Today I met the future, and her name was Milena.
I think.
It might have been Verena, or even Wilhelmina, but the surf at Wiamea is really, really loud, and I couldn’t quite catch it.
I saw Milena before I met her. With the surf too big at Pipe and Sunset, we checked Wiamea Bay and were greeted by a 3 wave 12 foot set. On the last wave we saw tandem surfers take off on a solid one and ride it to the channel safely. We didn’t think much more of it and The Mad Scientist made plans to throw himself into crazy Backdoor pits in the name of glory, while I decided to hit Wiamea for my first time.
I’ll spare you the drama and romance of my paddle out, realising a childhood dream and all that, and cut straight to the chase. There were about 12 surfers out at the back, and the waves were around 12 to 15 feet, and pretty inconsistent. After about 40 minutes the tandem surfers paddled back out, and I saw that it was a father with his daughter on the front of what looked like a 13 foot surfboard
She wore a floral bikini, with a blue rash vest over the top. Her long blond hair was past her shoulders, and a perfect white smile lit up her tanned face. Her legs were hooked under her dad’s arms, and he paddled the board behind her in his black trunks. She was tiny and looked no older than ten years old, but her father, Bobby, told me that Milena was 11. Like me, this was her first time out at Wiamea, and man was she charging.
After just a few minutes a set pulled through, and she immediately said, “Lets go dad,” as the first wave reared across the ledge. He paddled in with both arms, stood up and then she stood up afterwards, light enough so that she didn’t affect the board, while he set a rail and rode it out to the channel. She hooted and so did he, and they rode in towards Pinballs, before pulling off.
They were the most stoked people in the water, and Bobby was all little league parent. They would sit outside of us and chat, and then he’d turn to the line up and say things like, “She wishes Clarke Abbey was out, so I’d know where to sit to catch waves,” and everyone would laugh and, “We got a good one earlier, around 15 feet, and she wouldn’t let me drive home without getting just a few more under the belt.”
And the crowd parted for them. Waves would come, and as soon as they started paddling, all these big league surfers, inside and outside of them, would sit up on their boards and let them catch waves – sharing in her truly remarkable experience.
Today, at the age of 11, Milena did something that most people are too afraid to ever do. She surfed Wiamea Bay, a place that most choose never to surf. And she wasn’t just doing it, she was doing it with grace and style… and having the best time ever.
