| Sultans of Surf |
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Page 3 of 7  “This place has the most perfect waves in the clearest ocean I have ever come across—perfect waves surfable at all tides with offshore winds that blow all day long,” says Hinde. “I’m a surfer. How could I ever leave?”The first morning of the trip, as we scarf down a hearty breakfast of fresh vegetable omelettes and grilled potatoes, David Mesnard, Ocean Dancer’s French-expat owner, runs through the itinerary for the week, noting that scuba diving and other side trips are available for those who grow bored with surfing. “If I go scuba diving, you have permission to kill me and take all of my surfboards,” Dayton leans over and says to Peak and me under his breath. Mesnard then issues a warning about the meal schedule: Those who miss the daily noon lunch won’t have an opportunity to eat until dinner. “Our itinerary is to surf as much as possible,” Dayton interrupts. “This is not a crew that is going to let lunchtime get in the way of surfing.” That’s pretty much how the week plays out. Each morning, after our onboard surf guide predicts which of the eight prime breaks in the North Male atolls are most likely to provide the best waves for the day, the dhoni delivers us into the lineup. And then we surf. And surf. And surf—usually three sessions for a total of about six hours a day. We surf so long and hard that by day two our chests are raw and bruised from our boards and our elbow and wrist joints are aching with the bittersweet pain that comes from not being able to stop. Masterson and Howard spend the first few days tuning up their skills. Back home in California, they were all so wrapped up with their TV and film jobs that none had surfed for months. Meanwhile Peak, who is a former surf instructor, literally surfs circles around everyone. With a boyish face, mousy brown hair, and a slim build, Dayton comes across more like a high school computer geek than a surfer. But as I watch him draw a smooth arcing line almost like a sine wave along the face of a curler, brown eyes fixed on its crest in deep concentration, it’s obvious the young entrepreneur is obsessed with surfing. I first surfed with Dayton at Black’s Beach in San Diego, back in 2002. He took up the sport relatively late in life, at age 27, so he was just OK then. But in the past five years his wave-riding skills skyrocketed, helped, no doubt, by these annual surf jaunts, which seemingly cram a month’s worth of water time into a week. |
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