SOMETIMES YOU WIN AND SOMETIMES YOU LOSE

Australia’s Jason Polakow, who has twice won the PWA Wave Sailing World Championship and is one of the world’s finest surfers, gives a highly personal account of his most recent surfing projects in Bali and Tahiti. In the last part of this travel report, he talks about the grand finale in Bali.

"The morning tow session saw sizable sets rolling through the upper part of the reef known as 'Outside Corner,' which needs a low tide for it to start barreling. It was still high tide so we just dropped into a few bombs to familiarize ourselves with the conditions while we waited for the tide to drop. There was also a slight bump in the water, which made the wave a little tricky to ride. Further down the reef towards the main break, the wave hits a spot called 'Race Tracks,' which is basically the midsection of the reef. The wave gets really smooth, fast and hollow. An eight-foot set on the outside seemed to grow as it hit 'Race Tracks,' barreling and growing as it made its way along the jiggered reef. I watched as Dog pulled into an eight-footer, which grew to about 10 foot plus. It was so hollow that it reminded me of Teupoo in Tahiti when I was there in 2000. With no way out of the barrel the poor bastard got nailed!

With that voodoo curse still hanging on our shoulders, I wiped out, hitting my head hard on the reef. Blood was washing over my face and I knew I was hurt. I asked Dog if he could take a look. He replied, 'No mate, it’s just a scratch.' Now when it comes to medical emergencies, 'Dog' is without a doubt the last person you need to be asking advice from! A hole in your head the size of a gunshot wound would simply be a slight chafing of the skin. I naturally took his advice with a 'grain of salt' and kept surfing.

Around two pm the breeze started to ever-so-slightly fill in the outside lineup. I decided to grab my windsurfing gear and see if I could get into a few cheeky waves. Venturing past 'Race Track' was almost unbearable. All I could see was barrel after barrel with these huge, perfectly shaped walls peeling towards me. If only there had been enough wind it would have been the best session of all time. The huge cliffs that span the entire beach seemed to be the obvious reason why the wind could not fill here. Maybe on the perfect day you could score it, but all the elements would have to be in perfect harmony. Even the 'Outside Corner' seemed to be affected by the cliffs. Wind swirled around and glassy spots would appear out of nowhere. Anticipation turned to frustration. Waddling four feet under water in the lineup was no way to catch a wave. With the afternoon slowly fading into evening, it was clear that only a few waves were to be had.

My first few waves were fun. Nice solid walls that would stand up waiting to be hit. The wind was a perfect cross offshore direction and you could get into some smooth bottom turns and cheeky little snaps. The wave kind of reminded me of a good 'Cona' day at 'Lanes.' I kept trying to go further down the line towards 'Race Tracks' but the wind was so fluky that sometimes I even got back winded while riding down the line. About a half-dozen waves later and my session was over. Have you guessed where I am yet! Well for the brain dead its Bali.

By the time we got back to the boat ramp, I was feeling a little woozy, obviously from the loss of blood. I bent down to a bunch of the Indonesians and asked them what they thought. They all started panicking and told me I had to go straight to hospital. I then walked over to Dog and explained to him what they had said. His reply was, 'Yeah, mate, if I had told you it was bad we would not have got any waves.' I paused for a second and then thought to myself that if it were him in this situation, I would have done the exact same thing. Good on ya, Dog!

Five stitches and a couple of Bin Tangs later, it was time to reflect on our nightmarish trip. It’s a fine line determining whether or not your trip was all worth it. You reflect on what has happened, all the costs, time and effort endured. It’s sometimes a nasty little equation that ends up very lopsided. But, sometimes it only takes one good barrel or one perfectly executed bottom turn and snap to change your mind completely.

It’s always a bummer to get skunked on a trip. This particular one will definitely not fossilize itself into windsurf folklore. There is nothing worse than watching your low pressure dissipate into oblivion. In one way it makes that next time you score it that much better. I suppose too much of the same thing gets boring after a while anyway. It’s like the old saying goes: 'You show me a hot chick and I’ll show you a guy who’s sick of being with her.'"