Partners in Crime:
John Amundson: Premiere kiteboard, surfboard and SUP shaper from Oahu. Super stylish in the waves. Laid back, cruiser, modest, master craftsman. Zen approach to life.
Lono Humphreys: Long tenured boatman at Tavarua, Fiji (18 years). My passport to kitesurfing Cloudbreak earlier this year. Has salt water coursing through his veins. Big time charger. True Hawaiian waterman with an extra dose of soul.
Chris Delp: Santa Cruz ripper who helped push me over to the Dark Side when I was a windsurfer. Longtime friend. Steady, chill, easy going travel partner. Constantly seeking goofy foot heaven.
The Venue:
Undisclosed locations in Indonesia.
Jody MacDonald photograph.
Conditions:
Another empty discovery . . .
What Went Down:
The first part of the adventure is spent floating on Cloud Nine, more formally known as the Discovery, a 60’ catamaran with the unique five year mission of kitesurfing the most remote waves in the world (www.offshoreodysseys.com). We choose to focus on an island that is characterized by difficult land travel, dry landscapes, malaria, dengue fever, and locals with a strong sense of independence. Virtually everyone on our local connecting flight is Indonesian. This is not a place for the standard Bali resort tourist as the scorpion in the shower of our departing hotel will later reminds us.
After two days of travel, we meet the boat and its crew at a remote surf camp that is run by an old Aussie surfer who claims, among other things, that the Indonesian government once accused him of being a spy. His stories over a dinner of nasi goreng, curry and Bintangs are entertaining, even if they seem somewhat fantastical. Regardless, he has clearly lived a full life.
Once aboard the Discovery, life is measured in moments rather than hours or days. Surfing a raw, powerful open-ocean reef with sailfish, dolphins, sharks and manta rays in the line up; kite surfing a fringing reef with fast racetrack sections that require careful wave selection, spending time with local fishermen and their families learning more about regional customs and practicing our Indonesian language skills. The fishing gods are kind to us and deliver a couple of Trevally and a nice Wahoo early on.
The heart and soul of the Discovery are Captain Gavin McClurg and First Mate Jody MacDonald. Gavin is a former Outward Bound instructor with an intimate knowledge of boats, the ocean, the stars and everything cool related to the outdoors. After my first trip with him in the western pacific (December), I’ve taken to calling him my “Adventure Partner.” His stoke for life is infectious and can be summed up by his favorite refrain, “This is Awesome!” Jody is an accomplished extreme sports photographer with amazing artistic sensibilities, a quick wit and an equally strong passion for life. Both feel like long time friends and I cannot help but wonder if I’ve met them in a prior life. Rounding out the crew are Thomas (an excellent chef who charges as hard in the kitchen as he does in the waves) and Sunita (a deckhand from Nepal whose name translates to “positive thoughts”; had never seen the ocean one year before joining the boat).
Several days (or moments) into the trip, our carefree daily routine of surfing, fishing, freediving, and laughing is interrupted by the Indonesian military and local police. Larger boats are rare in this part of Indonesia. They’ve spotted us anchored in a remote bay and want to find out if we are terrorists (or if we know any terrorists). Prior to the trip, we had been warned about demands for outrageous bribes on this island. Gavin deftly handles the situation without forking over any rupiahs and then appears to seal the deal by delivering a few cases of Bingtang and a bottle of gin to them. But the officer in charge wants more. “You like reggae music? You like to dance? You come make party with us.” And so our new uniformed friends take us to a nearby village on the backs of their motorbikes to celebrate our non-terrorist status. Between puffs on cigarettes and swigs of beer, they tell us they like Americans.
After some initial hesitation, Sunita schools them all on the dance floor. We are not allowed to leave until the booze runs dry.
For the second part of our adventure, John, Lono, Chris and I disembark the Discovery and head to a second island with an established, land-based surf and kitesurfing camp. After scoring so many waves to ourselves on the first leg of the trip, we are not bothered by the relatively large number of Aussies surfers crowding the waves here. When the afternoon winds come up, the lineups empty and become a playground for a much smaller group of kitesurfers. Pro riders Ben Wilson and Reo Stevens share some tips and we all score great rides. Each of us hires a local Indonesian friend for the duration of our stay to transport us to the breaks, and set up/take down the kites. My friend, Uba, takes me to meet his family and attend a wedding at a nearby village. Riding on the back of his motorbike every day, I practice my Indonesian.
Our group happily suffers, sunburns, hand blisters, broken boards, ripped kites and Balibelly. After all, as Gavin would say, “This is Awesome!”
Additional photos.
Best Odyssey Captain's log.
