“So WHERE are you taking the Boys” ? friends would say. “P-Pass? are you crazy that’s a bit heavy for the Groms isn’t it” ?
Fortunately the planning for this trip came along with many trips of experience and I knew what P-Pass was capable of, and I mean that from a grommet perspective.
We arrived the day after a 24 hour deluge of over 600mm of rain and everyone there said they had never seen so much water fall from the sky in a short period. In fact when we were waiting for our Air Niugini flight in Port Moresby we were wondering if we were going to be able to land looking at the satellite view at the time looked more like a typhoon !
Surprisingly we landed in Pohnpei without a delay. Allois and Valentina met us in the morning and gave us the lowdown on the operation and what we would expect for the coming days and it was all good news! We also met up with Hawaiian Jeff Bushman and his partner Joy, Aussie guests Anthony and Dave then loaded the boat with boards, water, coconuts and banana bread for the first day out.
The groms Tommy and Kai were jumping out of their collective skin! singing the Chats “Im on Smoko, so leave me a alone” on the way out the non Aussies not quiet sure what to make of the new catchy surf anthem. When we pulled up at the Pass the first 3 ft set rolled through and the groms had to be physically restrained while they were given all the info on where to sit and where to paddle around and how the currents work.
It took the kids a little getting used to seeing the reef in full view. The water is just so clear that it does often look more sketchy than it is, the reef looks intimidating as you can see every part of it. It didn’t take them long before they were comfortable out there, by the second session they were looking for sets and racing along the best waves of their young lives. Did I get in the Barrel Dad? well we heard that a lot!
After a couple of days of incredible waves we decided to do some trolling and strait away nailed some really nice Wahoo. The groms were stoked to reel in some quality fish after filling their boots with waves all morning. In the coming days we also went out fishing further offshore with Allois and caught several Mahi Mahi we couldn’t believe our run of luck!
What next? Snorkelling in Pohnpei is just next level, the rich coral and fish stocks on the fringing reefs are incredibly healthy and worth the trip to Pohnpei in their own right. Not to mention the opportunity to swim with Manta Rays!! this really blew all our minds!
Back in the surf and both the boys were really enjoying their surfing and sharing waves with their fellow guests and Dads alike. They must have caught hundreds of waves and these crystal canvas gave them room to improve their surfing in a short period of time with such minimal crowd and amazing vibe in the water. Bushy (Jeff Bushman) was fantastic with giving the groms all kinds of advice as the elder statesman, someone they actually listen to ! Bushy loved the groms so much he was going back to Hawaii to design a new grommet surfboard model called “The Wizza”. Named after Tommy who seemed to have a nack of taking a Wizza off the side of the boat at the most in opportune times….
All in all, this trip will be one our kids will never forget and certainly we wont either. Pohnpei has SO much to offer everyone who loves fun waves, fishing, snorkeling and exploring. The waves are NOT always big and heavy our kids did not loose one piece of skin to the reef !
Huge thanks to Pohnpei Surf Club check out the Special’s for taking your grommets Oct, Nov, March and April !!
David Scard