Titi
This is our final episode from the Indonesian island paradise (sigh of relief from some of you). We’re heading home, sore, battered from reefs, sunkissed, and memories of tubular perfection. This trip was quite different to my 16 other voyages – lousy weather, funky winds, random spikes of swell from 3ft to 10ft in 24 hours. […]
The Mentawai Regency
The Mentawais are a chain of 70 islands off Sumatra, Indonesia. It’s about a 150 km area that hosts dozens of surf breaks, mostly only accessible by boat. It’s remote out here; there’s not a lot of infrastructure and a whole heap of jungle. When I first visited, logging used to be a big industry […]
Cabin Fever
How are you all doing out there? Strange times, and it seems to be only getting stranger. We now live in a world of homeschooling, quarantine cops, face masks, cabin-fever and closed beaches. It’s flat out weird (I know), but we will get through it, together. You’re probably not surfing, but it’s something we can […]
Indo Swim
You can swim for hours up here. The water is ultra-warm and crystal clear. Typically there are no rips, even in big surf. Usually, there’s a safe channel for paddling out alongside most breaks – that makes shooting a sinch. The Indo surf season is now kicking off and a large south swell is due next […]
Ombak Tidur
Ombak tidur…the waves have gone to sleep. We’re up here in Mentawais awaiting an inbound swell. Usually, in May, we cop a heap of big surf that is fed by the storms down below Western Australia in The Roaring 40s. The swell charts show promise and the boys on the boat are getting’ twitchy. We’ve had […]
Telos
Hi. I’m in Indonesia for my annual surf-infused junket and loving it! We’re surfing the dregs of that swell that hit Bali for the WSL finals, and I won’t lie, it’s now small. When it’s small you can hit the exposed beaches which seem to always have a head high wave…and they’re so hollow. Not […]
Heading Home…
After surfing 26 surf breaks in 12 days we’re now heading home. We’re done. Cooked. Spaghetti arms. I haven’t worn shoes or touched dry land since May. And barely any mobile reception – it feels good to get off the grid. Today I’ve switched on my computer and have dozens of messages saying they wanna holiday […]
Holey Moley
6 things you may not know about the Mentawais (where I am right now): 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). […]
Nihiwatu
These daily updates are starting to turn weekly huh? Nah. It’s back to normal next week. Today’s post comes from a unique place called Sumba. Sumba is an island within 1 hours flight from Bali, Indonesia. It’s where time has stood still…it’s remote, isolated, where the people are unaffected by the outside world. Some say […]
Indo Magic
I won’t mess with words, Indonesia has been pumping this week. Why so good? Well, there’s been a constant supply of swell. Nice long period stuff all the way from the roaring forties down near Antarctica. Most days are 4 foot plus with a few beefy 8-10 foot days this week. Broke 2 boards in […]
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. […]
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 […]
: : 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 […]