The Boogeyman
Strangely, ‘The Boogeyman’ that monster who supposedly lives in children’s bedrooms, could have begun life as a pirate…a pirate from Indonesia! The Bugis are Indonesian people from Sulawesi who were bandits of the sea, feared by many along the spice routes in the 17th-19th centuries. So when you hear “Beware of The Boogeyman”, they could […]
Away
I know, I know, it’s been a while between posts. I’ve been on the move and migrated north to the warm oceans of Indonesia. They’ve had a great run of swell up here for the early season, and it’s been very well documented on socials. We’re a few days into our journey through the islands, […]
1hr with Italo
I know, I know, it’s been a while. Welcome to the Aquabumps offshore edition, where we broadcast from the wave-rich Mecca of Mentawai – a very remote part of the world that I visit annually. Yesterday was a classic; whilst farming a nuggety left, filling our wave quotas, a blue catamaran sped into the line-up. […]
Shower time
It’s raining in Bondi, and we’d better get used to it – with another wet warm season heading our way. Not the most inspiring day in Bondi, with tiny surf, no light and intermittent showers. Rain will flow into tomorrow before clearing for most of the weekend. I’m still sifting through my shots from the […]
j.lag.
The beach wasn’t looking that inviting this morning: rain, dark clouds and heavy jetlag. At a glance, I saw the odd 3-footer with north winds – the groms having a blast on several banks. I’ve opted to show you some more salubrious imagery from my recent excursion to the Indo islands. The good news: The […]
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 […]
Island time
I booked and paid for this trip three years ago. After many pandemic delays, it was an incredible feeling getting on a plane again, with four boards and cameras to drift amongst the islands of Indonesia – such a treat! This trip is my annual pilgrimage to the wave mecca – a place where we […]
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 […]
Jet-setting
“The world is a book, and those who don’t travel only read one page.” ― St Augustine The Travel Edition! Today we’re going around the world to some of my favourite places that I’ve visited this year so far. Why? Oh man, ‘ cause its THAT ugly down the beach with a 30 knot southerly, […]
Deluge
Hey, you made it! All the way down the bottom of this email to the actual editorial. Good on you! It’s bucketing down in Sydney today. It hasn’t stopped. Let’s hope it’s raining in all the right places to fill up our dams. They need it. I wasn’t feeling inspired down the beach this morning, […]
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 […]
Pro Cameo
We had a quiet little surf on a fun left in the southern end of the Mentawais. We took turns on sets – all scoring. There was no wind, it was hot, and the waves were head high with sets in the head’n’half range. It was just us… An hour into our session, the Sibon […]
