Tick Tock
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. […]
Variable
The winds have gone light, and swell magnets are starting to fire. (In Mentawai Islands that is). Mentawais are an archipelago of surf rich islands that hug the south coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The area is famous for its barrels, as nearly all waves are on shallow coral reefs. People come from all over the globe […]
Below
Our Mentawai voyage is off to a slow start this year. That’s cool; it can’t pump every day here. An off day in The Ments is head high anyway…that eases the jolt from our training grounds; the Bondi Beach rip bowls to these hollow coral reef breaks. There is still plenty of other things to do […]
A Good Day…
I am having a good day. Currently I’m on the 39 metre Ratu Motu parked up against one of the most beautiful islands on this planet. I’ve been here many times…it’s a favourite. A right hander wraps the island producing 300-400 metre rides. It’s really quite ridiculous. The stuff you dream of. Then the water is always […]
: : Bad Eye
We’re having a stormy time here in the Mentawais, despite the glassy conditions depicted in today’s imagery. Last night a bad eye hit. 60 knots dragged two anchors and looted the boat. Probably the worst storm I’ve ever seen up here in 17 trips. Reminded me of the Wolf of Wall Street leaving Portofino…except we […]
Sempurna
Hello. It’s me. Uge. I’ve wrestled my website back from Derek. We are still at sea and have found what we are looking for. Sempurna (Indonesian for perfection). Yes, it’s pumping. Proper. Not a drop out of place. 4-6 foot barrels on a clear, sunny day. Hard to believe that there was only a few […]
Mentawais
SCENE: A lone beachbreak mid-way along the Mentawai Island chain in Sumatra. The Indonesian sun blazes down on eight surfers, split between four peaks. The wind is desultory. Sets appear hither and yon, allowing anyone with even the most basic of games to easily put themselves inside the wave’s curve. Paradise? Yeah, it’s close. The […]
Bondeye
Not all days are created for the beach. Today is not a beach day – at all. It’s a rainy day with onshore, sloppy 2 footers. Looked so, so, so bad out there for surfers. The beach was empty and Bondi village was like a ghost town. 2 days ago 30,000 people would have been […]
Crook
Good morning. Apart from some pretty amazing light dancing through the gaps in the clouds there wasn’t a lot going for this morning. The waves are a grovely chest high…extremely onshore affected. Only two guys out at South Bondi which says it all. Pretty chilly morning, around 7 degrees before the sun rose. Days like […]
Paradise
After nearly two weeks of back to back swells in the Mentawais it’s finally gone flat. Good timing really as we are heading home with sore shoulders and good memories. One of the best trips I’ve had up here with superb weather and waves 11 days out of 12. This afternoon we parked the boat […]
Island Style
The Mentawais are a chain of seventy islands and islets off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. The area is littered with world class waves which nearly all break on sharp coral reefs. There is more than 100 surf breaks in the area. I’ve been here 15 times and still seeing new setups (especially […]
Pagai Gold
It’s been pretty damn-amazing in Indonesia lately. The swells have been consistent and the winds variable. These ideal conditions spread the boats throughout the archipelago and it’s easy to be surfing on your own. The other day I surfed 7 hours in 1 day. Haven’t done that in an ages, but when’s she’s pumping you’ve […]
Lay Day
It can’t pump every day…after nearly a week up here the waves have turned off. A good time to let the reef cuts heal. Swell is coming though…and should hit later today. She’s gonna be a big one. But for now it’s messing around on the boat and DVDs. Here’s some odd bits and bobs […]
