RAINBOWNESIA

An avid surfer shares memories of his transcendent experiences riding the waves in a Micronesian surfing paradise in this memoir.

Kohrs had reached the lowest point in his life: His closest surfing buddy, Brian Martinet (“the Crazy Frenchman”) was dying from cancer. The author writes, “Turmoil conjured a wake of disintegration in my own life; divorce, losing my home to my wife, the slow dissolution of my swimming business.” He was without direction, but he still had a long-held dream of surfing a spectacular spot known only to a select few. It was in Ei’r, a small island in Micronesia, and though recent photos of the island showed it to be in disarray after the indigenous Chiefs reclaimed it from a resort developer, Kohrs was determined to make his way there. He had spotted a serendipitous newspaper ad placed by the International Olympic Committee: “Expert Coach, Lifeguard Instructor, Pool Operator needed for extensive contract position.” Kohrs headed off to Honolulu, where he would spend several months working as a substitute teacher and taking the National Pool Operator course. Leaving behind the traditional symbols of success (with the spirit of the Crazy Frenchman riding his shoulder), the author embarked on what would become a three-year adventure of mind, body, and soul. During that period, he taught swimming to beginners, ran courses in lifeguarding, and oversaw the reconstruction of a dilapidated aquatic center where he put together the Federated States of Micronesia’s swim team for the Micronesian Games. But the real magic for him was surfing around Ei’r’s uniquely formed coral reefs and diving deep under equatorial crystal-clear waters. In the process, Kohrs began to reassemble his fractured life and reclaim his mystical connection with the universe. He writes of his first board ride in Micronesia, after making a wrong call about a wave: “[I] let go of every ounce of expectation, relaxed into primal forces, and opened myself up, past the pull of the moon.”

This memoir is, in part, an ode to the Crazy Frenchman and to the restorative benefits of solo travel. The text incorporates an eclectic collection of episodic essays, a couple of letters to those back home, and occasional poems. The work is packed full of details about Micronesian history, culture, social norms, food, mythology, and, most especially, the philosophical and telemetric dynamics of surfing. Kohrs’ prose alternates between the informative (he covers every aspect of maintaining an Olympic-grade pool in the tropics) and extended mystical musings that twist and turn, sometimes meandering through paragraph-long sentences. He does have a way with imagery; here, he describes lying in a hammock: “Above, clouds of stratospheric vapor lifted over breezy fronds, their edges sawed and cut against each other. Coconut shadows hitched a ride in a blue-white morning.” His passages analyzing the geometry and physics of wave and reef composition are complex and intriguing, but best suited for fellow surfers who can more easily imagine themselves immersed in the experience.

Wistful and artfully composed, with just an occasional, overdrawn linguistic bump.