In 1994 I took my first Indonesian boat trip. Compared to what was published in the surf magazines of the day, it was a low-rent affair.

I'd met four people in West Java, two Aussies and two Americans, who wanted to head out to Panaitan Island. The plan was to get a bus north to Labuhan then pool our money on a fishing boat.

None of us had been to Panaitan before but it didn’t matter as we had the equivalent of a pirate’s treasure map - a hydrographic chart of the island.

When the only other alternative was a map of the whole country, having a detailed nautical chart was priceless. Indeed it was taken more seriously than a seaworthy boat.

Back then, whenever I saw one of those maps, irrespective of the coastline, I’d stop and pore over the details: the bends in the coast, exposure to swell, nearby reefs or other bathymetric features, then drift off in a reverie wondering what the waves might be like. The world was largely an unknown place with many secrets to unlock.

Meanwhile, around the same time as that Indo mission, a company called Intrinsic Graphics was developing 3D gaming software from their Silicon Valley office. Their demonstration unit, which they’d take to trade shows, featured a spinning globe that could be zoomed into.

Intrinsic’s demo proved more popular than their product so they spun off a new company, Keyhole Inc., that acquired map data from governments and other sources, then sold it on CDs to people who worked in real estate or urban planning.

For five or so years the company plodded along but in 2003 the CEO of Keyhole spotted a PR opportunity. The US had invaded Iraq and he made sure every major US network received a free copy of their ‘Earth Viewer’ software to present 3D flyby imagery of Baghdad or Abu Ghraib or wherever US troops were active. Interest in Keyhole exploded - ‘scuse the military jargon - and caught the attention of Google. They bought the company in 2004.

The following year - on June 27th, 2005, so twenty years ago today - Google Earth was released. It was immediately popular, being downloaded 100 million times in just its first week. Surfers, it seemed, weren't the only ones smitten by the Earth as seen from above.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin may have had a vision for the world, helping punters find the nearest McDonalds or whatever, but surfers found a whole new purpose for Google Earth. In one sitting you could retrace Bruce Brown’s path in Endless Summer or you could search for the next Jeffreys Bay.

The first big reveal of the Google Earth Era was Skeleton Bay in Namibia, the result of a Surfing Magazine competition. Google Earth was both a boom and a bust for surf explorers. They could plan the next adventure with military precision, but then so could everyone else. How can secret spots exist when anyone with an internet connection can also see it?

Over time it became clear that, for all its benefits, Google Earth can’t tell you everything about a coastline or the waves that break upon it. Sometimes a scalloped coast was bad, sometimes a straight coast was good. What was below the waterline couldn’t be seen by satellites, and if the satellite passed overhead in between sets then the whitewater didn’t betray the wave.

Twenty years on and scoring good waves still comes down to a mix of smarts and motivation. Yeah you can do online reconnaissance, but you also have to get off your arse and act on it. Find out if it really exists. 

Actually, there’s a third thing scoring good waves depends on: a favourable forecast.

Unfortunately, in 1994 accurate forecasts were another thing that didn't exist. If they did we would’ve waited to take that boat out to Panaitan Island, because after a fortnight of flatness we felt the first roll of groundswell only once the food had run out and we were sailing away from Panaitan.

- Stu

The Flyer is Swellnet's weekend newsletter.

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