The first morning we pulled up at a very fun left that picked up any swell in the water. It was a long left with three different surfable sections that would connect up on a perfect wave. It barreled a little bit on the far outside section, but it tended to clam shell shut so it was hard to make it out. A few times I was able to backdoor a wedge on the takeoff to get a little coverup. But this was definitely a slopey carvey wave, not a place for barrels. It was a great warmup spot because it was fairly deep water and pretty easy to tell which waves were makeable.
We came back to the spot later in the trip and there was a pretty solid swell running, considerably bigger than the pictures below. I got a little too cocky and took out my 6'4" instead of my 6'6" and paddled up to the top of the reef to catch the biggest ones coming through. I made a couple but the board was too small for the conditions. On a wave with about a 15' face I couldn't get into it in time. I ended it up taking off way too late and although I made it to the bottom, a section ahead of me was closing out. I tried to pull out through the back and although I made it through the back cleanly, my board did not and it snapped. It was a long swim to make it somewhere where the dingy could safely pick me up, and then I got dropped off on the island to search the reef for my other half, which I eventually found. I gave the pieces to Captain Steve as a "new" board for him.
Here's photos taken at that left, on the first morning of the trip:
Here's me peering into the wedge section it was possible to backdoor from the right spot - but this picture is a lie, a Kodak moment, in reality the tube tended to pinch shut.
Me doing a tin man turn on the inside. Bend your knees dammit!
A sequence of a little barrel off the takeoff.
Fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun. Fun!
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!After several days and several other surf spots, the winds finally changed directions to allow us to surf the premiere wave in the area. The best part is that it's a right! I hadn't surfed a single right since I left California, and I was very eager to! In hindsight I wish I had gotten more rights to surf because my backside surfing improved dramatically on the trip, but frontside not so much. This right is one of the best in the world when it's on, and even though we never caught it "good," I still caught several of the best waves of my life. The most memorable one was one where I got two spitting tubes on one wave - it felt like some sort of miracle when I came out, and it probably was.
The wave barrels too fast for mere mortals up the point, then slows down at the main take off spot. Inside the main takeoff spot is a shelf where really hollow wedges popped up - but only on the in-betweeners because the bigger ones mushed over it. This was a dangerous spot to sit because the takeoff was extremely difficult due to how fast the wave jacked, and if you didn't make the wave you were in really shallow water so you were screwed if there was more than one wave to duck dive. A really strong current took you onto the reef. It was on this section on the last day of the trip that one of the guys on the boat tore up his back and feet really badly, he was just a bloody mess.
After the takeoff there is a possible barrel opportunity before the wave would slow down for some turns, then it would hit a shelf and barrel for a pretty long time, sometime throwing out really far, before hitting deep water. After mushing for a few seconds it would hit a REALLY shallow shelf and mutate into a below sea level freak. It was so shallow and sucking out that you could see coral heads sticking 2-3 feet out of the water on some waves - a fall would be catastrophic. That's why in the photos below I'm never trying to get too deep in the barrel in this section, and I'm generally looking out into the flats rather than down the line trying to decide if I'll make it past the coral or if I need to kick out. A fall in this section was just unacceptable.
Right here I'm just entering the second barrel section of the wave - it's about to get really fast. One of the tricky things about this wave was trying to time the barrel - it would go from flat to inside out very fast.
An unidentified Aussie surfer about to get shacked near the end of the second (main) barrel section. This guy absolutely ripped.
Me not bending my knees enough on the mushy section before the end section.
Ibid.
Me probably about to get swatted
Above and below: A different unidentified Aussie surfer on a perfect one.
Above and below: me flirting with disaster in the end section.
Above and below: me surfing a wave in Indonesia
Above: trying to set up the end section with barrel, being careful not to get too deep. Below: the end section.
Above and below: me getting a nice tube through the main barrel section.
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