Welcome to Reunion Island

So the Africa Project finds itself on the island of Reunion.Reason being,well we felt like a bit of tropical perfection after countless Strikes up the frigid west coast lately.

Africa is blessed with incredible waves and this place is no different.

We arrived late last night and surprise surprise,one bag full of boards never arrived,who's the lucky winner....... Dan Redman.He was pretty relaxed about it... o well i'm on holiday anyway he explains.

Myself and Greg were clearly not amused,a surfer on borrowed boards aint what we came to shoot,but Dan was promised his boards would be here in 48 hours,we'll see. O he nailed a solid clip on one of Daveys boards.We're all very proud of him.

We woke up this morning and with St leu flat as we expected,local surfer Romain Cloite took us to the craziest punting wave you have ever seen,the one from  Modern collective with Jordy and crew.

It was only 3 maybe 4 feet but super fun and sent the boys flying.

Swell is expected to be bigger tomorrow and wed at same spot so it's game on in the air departement, before St leu shows it's true colours from thurs till monday if charts stay the same.

check in daily to follow our journey.

See ya.Jason

Giant Tubes

Greetings from the east coast of Africa.Well, when i said in my last post we were hunting giant tubes,that was what we were dreaming of at the time.
We woke up on day 1 to a 12 foot plus swell rocking the coastline and just to much water moving to even think of attempting to shoot the coast,so myself and Sean Holmes hit up the protected Durban basin were the piers were dishing up perfect 4 foot runners along an amazingly lined up bank.As a Filmmaker it's always good to get in the water and get a surf under the belt and out the way,it clears the mind,besides Franki Oberholzer being the most knowledgeable person on the waves in the area said "boys tomorrow is going to be all time".
To say Frank was right would be an understatement,we were greeted at first light to 8 to 10 foot gaping tubes and honestly some of the hollowest waves i have seen since my trips to hawaii 10 years ago.
Myself and Greg Ewing set up shop and captured a memorable session on what locals were saying, the most incredible barells they had ever seen here.

The charts look good for a couple more days this week so will keep you posted on what we find

Below are 2 shots of Franki Oberholzer feeling out his front yard.
Look out for the stills A grades from Gregg Ewing in an upcoming issue of Zigzag,they will blow your mind,as for the video footage,it's getting locked up in the volt till it's time to edit .
Over and Out,o waite,did i mention we scored 8 to 10 foot barells-Jason Hearn

A glimpse into the larger side of life

I write to you from Cape Town International,i am en route to a strike mission somewhere along the South African coastline,where if the maps are right,we are about to capture some truly incredible waves with a crew of top S.A surfers.It's giant tubes we are hunting and the swell is there,so lets prey the winds play ball.You can follow this mission daily here on the blog so be sure to check in,but before you leave for now check out below for a taste of what last winter dished up on the big wave side of things and with a fresh winter just beggining,theres loads more to come.Speak soon.Jason Hearn

Looking back in order to move forward

Hi all.

It's been a while since my last post - just been super busy with a reality TV show called "Way of the Warrior".

Anyway, winter - and best of all, wave season - is upon us, which means I can now start planning and shooting the rest of the destinations for the film. We have just finished sewing up the next location which will be one of the Indian Ocean islands off the east coast of Africa, home to incredible waves, good food and crazy landscapes. Dates are booked for the end of May, so super amped. I will however be hitting up the South Coast and a few new locations up the West Coast before the next major trip, just as soon as the swell maps give us the OK. Just adding to the incredible footage we already have of those 2 locations, as they're just a stone's throw away.

I will also be editing and posting some new teasers soon. Also, look out for the feature on our Morocco trip in an upcoming issue of Zigzag surfing magazine.

So before we move forward with the Africa Project Film for this year, lets take a behind the scenes look at our last location, Morocco. Below are some images from the memory bank.

ENJOY

Sensory Overload

It’s been a few days since our last bog and with good reason. With a poor outlook for surf we headed up North to what is said to be the best wave in Morocco, in hope of finding more swell. We were greeted with 3-foot waves but not amazing surf. Our wondering minds of what lay ahead for us in Marrakech our last port of call for the trip, got the better of us and we hit the road, totally oblivious to what we where about to experience

After 15 years of travel I can honestly say Marrakech is the most amazing city I have had the privilege of experiencing with my own eyes. All of us were completely blown away by this colourful maze at the top of Africa. It was to say the least, a complete sensory overload, a place where words play no part and only images can possibly describe it . You need at least a week to scratch the surface of this place, we had a day and got to work immediately.

Just outside Marrakech lie the Atlas Mountains aliened with snow. We shot up there first thing in the morning and believe it or not; we all enjoyed a 2-hour snowboard session. I think this is the only place in Africa where you are surfing the one day and 5 hours later you are carving down the mountain on a snowboard. Truly amazing.Frankie and Shaun were stoked!

Broken and tired we charged back down the windy mountain pass with the hope of catching the Golden light to shoot some scenes in and around the market square and deep within the alleyways of the Souks for the film and the book. Greg and myself barely had a spare minute to breath as we combed the markets and alleyways searching for portraits and scenes that capture the vibrancy of this incredible city.

9pm that night, with a ton of incredible images in the bank, it was time to put the camera’s down and blend into the market to enjoy a traditional Moroccan meal, sip on a few beers and reflect on what was possibly one of the most incredible days you could ever wish for. Below is a taste enjoy...

Driving Miss Daisy

Today was an absolute mission for surf, with a lot of the swell too big for the reefs and the wind too sideshore for the points. We spent most of the day driving, picking off a few nice lifestyle shots along the way.

We ended up back at the spot we’ve been calling ‘Trestles’ for another late afternoon surf just before the sun went down. Met up with a long-time friend of mine, Ross Elliot from England, who drowned his key and his car was basically immobilized as a result – and all this in probably the dodgiest ghetto area in this part of Morocco. The carpark emptied out and three of us decided to wait with him for the rental car company to bring him a replacement key. More than two hours later and no sign of them. By this time a crew of local kids had gathered around the car. As the minutes ticked away the crowd outside grew steadily, with things getting heavier as hands started to grope inside the car, with one guy trying to pickpocket Ross’ phone and wallet.

We were picked up by his friend just in time, right about the time things were getting a little too hot, and found ourselves at the dodgiest police station in Morocco. Anyway, all was well at the end of the night, with the moral of the story being: don’t surf with an electronic key.

The realities of travelling through Africa definitely presented themselves to us tonight.

And the swell, she came

As predicted, a new swell hit the coast early this morning and we were at Boats by first light. Unfortunately, and as is often the case with new swells, the direction of the first of the lines was just a little wide for the points up north. There were some good 6 to 8 foot sets coming in, and the boys dropped into a couple of bombs at Anchor Point – but they were a little flat faced and hard to surf.

Frankie broke two boards in as many surfs, Shaun boosted some fins out the back and Rudy, back on his own equipment, laid it on the rail. All in all, though, it was a pretty unrewarding day in terms of footage as the waves were just a little too flat on the face to allow for the kind of surfing I want to showcase in the film.

On a more positive note, I got to get in the water today and share a couple of waves with the boys on sunset – just another day in the office. Let’s hope the swell straightens itself out and we get some clips in the bag tomorrow.

Above is a shot of Frankie unleashing just before he snapped a board.