Expedition to the Lower Falkland

Cover photo: Esteban Bessonart

Opposite La Aguada, one of the most surfed beaches in Uruguay, you can see a wave breaking in the middle of the sea in the distance, more than three kilometres from the coast. This is Bajo Falkland, which has been part of the collective imagination of the Uruguayan surfing community for several years. It has also been the subject of talks at barbecues and campfires and of mystical stories about everything that happens or could happen there.

The mystery came to an end last Monday when the most prepared expedition known to the wave was assembled. With a boat and a jet ski, a team of seven surfers and two photographers spent the day surfing in the Falkland.

From the shore, where the fourth and final stage of the Uruguayan surfing circuit was taking place, the little dots could be seen far away inland. It was not known for sure what was happening, but the result was historic.

Giancarlo Giacoya, known as “El Yanko,” who has already made seven expeditions to the wave, said that although they expected to catch waves of four or five meters, the session paid off because “finally” they managed to record the wave properly. “For posterity and so that it is known that it is really possible to surf and that it is not impossible, that it is close and we are willing to do everything possible to help make this a reality.”

The story of this adventure began with a big wave surfer from São Paulo named Luca Cohen, a pupil of one of the biggest big riders in Brazil, Alemão de Maresias, who came to live in Uruguay. Since his thirst for big waves could not be quenched on the coast, he looked for waves outside. One obvious one was the legendary Falkland.

According to Yanko, at a meeting in Indonesia they found out that this Brazilian was looking for tow and photography partners. They all got in touch, he, his friend and underwater photographer Diego Balestro and Luca. That's where it all began.

The thing is that they went inland in threes, so to tow the surfer to the wave, the photographer was stranded in the middle of the sea, trying to find the photo between the current and a very tricky peak. Some photos came out that neither Diego nor Luca hid and published on their networks, but none captured the magic like last Monday.

“When we were three abreast on the motorbike, the photographer would be left in the water. I remember one time when I was left floating in the middle of the ocean at six in the morning with a camera. I thought of many ways to die,” Yanko says, laughing.

Finally, the union that was finalized last Monday between the first team mentioned and the one formed by Octavio Lorenzi from Punta del Este, owner of the boat, and his friends Edgardo González, Agustín Barriola, Alfredo Sosa and Eduardo Fernández, with the photographers Esteban Bessonart (who took from the boat) and Fernando “Blue Dog” Almeida  (taken from the water) ended up allowing a historic session to be recorded.

A much-anticipated southeasterly swell with wind from the other quadrant, the same one that sparked the big wave event in Brazil, got the Falkland working. It was smaller than expected, but enough to show its potential.

“Luckily, it was not as big as we expected because we really realized that we are not prepared for a lot of factors. We have to be alert and up to the situation to handle any kind of unforeseen event,” Yanko said.

When describing the wave and the course, he says that the place is very big and that it breaks differently depending on the swell. That there are both lefts and rights, that they are tubular, that the power is greater because the waves travel with less resistance in there because it is deeper and out of nowhere they come across a rock bank that at low tide is two meters deep.

In this particular session they did tow in and the paddle out group surfed a bit lower. The highlight was Luca once again, who dropped in paddle out where they usually surf tow.

“It was really nice what the group created. Now they are crazy, thinking about how to improve their imprint for the next time we go,” Yanko said.