I pulled into the Quiksilver Pro Athlete parking lot just behind Michel. As we got close to the front, me and Brandon Guilmette watched him turn the corner hoping for front row parking. We decided not to test our luck and parked at the closest visible spot. Sure enough Michel reversed passed us, in his shiny Audi, as we unpacked laughing,

“I got too greedy boys!” and settled into a parking spot behind us. We waited for him to catch up and walked over the tiring dunes together while Michel told us about his dream that night. “I had the weirdest dream boys… I was back at my home in Tahiti and really didn’t want to surf. But I got up anyway and had to go check the waves at Teahupoo. I got there and it was huge. Massive. So I thought, ‘fuck, lets get out there,’ and ran back to my house to get my boards. I grabbed my boards but before I could leave my house again I woke. All I wanted to do was surf, it was a weird dream. I guess it was a nightmare.”—Quinn Matthews