Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
I had some work last week that took me to the North Island and crossed over with the second round of the 2021 Billabong Grom Series that was being held at Whangamata. So I enlisted my 13-year-old daughter Rewa to help me with the lure of the contest as bait.
I've always loved the freedom and adventure of surfing and have never really been into surf competitions, but my kids just love them.
Surfing against North Island kids is another level. They're so advanced when it comes to strategy and psychology for their heats. I thought it would be good for Rewa to experience it. From her first venture out on to the infamous Whangamata Bar it was obvious the lineup was more a battleground than the playground we take for granted back home. A couple of young girls wasted no time in paddling around her and dominating the take-off zone. They were merciless and it kind of showed why they are so good when it comes to surfing heats.
Rewa eventually stood up for herself and got plenty of waves with the girls, enjoying the last remnants of the cyclone swell. By the time her first heat rolled around it was 7:30pm the following day and the swell had dropped away. Her strategy was to wait for the bigger waves and surf those. It looked promising but then the bigger sets started closing out. The other girls read the conditions like a familiar text and started racking up the better scores. Rewa hustled desperately to find a running wave and notched up twice as many waves in the process, but none would peel for her. And, after 15 minutes that felt like two, the buzzer went, the red flag flew and that was it. Rewa was out. Her Whangamata campaign over. Beaten by three girls who knew exactly how to piece the heat together.
It was brutal. She took it hard. It broke my heart to see her upset. But that's how surf contests roll. More than half the surfers there experienced the same fate that day. She probably learnt more from that loss than she has from any other competition – it just doesn't feel nice at the time.
A friend lifted my spirits when he told me that at least we know she's in the right sport. "If she wasn't upset by the result then you'd be more worried."
Here's how the two-day Whangamata Grom Series went down.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS We're selling our trusty Canon Eos 5D Mark IV. We have to make room on the shelf for the new Canon R5 so the Mk IV, one of our favourite cameras ever, has to go. We're talking film and stills capabilities that put it into a class of its own in one of the best builds Canon has ever made. More info right here. Or drop us a line to have a look: 021 139 8188.
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: