see how my friends just took off. The distance between us were increasing pretty fast. I just didn’t understand. I started to paddle harder and faster. I tried to concentrate more on the paddling with my arms. I tried to do the proper technique. But the current was stronger here. We had been dropped off a little bit further out this time. I saw my friends heading away. I realized that the current must be taking me now. I had to stay calm. I had to do my best. I hope the tender boat will be here again soon. I hope I don’t end up in danger. I realized I had to paddle for my life now. I had to try paddling in a slightly different angle. The current were going to take out at sea otherwise. I heard how my friends which were already a couple of hundred meters in front of me, started to shout back at me. But I couldn’t hear what they were saying. I looked at land and tried to judge whether I was going further away from land or if I was getting closer. But I couldn’t judge. My friends were definitely getting there. But I didn’t know if I was just wasting my energy or if I was progressing. Maybe I had to give all this effort just to not lose it and drift away. I wasn’t sure about what was going on. I was just laying there on my board paddling as much as I could, knowing nothing. I couldn’t notice my movement over ground. But I was paddling for my life by now and I had to keep on going for about half an hour. Which I did also. Then I was finally catching up. I was winning. I was getting there. My arms where done. How was I going to be able to position myself, get up to speed and catch a wave now. I had to just hold on to my board and collect some energy for a while now. I had to wait and just monitor my movement and make sure that I was not being taken out by the current again. I was finally back together with my friends and I felt like I could take a moment to rest before hitting the waves again. 

And then it started. Damn! I thought I was ready. But I had no power to control my positioning or defend myself against this aggressive wave. It slapped me right across the face so I flew. The waves where beating me down to my bones time after time. I couldn’t get out of it. I kept on tumbling and rolling under the water every time a wave broke over me. It was worse this time. It just kept me there and kept on beat me. A whole set of really good waves, one after one hit me and I was lost and dizzy in between the intervals. Completely exhausted. It carried me in between the rounds of beatings and finally hit me against the reef. I hit the reef with my legs as I was rolling around under the water. suddenly I was on shallow water, standing up on the sharp reef. I was vomiting. I had swallowed some water and felt very week and sick. The height of the waterline on my exhausted body varied a lot from when the waves were coming in to when they were pulling out again, of course. I was vomiting again and my knees were shaking. This tiredness made me loos my balance all the time. I couldn’t even stand up any more. Also the reef bottom was too sharp to walk on properly. I tried to get my board right and tried to jump up on it, so that I could paddle away. But the waves kept on taking my board and wash me down. I waved at the tender boat where my friends were and shouted that they should come and get me. I was way to exhausted to be able to paddle back all the way there. Particularly since I had to do it fast to begin with in order to get away from this place and the waves. And I was sick from the water I had swallowed but I had to try to get out of there.

I saw how the tender boat were disconnecting from the mooring bouy and they were on their way to come and save me. I jumped up on the board and started to paddle towards them. When I finally came back up on board the tender boat, I was laying down on my back just breathing. It felt so good to be out of the water. Finally safe again. Damn waves I thought to myself. The guys said that they thought I was attacked by a shark over there, in the shallow water. That it looked like that when I was waving my board around. We had a laugh about it. They asked me how I ended up so far up and close to land. I said that I was surfing there and then we just had a laugh. My knees and feet were bleeding from the hits against the reef. Ok, I might have been too exhausted to go out there the last time already. Maybe I should have skipped that last round. But anyway. I was at least trying. It felt good that I was brave enough to give it a proper go at least. And I survived. That was good. “The reef was hungry today”, the captain said when he came back up to the boat and saw me bleeding. I was feeling great. Finally back in safety. Well exercised for today.