Holey Moley

6 things you may not know about the Mentawais (where I am right now):

1. In 1983 the archipelago of Mentawai was discovered as a surfing destination by salvage diver, west Aussie, Martin Daly. The first wave he surfed was Debuts, at the most southern tip of the islands (coincidently where we just slept the night).
2. Mentawai is often mispronounced. It’s MENT-TA-WHY.
3. In 2014, Brett Archibald, a South African surfer fell off charter boat Naga Laut when crossing from the mainland to the islands. He swam for 27 hours and drifted 20 miles. Presumed dead, as he was discovered missing 8 hours later, there was a minimal search effort until Aussie Skipper ‘Doris’ (Tony Harrington) wrangled up a search party, calculated his drift and rescued him, just in time – saving his life. Brett Archibald starred on TV show 60 minutes, and was apparently paid handsomely for his appearance, but refused to share his profits with ‘Doris’.
4. The Ments are located on extremely volatile tectonic plates. In 2007 there was a massive tectonic ’lift’ where several surfing breaks were adjusted, some for the better – some for the worse.
5. 2010 hosted a devasting undersea earthquake and subsequent Tsunami ripped through the southern part of Mentawais. Isolated villages were destroyed and 413 people lost their lives. SurfAid played a major part in restoring the villages and assisted greatly.
6. Last year, 2017, charter boat Star Koat ran aground in the southern area. The crew and guests spent the night sleeping in their board bags on the beach before the boat mysteriously caught ablaze and burnt to the waterline.

:: uge