epic day of kiting at namotu 16 july >

so u rode the waves or the shoulder?

WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE !! Adam Yared thats tops keep it up!!

Yeah we're all just jealous

But how about some photos of guys actually riding waves rather than hanging on the shoulder - that shot's just embarassing.

www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=186950568031544&set=a.186950488031552.46103.122381367821798&type=1&theater
u should of been theres about 5 days earlier!

sorry its not the best photo we were too busy kiting !!.. that was just a quick look at the lineup before we headed out...it was a grade kiting and when i say its 6-8 feet it is and thats backs.

adam

that wave sure is pretty!
I can't believe the asp dumped that leg of the wct.
Hey Ryland were most guys paddling or being towed that day?

I had a bit of a go on the SUP' Wish we had a better camera.


Then a bit of kiting, not many shots as we were all out on the water kiting the waves. They were so good that even Adam that lives in Fiji couldn't resist, but here are some quick shots as we get of the boat & set up,



Such a lovely place, the people are so laid back "ON FIJI TIME!"
Bula Adam, we will be coming back in Sept when all the new kites are out, hope to bring another crew of 5 to 10 Pax with us. Thanks mate for all your expertise on the reefs & will bring a gun Sup next time if its going to be that big again, might need a photographer as people cant belive how big & long the waves were & shallow the reef can be when the wave sucks up. It was great for us all & to have you get us stoked to get in on the waves deeper & deeper watching it suck up sometimes below sea level over the reef. Sick stuff.
The sand bar was cool as well, kiting over small reef sharks on the incoming tide. lots of fun & very different.
Can't wait to see you & Fiji soon. Will have a short flick put together on the Mac soon.
Jonno

Was an awesome trip! A big thanks to our guide Adam from malolosurf.com and to Jonno from Sunshine Coast Kitesurfing for organising the trip. Having someone with local knowledge on what breaks work on what tides/winds, etc really helps you get the most out of every day. Mind you, pretty much every break was working every day that week so Adams job wasn't too tough ;-).

We had 2 epic kites on Namotu lefts on the 9th and 16th of July. These were the only really windy days but there was a bit of flat water kiting and we surfed most other days in between. Surf sesh of the trip was the morning of the 10th at Restaraunts about 7ft. All the pros were heading out to cloudbreak so we pretty much had it to ourselves early then filled in to a dozen or so by lunch time. Really good crew and everyone just taking turns slotting in.

There was much carnage- surfers walking around everywhere with cuts and bruises. One guy needed 80 stiches in his arm, we gave a guy from Texas a lift on our boat which cut short our day as he got smacked by the lip at restaraunts and broke his tail bone on the reef- he passed out on the boat. The pros were returning from cloudbreak every night with a pile of broken boards and stories of double and triple hold downs- one bloke breathed water. We were pretty lucky, the only real injury was when Jonno in a moment of madness attempted a set wave on his SUP at restaraunts on low tide and ended up with a few gashes to his feet.

No need to get into a pissing contest about the size of the waves we kited at Namotu, but it's about 3 kms from cloudbreak and we kited it the same day that link to the www.surfline.com video was taken. It's generally about 1/2 to 2/3 the size of cloudbreak. Here's my journal excerts from those days:

"9th July- Namotu Lefts- Had a powernap and woke to the sound of wind in the coconut trees. From our room we could see the mist off the swell smashing on the reef about 7kms away- our first kite session was on! We dropped Jarrett and Steve in a lagoon to do some twin-tipping. Adam, Johnno and I anchored the boat off Namotu Island. It was about 15knts and we rigged up Adam- Slingshot Fuel 13m, Johnno- F1 Volt 11m and me on my 10m Slingshot Rally. The wind was cross-on blowing from the south onto the SW facing reef. Namotu Island is hard on the gear -and the feet. Its about the size of a footy field but the beach is littered with lumps of coral that catch nicely on your lines on launching. The current runs with the wind so in 15 knts is a hard tack or 3 to get out the back. Once out, you cross tack until you pick up a set. On the wave you're at such speed that the kite just parks and with 15 knts you have to occasionly check your lines with a slight upwind correction. It was a 8-10ft left with 16-20 ft face that runs for about 500m but was just crumbling nicely so you could sit pretty close to the pocket without too much risk of a closeout. We had it to ourselves for most of the afternoon and were joined by a couple of other kites later on and just took turns racing the massive wall of white water over your shoulder."

"16th July - Namotu lefts- Windier- 20knts but the swell had dropped a bit to 6-8 ft. I dropped down to my 8 m kite and we had all afternoon, initially just Adam, Tex (from Coffs Harbour) and I, then were joind by another 5 kiters in the late afternoon. The wind was cross off so the waves were super clean. We got some massive bombs and by now were geting to know the wave pretty well so got a bit braver/stupid with the lip. I got a bit too close on one wave and got smashed by the barrell but the offshore breeze made it a pretty easy escape- just pull the bar and pop through the back of the wave. My board stayed with the wave so I had the body drag of all time to go get it."

I'm still reliving those waves in my head. I've been back at my desk for a day now but all I've done is try to figure out when the next trip is...

thanks for sharing TimJ

Thanks guys! Hey Harry, not sure if you've been before or what you've got organised but just make sure you've got boat support if you kite Namotu. If things go pear shaped you've got about 15 minutes till you get blown onto the reef at Wilkes Passage on the other side of the channel . I'm sure Adam can sort you out and a good site he uses to see what's coming the week before is www.stormsurfing.com/cgi/display_alt.cgi?a=etoz_slp
Cheers Tim

Who was that on the North Rebel in the first pic?

Hope it turns on for you Harry - be sure and let us all know how you went

Here are some shots from the same day but a little bigger & a little closer to the lip :)

see video made at walu beach/lailiai while the kiteboard crew were there this was going on at cloudbreak !

The Fiji Surf association (FSA),Tavarua & Namotu are proud to put on the Volcom ASP world tour stop once again. This is great for the legal workers of Fiji and near by resorts....