Wow, I'm a bum. I completely skipped out on writing a real blog post detailing all of the ridiculous stuff we did on our first trip to Tahiti. I glossed right over our lovely visit with Katie and Ben. Mom wrote about it, right? Yeah, getting off pretty easy there...Anyway, I'm committed to writing a post now about surfing in Tahiti and Huahine, with more to come once we hit Moorea and Raiatea/Tahaa hopefully!

On my first paddle-out at Taapuna, Tahiti I had quite an introduction to Polynesian surfing. It was later in the day with a decent swell coming in, but nothing major. About head-high sets. I caught one wave and rode it well, getting in a few turns and gaining some confidence. The waves peel very quickly and have steep faces, especially compared to the surf I had in Galapagos. My second wave, I got too behind and didn't get into the wave fast enough. I tried to crouch and grab my rail, but I was too high on the face, and got dumped over the falls. I tumbled around under water, and eventually smacked my head on the reef. Surfacing, I clutched my head and ear, realizing that I was hurt. My head was bleeding pretty good, and I was certain that something was very wrong with my left ear. I caught one more wave, but headed back to the boat shortly after my arrival with a new sense of respect for these reef breaks.

The following morning, my ear was very swollen. We eventually realized that it was full of blood, draining from my head. Dad cut my ear open to drain the blood, but we ended up having to do this several more times over the coming days. Not fun. I happened to run into a fellow cruiser a day or two later, and he just happened to be a plastic surgeon. He took a look at the ear, told me what to do if I wanted to avoid a "deformity" and stressed that there's the easy way to treat this and the right way. I opted for the easy way. We drained the ear a few more times, but Don was definitely right. I figured out that I actually broke the cartilage of my ear, and when it healed, more formed, leaving my ear more rigid and thicker. It's truly no big deal, and I'm totally fine with it.

At happy hour some cruiser friends of mine introduced me to this kid Josh from California. We started chatting, and ended up heading out for a few surfs since then. We're actually renting a car together and heading to Papara tomorrow - a renowned (and very rare) beach break south of here.

My next surf spot was at Fare, Huahine. We'd sailed up to Huahine from Tahiti to meet Katie and Ben, and while we were awaiting their arrival I did some surfing. Fare is a left that breaks in considerably deeper water than Taapuna - a big plus - and I was keen to get out there and give it a go. Fare is known for having strong localism, or basically surly locals who will give outsiders a hard time. They want to have a reputation for being unwelcoming so that travelers won't come and surf their waves, making it more crowded. It's lame, but that's the way it is. Thankfully, I had no problems at Fare. I caught a few really nice lefts, and chatted with some locals in French. My best wave was a fast peeler, and I shot down the line, and managed to launch myself off the lip of the wave before it closed out eventually. I was probably only a meter in the air, but it felt like some serious height!

After Katie and Ben arrived, I managed to head out and surf Fitii, a right very nearby to Fare. I got dropped off in the dinghy in the morning by Dad, and surfed for a couple hours. The locals were reasonably friendly, but not thrilled that I was there. I could sense their hostility. After an uneventful session I got picked up, and arrived back at the boat to see a young guy sailing in on his Tashiba 40. Interestingly enough, the boat was registered out of Philadelphia, PA! We went over to say hi. Mike had been cruising for 4 years, he told us, and had been in French Polynesia for the past season as well, just traveling around looking for waves. Mike and I decided to head out for a surf, so we hopped in my dinghy, and went out to the Fitii pass break. This time, the locals said something to me. The one guy who had been friendly earlier asked me in French if I knew Mike. I said yeah, we just met. He told me that I can't bring just anybody here. It was OK when I had come alone earlier, but I wasn't allowed to just bring other people. He told me that's how I'd have problems. I told the guy that I certainly wasn't trying to cause problems, and that we just wanted to catch a few waves and be on our way. He gave me the evil eye and paddled away.

Of course, shortly after that, I caught a wave and got cut off by a local kid. He was shouting at me that it was his wave, even though I was up before him. Anyway, after that scenario and the big burly Polynesian dude telling me I might be having problems, I paddled back over to the dinghy and told Mike we should be on our way. We left feeling pretty peeved about our treatment, which is exactly what the locals want. I am not hesitant to go to Huahine and surf their waves, as long as I'm respectful. If locals try to shove me out of their surf spot, that's great, but I'll still show up and try to catch a couple waves. I'm certainly not going to paddle out when it's firing, breaking huge and offering dredging barrels. So they can just calm down. I'm only going to be out there when it's pretty small and unexciting.

I ended up getting in another surf at Fitii before we departed and it was the best of all. I arrived in the morning and it was not crowded at all. There were two visiting girls out - an Aussie and an American from Hawaii - and the three locals that had been there every other time. I said hi to the one that had been nicest, and tried to talk about the World Cup, since France had been doing well. He was in a good mood that morning, and we laughed about some of the matches. The locals must have been unimpressed with the swell, because they left very shortly after I'd arrived. Perfect. Then it was just me, the two girls, and another local kid or two who had since arrived. I caught a few great rights - Fitii is known for its powerful, fast rights - and then got picked up. Great success.

Now that we're back in Papeete harbor, I surfed Taapuna yesterday morning. It was laughably small, and consequently extremely shallow. The waves were breaking in knee-deep water. It's a weird thing to surf in that shallow of water, over sharp reef. Thankfully I didn't wipe out at all and made it a nice, fun session with some really friendly locals and French guys.

Josh and I are heading to Papara tomorrow morning for an all-day adventure. I'm super stoked to get some beach break surfing in, and I'll write soon to recap that. Peace.