Wind and waves are going to be at their best in The Mentawais this week (so I’ve been told). We’ve been in a holding pattern for a couple of days waiting for the new swells to fill in. Still surfing daily, just not much over 3-4 foot. Still, plenty to do outside surfing around here.
As I write, I can see glimpses of the increase out front as we anchor in the channel of a world famous left. We’re ready! When the swell fills in we’ll motor 14 hours overnight to a very remote area.
A few things you probably didn’t know about the Mentawais:
– Last season they had a shocker with the winds. Northerlies blew for months causing strange erosion on some islands. Some camps even moved their dwellings to suit the new shaped islands. So far the winds have been ideal for our trip.
– Qatar Airways offered airline tickets from São Paulo to Bali for $500 if you got a group of 5 people together and flew as a group. Apparently, they sold 40,000 tickets and broke the internet. Portuguese is the only spoken language around The Playgrounds area. It is the busiest I’ve seen it around there in 15 years of coming here (we didn’t hang around long).
– We have given our surf guide on the Ratu Motu, Erik, one of the best in the business, a challenge to see if we can surf 40 different breaks in 10 days out here in the Mentawais. So far we’ve clocked 16 different reefs.
We have some ex-demo stock in our gallery storeroom that we are selling at the reduced prices listed. Must pick up from Bondi Gallery (we do not ship reduced cost artworks) and the ONLY reduced items are listed here (nothing else in the gallery).
:: uge
