Aquabumps.com - where the waves live

Sunday, June 19

Selamat pagi. Bondi has probably been ‘best ever’ in my

absence…I bet. Well we’ve been scoring a few waves in the Mentawai’s

over the past couple of days. Most breaks suffer from early morning

sickness, wind chop affected and not really lining up. But by about

lunchtime it completely cleans up into 3-4 foot bowly heaven &

sunshine… The last few spots have been mostly rights with minimal

crew and a couple tube sections. By about 2pm a vicious storm will

hit for about an hour (standard down pour and 50 knots squalls)

whilst the mother ship (Indies III) ducks for cover behind islands

the size of your backyard. Tonight we drive all night to reach a

world class right at sunrise (yeah, most of you know it…), probably

one of the most photographed waves in the world. Can’t really tell

you much weather specific info as I have no idea about tides or

winds (not that it’s relevant to you all) - it changes every hour.

Bit of info about Mentawai Islands; They’re a remote

archipelago of islands that hang off Sumatra, Indonesia. Swells

pump from the south along the west coast of oz traveling through

deep water (its 5500 metres deep just along side these islands)

smashing into a network of shallow coral reefs at huge intervals

(you get 22 sec periods here). 30,000 people live on these islands

and they have a unique language, religion and culture as they have

been pretty much untouched due to their geographic isolation from

the mainland and inaccessibility. Most of the population live in

small villages… some still in loin cloths, filed teeth and tattooed

from head to toe.

Enough Captain Cook rambles…typing on a rocking

boat makes dinner come close to the surface. Selamat tinggal, ::Uge

PS - we’re not getting email on the boat (Satellite

connection = mega $$$)…so if you have questions or reply to this

email it won’t be read until later this month. Have a good week…