2002 Charter Stories
BREAK
We did not have a charter and did not want to sit in port for 2 weeks. Hey, this is our home. Let’s change the scenery.
Our crew are from the island of Nias. Good seamen and ex-head hunters. They are a small and hardy race. Everyone thinks of Lagudri Bay when you mention Nias. It is a big island and that particular perfect wave is one of many breaks. Most surfers are familiar with its history. Awed at the photos of Reevso and Dugga Warren on that infamous day and heard about the huge hotel that was built for the onslaught of surfers that everyone thought would come. I guess the rest of Indonesia’s surf took care of that.
I have read in recent magazine articles of the similarity between the development of Lagudri Bay and the ongoing development of the Mentawai Islands. Everyone who works and lives in the Mentawais is aware of this and no-one wants this to happen. There are a lot more areas, or breaks in the Mentawais. The development and conditions will take a lot longer to happen than everyone realises. Maybe, if we all give something back to the place and learn by our mistakes, we will see a beautiful area develop for everyone to enjoy.
Our crew, Selemat, Elvis, Aqui, and Soggy were sailing home aboard the Barrenjoey. All the crew are characters in their own right.
Selemat has been working aboard the surf charter boats for 6 years now, he originally worked on Katika were he learnt to speak English, navigation and the intricate skill of driving a tender near the breaking waves for budding photographers.
Elvis has also been working on surf charter boats for a similar amount of time. Mangalui, Arythmea, were the two boats that he learnt his basic crews skills from. He sailed to Australia on Arythmea, joining us this year were he put his hand up to be our cook. With training from Zane, Leo, and Belinda he has developed his culinary delights blending Indonesian and Western cuisines that leave most of the passengers putting on weight as they cannot stop eating.
Aqui has worked at various times on a few charters boats, and also local ferries, cargo, and fishing boats. He is a very good seaman in his own right, and has began turning his skills into fixing the many various surf board destructions.
Soggy joined us later in this season, and his polite manner and seaman ship should see him in this industry for a long time.
All the crew are exceptional chess players – so beware.
Joining us was the Captain’s sister, Kristin, who was loving the fact of escaping with no-one else aboard. We waited for a break in the weather, and headed off under the shadows of the volcanic Sumatran coast. We did a little bit of exploring on the way, venturing to islands that were previously unvisited by ‘this’ captain, all the while having a good look at varies reef breaks. The crew were on constant fishing duties, and Selemat landed a HUGE GT – much to all the smiles and hoots of the skeleton crew.
Finally after our journey we arrived into the famous Lagudri Bay all was quiet and very few surfers here. The crew went home in shifts and the early dawn was perfect right handers in the 6 foot range – as good as it gets. Finally the Captain got a taste of what the surfing world has been raving about for all these years.