mentawais..the hype..the lies..the truth

mentawai's are sooooo 1998

macquarie island man, is where it's AT!

ok then kcw, you can leave your puffy-tongue Globe sneakers at home. and your calf length denim shorts too.

well, mebbe take the shorts...

fuck, fuck, this isn't a fashion lesson. hope you haven't booked during school holiday times. if you haven't booked go when there are no school holidays and when there ARE QS or WT comps being held elsewhere in the world. go then - less pros. dont bother with any board over 6'6 as you just won't need it.

more when i can be bothered writing again

I'll be there in July....

as will I... first time there too :)

woohoo. killer photos coming from bookster.

i don't spose you've gone as far as seeking out a good captain kcw. but if you get a choice and you been given some recommendations, follow them. having someone who can bolt early and beat a wind change or play the probabilty game with good success is a big help.

about 2004 me and two mates were on the Huey with Steve the captain. rest of the boat was full of kiwis - ran out of beer 4 days in. big south swell coming, one of the biggest of the year and the word was out and everyone was waaiting.

steve had a hunch it was coming earlier than the charts said so pointed the boat south. we lost a few hours where we could've surfed macca's or thunders but got to the hole with no boats around and a six foot swell heaving and growing. best session ive ever had in the ment's with only 1 in 3 takeoffs makeable and holy fuck was it square!

capt steve went hard as did the kiwi crew. 3 snapped boards from memory and i think everyone hit bottom at some stage. by mid-arvo it was just too heavy so we sailed to the very end and surfed moots. it was about 10 foot but so perfect we were on shortboards. pretty soft after the intensity of the hole but a few highline bazzas and big snowboard carves. no-one else out at either place.

I went for the first time this year and loved it!

Went late-ish season from the middle of September to try and lessen the crowd impact.

Had plenty of fun days with the swell ranging from 2-4ft with some 5ft days in there. Last day would of had to be one of the best as a new swell pushed in reaching a solid 6-8ft just before we had to leave at Lances Left. Topped off the end of the trip perfectly!

Crowd wise we didn't really have too much hassles. We were travelling around with 2 other boats, but because we were surfing with the same people all the time we got to know each others level of surfing and the lineup became less hostile with everyone getting a good share of waves. I surfed at least twice a day and mostly 3 times a day and there was never a time when I came in wishing I has caught more waves, quite the opposite really.

Beacuse of the lack of swell until the last day we only stayed around the bottom half of this island chain and didn't get to visit the Playgrounds area. Hopefully next time when I rustle up some cash to go again.

Here's some shots from my trip..

Good shots mate!

looks fun fun fun

Oh yeah, try SumatranSurfaris, epic crew who surf well themselves so know their stuff

Craig: awesome shots there!

Clif: Bukowski's great...

Then you are going to have the trip of a lifetime mate, seriously. Time to FROTH

Here's a couple of vids from a trip last year KCW:

We passed through Jakarta not long after the blasts so one of my mates wrote a song and took Robin, the clown of the crew, onto a deserted isle to record a song about it. Worth checking just for Robin's impromptu dancing and singing.

Here's another one from the same trip. Warning: the shaky camera work is liable to make you feel sea-sick. Yours truly gets the first wave.

Digging deep into the archives.........
Our favorite editor in the tube, nice barrel Nettle.

Cheers Udo...and if you're wondering, no, that wasn't a claim at the end. Just a slightly wild recovery involving a bit of arm waving.

Good trip, that one.

Liar ...it was a double handed claim which you quickly thought better of and tried to pass it off as being unbalanced......ha ha
Fuck if it was me I would have claimed it ..........and 4 yrs on I still would.

Wow you amaze me udo, how did you know that was Stu at 40 secs, your a classic.
I like that dudes music, hes got some soul for sure, especially with ol'mate on the beach, hahaha
Gold stuff.
Geez digging deep in the archives Udo, 4 years ago. love it;)

@welly read stu's post from 25 feb 2010 ....the last line.

OK, nice work Udo..
Have you ever thought about being a detective.....!
I'm seeing this whole realm now.
Do you work for the FBI..! AFP...!

It is an amazing place and the photos above a very much what you should expect to see, but you do need a bit of luck to get a magic trip (no crowds and lots of swell). You are pretty certain to see good surf every day - just it may not be empty and pumping. Some swells come so far the sets are spaced 10 minutes apart with only a couple of waves per set. When it pumps with light winds there are so many options, but if it gets small and windy everyone would head for the same spots. If you are really competent in heavy reef waves you would not notice the crowds as you could take off way inside but there are a lot of boats and land camps so if they all come your way to a spot you can end up with 4-5 other boats with 8-10 surfers on each. I like to catch a lot of waves and do not like crowds so my expectations are pretty high. I have had 3 good trips but definitely got lucky on some days when one other boat turning up on some inconsistent days or where there was a tight take off spot could have turned a great surf into something frustrating. You can be in the middle of no-where and suddenly a speed boat zooms into the bay with 8 frothing surfers!

This ebook gives a good insight into a typical trip.

http://www.amazon.com/Surfing-Adventure-Mentawai-Islands-ebook/dp/B00GVO...

Sick pics...im guessing "Bintangs" "Maccas" and "Thunders"

Crazy to think the change the Mentawai's has seen in only a few years since even 2010 half a dozen more camps/resorts and big changes in places like E-bay....very scary to think what it will be like in even another four or five years.

Yep, spot on ID, nalied it!

Craig wrote:

Yep, spot on ID, nalied it!

:D

Enjoy it while you can gents.

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Which camp/resort Ringo? 

Second shot is wild...

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Cheers. I've never stayed there but called in. Looks like they've got a good set up and the crew there, Paul, his wife, and John the Photog are a good mob. 

Craig wrote:

Yep, spot on ID, nalied it!

How fun is Bintangs!!!!