A few days ago, on May 28, footage emerged of a boat accident at Teahupo’o that very nearly ended in disaster. Thankfully it didn’t, and everyone walked (swam, in some cases) away unscathed, but it was a stark reminder of just how quickly things can go sideways there — especially when it came to light that the boat driver was a very experienced one. In the first few hours of the clip hitting the internet, there was a lot of conjecture floating around, with many assuming it was likely a boat driver carrying a load of tourists just vying for the closest possible Instagram shot.
Tim McKenna, a photographer who knows Teahupo’o just about as well as one can know it, was on the orange boat. In the aftermath, he took to Facebook to explain what it was like, how it happened, what led up to it, and how the boat’s captain, Eric Labaste, basically turned what could have been a terrible situation into nothing more than a viral clip.
As surfing’s popularity grows, the lineup at Teahupo’o — arguably the most photogenic wave on Earth — is getting more and more clogged with boats, Jet Skis, and tourists and locals alike. Some want to surf, some simply want to watch. When the tide is high, McKenna explained, some sets break closer to the channel. Right before the wave in the clip hit the boat, they were a little too close to the first wave of the set. Joao Chumbo surfed a wider one as they watched.
“Nothing dramatic,” McKenna wrote. “Something Eric, myself and many other pro’s have experienced a hundred of times over the last 25 years. We know the risks of shooting around waves and are fully prepared.”
After that wave, though, one of the photographers on the boat stood up. “In a flash of a second he slipped falling out of the boat camera in hand,” McKenna continued. “Eric looked back to see how we could pick him up. The couple of seconds spent assessing the situation how to rescue him put the boat in a critical situation as the second wave of the set started to break even closer to the channel.”
This is where Labaste’s experience came into play. While many would have felt the need to punch the throttle, he eased into it.
“Accelerating full throttle would have launched the boat and thrown everyone overboard,” McKenna wrote. [Labaste] stayed calm, stabilizing the boat, ready to handle the face of the approaching 12-foot wave.”
But the wave wasn’t Labaste’s only issue. A Jet Ski was dead in his sights, and as one might expect when a boat points its bow to the sky, things started flying around. “Once the boat was vertical,” McKenna continued, “the ice container came loose, causing seasoned surf photographers and cameramen Chris Bryan, Ted Grambeau, Mendo De Dornellas, Natxo Gonzales, Aritz Aranburu, and Jon Aspuru to be thrown into the water. Myself, veteran cameraman Olivier Ravel, Eric Bernatet and Andrew Fierro managed to stay on the boat.”
Labaste is a fisherman by trade, and he’s one of the most respected and experienced people out there. His reaction to the situation shows it.”His positioning, understanding of the Teahupo’o channel and the way the wave breaks is unparalleled,” McKenna said. “Most of the photos and footage that has been seen world wide has been shot thanks to Eric’s expertise. He is Teahupoo’s version of Fred North and his helicopter, Brian Keaulana and his Jet Ski, etc. Eric has now reached legendary status for his skill in handling successfully this extremely difficult situation. It is easy to criticize without knowledge of the conditions and actual sequence of events.
The Ocean can be treacherous. Experience and keeping calm will always prevail over rash or hysterical behavior.”
