Every year Rusty spends time on Tavarua Island in Fiji, home of the infamous waves Cloud Break and Restaurants. Rusty will be spending five weeks on the island surfing, stand up paddling, fishing, and conducting some research and development on a few new board shapes...

This years trip is off to an interesting start; the day Rusty showed up, Restaurants started filtering in a few sets and he wasted no time tackling the long left hander on his SUP.

A few days into the trip Rusty put an end to the meager fishing season by reeling in a 200+ lbs. Black Marlin. After the initial ice breaking catch the ocean has come to life, providing yellow fin tuna and dorado daily.

However, it has not been all waves and fish... The island of Tavarua underwent an emergency evacuation due to a tsunami warning issued after an 8.8 earthquake hit Chile. Everyone on the island was rushed onto boats and sped over to the mainland where they headed for the hills. Rusty, the rest of the island guests, and the Fijians all hung out on top of a small mountain in an old World War II bunker hoping for minimal impact, but preparing for the worst. The tsunami was scheduled to strike Fiji at 10:04 am, but luckily the tidal wave never came...

Tavarua Island is full of surprises; keep your eyes on the Rusty Blog to see what the next couple of weeks has in store for Rusty...

Photos and Text: Brody