Lets Take A Break

Things are certainly different on the island today. After hitting the ground running and running and running for the first three days of the waiting period, a sense of calm has swept through Tavarua this morning. The event is off, the waves are small, the wind is side-onshore, and everyone is just content to have a day off. There are 16 guys left in the contest, but the islands are still at max capacity. From Tavarua, only Bruce Irons and Ben Bourgeois have departed, but everyone else seems just fine sticking around for a few more days in paradise. Yesterday's action was certainly packed. The Occy/Kelly showdown was all it was cracked up to be. It was kind of a slow heat for waves, but the opportunity for Occy to beat Kelly was there almost the whole heat. He needed a 6 for the majority of the heat. A few sets came, Kelly lost priority and it looked like Occy was going to get him. But, unfortunately "the wave" never came for Occ, and then Kelly turned a smaller inside wave into an 8.0 right at the end and tipped the scale firmly in his favor. Mick Fanning put together a really solid heat as well, scoring a 9.97 with a nice barrel through the inside section. Both Damien and CJ Hobgood put on a solid display of technical Cloudbreak surfing, showing us all how to put your board
in the lip, on a rail and weave through the tube. But, the take down of the day was Freddy P's combination of roommate, past champion, three time world champion and perennial favorite Andy Irons. It'd be tough to call it an upset, as Freddy would be considered a favorite at Cloudbreak too, but to not call it an upset would just be avoiding the truth. in other island news, we were one jet ski down this morning, due to a poor tie up job and a whipping wind last night.
Apparently it came untied from its buoy and drifted out to sea. What do you do? You hire a chopper and go find it. 30kms to the west the ski was located and water patrolman Ash Humphries jumped out of the chopper and rode it back to Tavi. Good recovery boys. Island vibes are settling in nicely this morning. Tennis, fishing, golf, interviews and some surfing appear to be the highest priorities on everyone's list. But ultimately we'll be sipping a few Fiji Bitters at happy hour this afternoon, as another fiery sunset lights up the sky... Vinaka!