Surfing with local kids

One of the things I came out here to do while in the middle of the Pacific is surf. I bought a couple of boards over with me and get out on the reef outside my home when the conditions are right- which is not that often. There is a prevailing easterly wind that usually chops up the surf making it pretty messy and not very good, even early in the mornings. Also, we can only get out about an hour and a half or so either side of high tide or there isn’t enough water on the reef. But once in a while you get great conditions and a nice little 2 foot wave. It can close out pretty quickly, be a bit dumpy out the back and  and there is occasionally a larger wave comes through to keep you on your toes but it’s good fun.

The best spot near us is the causeway between Bairiki and Betio where the channel they blasted in the reef to allow local boats though has made a nice little right hander. But you need a car to get there from where I live so it is usually easier to simply head out off the reef outside my place.

From Betio where I work to my home in Antenon the atolls loop around the edge of the lagoon in a large semi circle and must go though at least 120-150 degrees during that 10-12km stretch. As a result the wind and surf conditions change quite a bit from one atoll to the next as you make your way down the atolls. There can be a great little wave at the causeway but nothing further round, or more often than not the causeway is flat while the wind has pushed up a bit of swell nearer to my home.

Anyway, last weekend the conditions were pretty much the best we’ve had since I’ve been here on the reef outside my home. A spring tide and no wind meant that the sea was pretty glassy with a nice little swell further out on the reef which looked very inviting so my neighbour John, another VSA volunteer, and I headed out.

John works as a land surveyor, training up local surveyors and this is his second stint in Kiribati. He came out here in 2016 and bought some soft top boards with him and taught some of the local kids to surf. The kids have spotted him round Antenon (the village where we live) and had been asking to go surfing so on Saturday afternoon when we went out we took the old, beat up soft tops with us. We were soon joined by half a dozen kids keen to have a go.  Before we knew it this had grown to a dozen or so 6-12 year olds who were all very keen to have a surf. Both John and I soon gave up and handed our boards over to the kids for them to use, helped push them to take off when trying to catch waves and made sure everyone got a fair go. Some of the kids had been out with John before and were pretty good but for others it was their first time. They had a ball though and when it was time to head in begged to be able to go out again on Sunday afternoon.  

So on Sunday and then again on Monday after we got home from work we took all 6 boards out with us. The old soft tops are pretty banged up and falling to pieces but the kids didn’t care. They headed out and had a blast. John and I kept an eye on them and I took my go-pro out to get some footage and we had a couple of great 2 ½ hours sessions till it started getting dark. I was surprised at how well they all shared, after a couple of rides they’d hand the board over to the next kid to use.  A couple of them got a bit greedy in that once they’d handed a board over they pretty much jumped straight onto another one, but there was no bickering, no arguing, no demanding a turn, or demanding one more turn. Some of the older kids were better at understanding English and would translate any instructions to the others. They all waited for their turn and then made the most of it. I was pretty impressed with their behaviour! 

So for three afternoons in a row we were joined by the local kids till it got dark. They had a ball and loved every minute of it. I don’t think we’ll be able to go out very often now without being joined by the kids, but that is how it should be.

 Craig