"When it all comes together and you're alone surfing perfect waves, it's just crazy."
You’ll recall, certainly, the bated breath you held when it appeared the gunboat Vela neé Falcon.had been lost with all hands on board, including its millionaire master John John Florence, his lil boy Darwin and wife Lauryn, as well as a handful of lesser notes, as they attempted to cross the Pacific.
Initial reports by media outlets suggested the trio were headed from Vanuatu to their home in Haleiwa, Oahu, a treacherous three thousand nautical mile voyage to the north-east, after scooping up the Vela, which had been for sale for a couple of years in New Zealand.
Many risks were forecasted en route, including medical emergencies (five days away from a hozzy), crew fatigue (one bad decision, capsize), equipment failure, sudden wind gusts (cats flip if caught broadside with full sail) and so on.
Surf fans gripped anything close to hand as thoughts and prayers were transmitted to the lonely boat somewhere out there in the big blue.
And then, from out of nowhere it seemed, the Vela was spotted off Australia’s Gold Coast and John John Florence posted the good news on Instagram.
“Made it to land!” John John Florence told his two million fans. “1311 miles. 9.2 mph average. Five days twenty three hours. Was a great closing, didn’t break anything. Lots of different weather. Lots of sail changes but overall great. And a great crew.”
Now, the epic voyage, New Zealand to Fiji and surrounds and to Australia, has been made into a documentary series.
“The one thing I didn’t anticipate on this trip was the patience I would need,” John John writes. “What you don’t see is how challenging it really is to sail somewhere and hide out for days from rough weather and then you have to find a safe anchorage, be somewhat comfortable as a family, and line all that up with a good swell and wind. But when it all comes together and you’re alone surfing perfect waves, it’s just crazy. It’s hard to describe how good that feels after all the work that goes into it.”
Dive into the link below for episode one of six! Water is warm and very blue but be careful on the Vela’s teak decks for sea-sicky is everywhere!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hthDolM2zg
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Yeah this looks way more fun than the tour
JF giving his son a master class
Technical correction: Cats not prone to capsize when sailed by those who know what to do, ie, John. Also, escape hatches if they do!
cats are loads of fun , had one in younger days – but open ocean crossings on one would make me nervous. That said, couldn’t hold a candle to JJF’s skills, so guessing he keeps it from flipping a little better than I ever did
On most, not JJF’s, the rig would likely break before it capsized. On his, with dagger boards, they can be set up to allow the boat to “slip” when over powered rather than tip. A wild ride, for sure, but safer.
aahhh, makes sense
Brilliant. happy to see John John living the dream.
All of this hot CS Aussie action goin’ down and still no live comment sesh?
What are you expecting? All of us just to go in cold to Bells with zero “Spring Training” pre-chat warm up?
Seesh.
Aussies on Fire!
Govern or be governed. Took him years of incremental steps to govern himself. He should be proud.
His next kid should be called Barry or Karen thou..
The true GOAT….
fella has 18k views and 2k votes in 5 hours. Bloody hell. He’s a star
Edit : massive disrespect to a comp as prestigious as Newcastle to not have a live chat. Waves are a solid 4/10 (even 5/10) and all time legends such as Morgs and Sally are surfing.
Weird how the CT turkeys have been sunning themselves for five months, yet there’s fellas finding out they’re on in a couple of weeks, for the rest of the year. Wonder if Callum Robson’s got in his head Dave and Susie’s new fence and remodel he promised would be done for Christmas.
“Darwin” lol
Got out before sunrise and caught a glassy beauty just before the wind started up.
Ripper mate, maybe only half a bottle of red tonight.
Xox
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Waterman, check
Finally something about Surfing.
Didn’t think you still had it in you.
Note he still wove in his trans fixation though.
Unbelievably, I didn’t even notice! It’s subconscious etc.
I still like surfing!
Cool