Lachy’s notes from a recent visit to Indo:
I was lucky enough to be invited on a boat trip over the last couple of weeks in the Mentawais… After last year’s epic adventure in the same location I wasn’t going to say no… even with the trip’s poor timing over school holidays/ Easter (sorry Triggs and Phil)!! On the advice of long-time Ment’s regulars I take the view that as long as you surf relatively uncrowded waves, the boat floats and the beers are cold… well you can’t really go wrong cruising around paradise! Of course, after seeing the very promising early forecast we all had dreams of tropical perfection.
We were to be on the Ilike – one of Chris “Scuzz” Scurrah’s boats under the Sumatran Surfariis label. Last year we were on the Budyadahri – same company, different boat – an epic trip. In fact some of our crew have been countless times with these guys… definitely to be recommended, but as if you haven’t already heard that!
Yu, our faithful guide of the last two years met us at the office and I was instantly comfortable in the fact that if there were uncrowded barrels to be found… well these were the guys most likely to find them.
The Tourists…
Lachy (me) – white skinned (lots of sunscreen), arm flairing kook from Westernport Bay now residing in Rye.
Kane – all round cruiser/charger/shredder from Blairgowrie who gets better as it gets bigger.
Cairnsy – another Blairgowrie/Rye guy with smooth style, plenty of power and big moves backed up by a solid frame.
Dunball – fearless sportsman from Rye whose surfing is progressing quickly and whose efforts never cease to amaze – also the injury guy!
Drew – smooth goofy footer/ golf expert who is responsible for the Smart Rock cladding on the outside of our Sorrento store.
Graham – father of Kane, solid goofy footer with oodles of style and years of experience.
Cumbo – as competent a surfer that you could find in waves from 2-8ft, Cumbo has a keen eye for the ocean.
Jamie – power like a Hawaiian, style choices like George Clooney – visit the Gallery in Sorrento for proof.
Reno – silky goofy footer from Blairgowrie who doubles as the most regular visitor to the region on our trip.
The Quiver…
New 5’11 x 18 7/8 x 2 5/16 round square w/ Future plugs (volume 27.2L)
New 6’0 x 18 3/4 x 2 5/16 round pin w/Future plugs (volumer 27.4L)
Old 6’1 x 19 3/8 x 2 3/8 round pin w/FCS plugs (volume 28.7L)
All made by Simon Forward and glassed by Jon Jolly for Trigger Bros… the two new boards being the best boards I’ve ever ridden from any manufacturer. Tested in crummy waves after the trip, and good waves at Woolamai pre-trip… I was ready for action with a rock solid bag of boards!
The Trip…
Sat 12th – 12.40am Flight Melbourne – KL, KL – Padang. Little sleep – The coupla beers trick didn’t work as well as I’d hoped although I kinda lucked out… sitting next to a weird Malaysian chick who failed to acknowledge me but took up as little space as possible in her seat (obviously a win to me). Slept for a few hours over a 15+ journey. We were met at Padang by drivers from Scuzz’s office who escorted us to the office (ice cold beers and free wifi – quick check of the Margaret River results and footy scores)… then the boat… where this time sleeping was easy.
Sun 13th – Bintangs, Bintangs, Bintangs and Bintangs. 4 surfs – no beers until after dark (the break is called Bintangs). 1st lesson learnt – sometimes it pays to take a fish to Indo. Rode a Travis Bristow shaped, …Lost Rocket inspired hybrid. After 3 fun surfs in a declining swell I took the opportunity to grab Cairnsy’s 5’10 Bristow and caught upwards of 15 waves in a sunset session with just myself and one of the deckies, Suju. If I’d ridden even my groveller I probably would have caught less than half that number and had no where near as much fun. Thanks for the lend Cairnsy!
Mon 14th – 3 surfs – We motor around to HTs to discover 6 boats and a rapidly declining swell… somewhat surfed out from the previous day I have no interest in surfing in front of 60 guys and take to other water activities… trying a nearby bombie on the boat’s SUP. The wind swings and we bolt around to Lances Left which is surprisingly solid with a rapidly improving wind. A massive thunderstorm with torrential downpour sees Robbie Dunball and I shivering on the way into the lineup. Later highlights include Drew bombing a solid 8-10ft face on his big board and styling the whole way to the channel – the stoke visible from 200m away.
Tues 15th - 3 more surfs… Our requests are answered as we hightail it from the busy HTs area and arrive at Greenbush… small and a couple of boats occupying the break means we are whisked off in the tenders to nearby righthander “Crocodiles,” which is a very playful 2-3ft and more fun that you can imagine (and empty). Later that day Robbie rides the first wave at a virgin sandbar… now named “Dunballs,” although Kane has the last laugh with a neatly threaded tube across the shallow bank. More Croc’s that arvo in better conditions and we are again pretty stoked.
Wed 16th – 1 surf – our only surf for the day at 5-6ft (plus on a few sets I would say) Goyang Goyang AKA Rock n Roll AKA “Tropical Tiber st” – as dubbed by a previous bunch of blokes from Rye. Imagine surfing 100m of 6ft high tide bells bowl on a 1.70m high tide… well that doesn’t do it justice… luckily the relaxing day is perfectly positioned before the influx of swell we are about to get hammered by. Exploring an uninhabited island near Rags Right keeps us entertained for the arvo and I finally get over a bit of airline illness (aka snot head) that I’d discovered on day one. We could have found some more waves, but most of us are on the same page and surfing with 40 blokes isn’t part of our plan. Lesson 2 – you gotta ride with the punches… if there is no surf, there is no surf. Find something else to do.
Thurs 17th – 3 surfs – Back to Crocs for some early morning enjoyment before cruising around to Greenbush and working shifts with the other two boats in the area throughout the afternoon. The older boys on our boat chase Crocs in the arvo after sampling uncrowded ‘Bush early. Lesson number 3 is learnt by me – nothing else matters in Indo except how well you ride the tube… and the boys showed me the way with Cairnsy and Dunball taking crash courses in pig dog tuberiding at 4-5ft Greenbush. Kane scores one of the tubes of the day, and Blairgowrie Electrician Dylan Gailbraith threads an epic 5 footer for the crowd in the channel (Dyl was on the Budyadahri which is also anchored next to the reef).
***Of course – as anyone who has been on a surf trip knows – we didn’t take footage when the waves were pumping so we pretty much only have C-grade stuff… everyone was surfing if it was pumping! And there WAS more than one camera on the boat but so far I have only got my hands on Kane’s… if I can find some more shots or clips they will go up too.
Dunball basically learning to backhand tube-ride at Green Bush. This is not the nicest wave in Indo, and even at head high or slightly bigger… there are serious consequences on the bottom.
One of Cairnsy’s attempts – as the boys say mid-clip… “right over the top of Dunball.”
More Dunball tube-vision!
Lachy on the smallest wave you could ride at Green Bush.
Drewy snares a good one at the Bush…
…And Jamie styles across a perfect, bowly one.
Fri 18th – 3 surfs – Some early morning travel and we wake up to funky Lighthouse waves. Luckily the next island over has some classic 2-4ft lefts peeling along and everyone is hastily over the side – Moots it is. We find a few sets at Moots and I try the phantom rights around the other side of the island (not so good). Reno, Graham and Drewy pretty much get all the bombs and that is that. Still conditions means a late session at Lighthouse is on the cards, but as we arrive the devil wind from hell comes up… worth another splash anyway though.
Moots – as it gets bigger it tubes but at this size it is very enjoyable (note the phantom rights in the background of the clip).
*** At this point of the trip we take surf guide Yu’s advice and motor off to a fairly well-kept secret spot in anticipation of building swell and favourable conditions. Last year we scored there… and Lesson number 4 still applies – a secret is a secret, doesn’t matter where you are. Keep it quiet!
Sat 19th – 4 surfs – “Mega Death” rights and “Mini-Chopes” lefts, followed by “Superfuns” rights. Early morning we bomb into a couple of ledge style rights – heavy tubes are the norm at this place and the young lads are frothing that we are back at the spot. On returning to the main anchorage we find the low tide has turned double-up lefts (Kuta Reef style) into a fair clone of 4-5ft Teahupoo… well I thought it had anyway. The small ones are still fun, but you don’t want to be wearing a big set on the head. Luckily the boat is close enough that the warning whistles can be heard everytime a solid lump appears. Dunball takes the “encouragement award” for an ill-fated pigdog attempt on the biggest wave of the day. Superfuns is cooking pre-sunset and with beers in the tender channel-side – well it is safe to say the whole boat is pretty excited to be in Indo.
Cumbo styling across a mid-size wave at Mini Chopes. It runs for another 80+ meters after the clip ends.
Dunball inspecting the bottom at Mini Chopes… as it gets bigger it gets thicker. **Excuse the cussing in this clip – the boys were definitely excited at the prospect of Robbie taking another solid wipeout!
Lachy on a smaller one, showing the down the line style of the smaller ones… must be a deep channel next to the reef because they do not break any further out as they get bigger (thicker).
Sun 20th – 4 surfs – More Megadeath antics in the morning (2 surfs – the first with Cumbo and Jamie in tow) – more tubes. Jamie take a late drop and the whole line-up watches in anticipation of the wipeout. We’re all laughing until we turn back to the horizon to find a 6 footer is meters from exploding on us. Funniest home videos entry of the year… if there was a camera handy. The wind drops out as we are leaving to meet the other boys so Kane, Yu and myself are straight back for more after some food and witness a couple of the scariest 8ft sets you can imagine – round holes with hardly an entry point to be found. On our return to the left we find Dunball and Cairnsy flying the flag and inspecting the bottom regularly. It looks every bit like 5-6ft Chopes from the channel and the team decides that an arvo at Superfuns might be in order… except that it is no longer super-fun, and more accurately represents 4-6ft perfection. Cumbo expertly threads a few solid tubes and we are all pretty chuffed… How can you go wrong in this place?!
Kane had some old footage of Superfuns (from last year) on his camera… what a set-up.
This is what it looks like at 5-6ft… Kane tearing on a nice one. I couldn’t contain myself after seeing this and asked Alex to get me back to the main boat so I could grab my stuff…
…Using this impending storm as my excuse. The next 2 hours were probably the best surf I’ve ever had in Indo as it just got better and better.
Mon 21st – 3 surfs – Pretty much surfed out, we make the mistake of returning to check a couple of the more popular breaks… to find 4 boats in the channel. As soon as a rain squall comes across we make our escape to paradise and keep surfing uncrowded perfection. Superfuns is back to 3-4ft and Yu decides that the tender can make it around the inside of the lagoon on a dropping tide to find Megadeaths (never before attempted despite his confidence). A few near impacts and its not long before we are sipping on lunchtime beers and walking the boat through the shallows for 1km or so… no stress except for the giant Marsh flies and mosquitoes that seem to be bothering no-one else except me. Megadeaths is pumping of course, but has slowed considerably… and after an hour or so we take the long trip back by tender to Superfuns for some late arvo gold.
The long walk around the lagoon… Bintangs and peanuts in tow. I’d just climbed out of the boat and was greeted by every Marsh fly in Indo. Yu just laughed.
This is what was waiting for us!
Jumped straight off the boat – at 6ft it pumps, 8ft is much scarier.
Smaller than the previous clip and a short wave… Kane scored tubes twice this size in previous sessions at “Mega Death” – as named by Dunball.
Tues 22nd – 3 surfs – Final morning in our secluded paradise and after an hour or so another boat finally shows up… Lesson number 5 – Australians aren’t locals in the Mentawais and despite some groans and frustration there isn’t much you can do when another boat rolls up. Luckily the other crew are fairly novice, and more importantly are a great bunch of guys (and girls)… we share Superfuns for the day and the sad reality kicks in… its time to make the long trip back towards Padang.
Wed 23rd – 2 surfs – Somehow after all the surfs of the last four days we luck-out and wake early to an empty 3-4ft HTs line-up. What a way to end the trip?! Pretty soon empty is just a memory and 20+ blokes/girls are doing their best to drop Snapper Rocks back into the Ments. The slightest wind shift and we all start screaming out to Yu that maybe Bintangs would have something? Instant experts. He laughs, rolls his eyes and we motor around to find a fairly slow line-up being dominated by some blokes from NSW South Coast. Everyone sneaks in a late surf and that is that. The dream is over.
Thurs 24th – Home. Its cold. My boards have tropical wax on them. Wetsuits are heavy to surf in. Snow is falling. I didn’t sleep properly on the way home. Slight sea legs make balancing hard for the first 48 hours. I have sunburn on one arm. It is hard to get back into it… but I have, and I’m already looking forward to next year. You really can’t go wrong over there. 33 surfs in 11 days… 15 or so which were very-good to epic quality. My boards are all in one piece and didn’t disappoint. The food was good, the boat was good, the boat staff (crew) were epic, and beer tastes better after a long day of surfing in board shorts. Lesson 6 – don’t ever wish to come home when you are over there… you are in paradise, make the most of it!
If you are looking to book a trip to the Mentawais and can’t decide who to go with – we definitely recommend Sumatran Surfariis. www.sumatransurfariis.com
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