Kandui Surf Resort, Sep 16th surf report
Wednesday (9/16) started off really windy. Everyone was mostly hanging around the restaurant in the morning, with only Paul braving choppy head-high 4Bobs. Nipussi and Bankvaults were the only spots likely to be working with the north wind, so the plan was to send a boat there early, and follow up with the big catamaran which would park there and hang out all day. Unfortunately, several other boats had the same idea. By 10:30 there were maybe 25 guys out at Nipussi, with another dozen at Bankvaults. The good news was that the waves were big and clean, going 2x overhead on the sets at Nipussi and head+ at Bankvaults. Sets were a little inconsistent, but even so early afternoon a lot of guys had had their fill, and the lineup was down to 8-10 guys.
One of the boats headed back to the resort for a big lunch, and maybe half the group stayed with a big cooler full of snacks, drinks, and sandwiches. Conditions stayed clean for them, and everyone got a good case of noodle arm. Ray took literally hundreds of great pictures from shore before he couldn’t take it anymore and had to get some Nipussi himself.
Sep 17th sure report
Saturday the new swell was definitely showing. A boat left early for Bankvaults, and a few guys hit 4Bobs which was going well overhead on the sets. I started there, but when the size came up headed over to Karambat Left. Gooooddd call! It was shoulder to head high on the sets with a dozen turns of pure pleasure. Just me and Agus from Siberut out. Those indo dudes are so much fun to surf with. They’re all about stoke and fun. Neither of us knew more than a few words of the other’s language, but laughs and cheers are universal. After a couple of hours a few bigger sets rolled through, going a couple of feet overhead. After brushing the reef, with my leash strap luckily taking most of the hit, I decided to declare victory and come in for some antiseptic and food.
The afternoon sesh turned out to be a fishing trip in the speedboat. Ray, Mike, Brad, and I trolled back and forth between Snake Island and Rifles. We saw some bait fish on the surface, but didn’t get any strikes. It was a beautiful ride nonetheless, just great to be out in the ocean.
Sep 18th surf report
Friday morning (9/18) started out windy. With a new swell and light winds forecast for later in the day, we had a lazy morning and headed out in the speedboat around 10:00.
The plan was to meet at Nipussi, check it, and then proceed to Beng Beng. We never made it. When we arrived at Nipussi there were maybe 4 boats on it, but only about 10 guys out. The wind was shifting to offshore Nipussi and side-shore Beng Beng. Ray suggested we hop out and surf for a while, hoping that the other guys would head in for lunch. We radioed back to the resort to send lunch, and filtered into the lineup.
Sure enough, an hour or so later it was just the Kandui crew in the water. Sets were going just under 6 feet Hawaiian, with some head high inside waves throwing nice little barrels. We surfed for hours. Ray shot 700 photos from the beach, and got a lot of nice ones.
Late in the session the wind shifted more onshore and the new swell looked like it was starting to show. Time to motor and check Rifles! With about an hour and a half of light left, we cruised back to the resort to find Rifles too small to be worth trying. We settled for a short 4Bobs sesh and a big lasagna dinner with some fresh greens from Dave’s greenhouse. Another tough day in paradise.
Sep 20 surf report
Sunday morning (9/20) the call was for an early trip to Burgerworld. Man is it hard to rally a dozen guys at dawn! We did a pretty good job getting out of here though, and had a full boat in the water by about 7:00 am.
As we left, 4 Bobs was showing about head high on the sets. That’s quite a bit of swell for Burgerworld to be working at its best. When we arrived, the ocean had a little morning sickness and the swell was definitely big for Burgerworld, with some of the outside sets going 2x overhead. Those are the ones that mush out and roll through the whole lineup in one big burger, giving the place its name. But there were definitely some good smaller ones mixed in.
The second boat showed up an hour or so later with lunch. By that time the ocean had cleaned up nicely, and we were still the only boats on it. Everyone had fun, and several of the guys grabbed nice waves up near the shore at a couple of feet overhead that produced good little barrels.
After a few hours everyone’s arms were pretty worked, so we packed up. One boat went straight back to the resort, and the other took a pass by Beng Beng. Conditions were clean and the sun was high, but the swell looked pretty darn small. Two of us jumped in, while some of the others headed to the beach to check out the island. The swell picked up a bit, and although it was still pretty small there were some decent rides, and the four guys (!) in the water had a good time.
The mid-day sun cooked us pretty quickly, and everyone was pretty baked when we got back to the resort. In the late afternoon there was talk of sending a boat to check Bank vaults, but the wind wasn’t quite right and 4 Bobs was looking pretty good right out front. A few guys surfed that, and ended up with some nice photos to prove it.
Three of us set off on another fishing trip in the small boat. We dropped Brad and his spear fishing gear at the edge of the drop-off on the other side of the little island out front. Then we drift fished the bottom for a while using the prawn heads from the kitchen as bait. We got a few bites, but that got old, so we rigged up and trolled around behind the two little islands. There was a lot of surface activity, with something big chasing baitfish all over the place. Finally we hooked up with a nice little tuna – perfect size for sashimi! That ended up a great appetizer before our shrimp dinner.
Sep 21st surf report
Monday morning (9/21) a new swell was supposed to arrive, but at dawn it looked pretty small out front. We ate a casual breakfast, and decided to send the big boat with some lunch to Beng Beng around mid-morning. Some of the guys were keen to surf, so we sent an early boat to check Hideaways, hoping for maybe head high swell on the high tide. They ended up getting some fun ones, but by the time the big boat arrived the combination of inconsistent waves and low tide convinced everyone to bail. A few guys went back to the resort in the small boat, while the rest went to Beng Beng.
Beng Beng was really clean, and we were the only boat there. But the sets were still really inconsistent. Not sure where our new swell was? A few guys surfed and a few others just hung out in the beautiful surroundings, munching on a boat load of lunch food and listening to music.We checked Hideaways again on the way back. A few guys jumped in and grabbed the few nice waves that did come in. The rest of us found the Bintangs that were stashed for the ride home, and supervised the surfing from the comfort of the big boat.
Sep 23 surf report
Wednesday morning (9/23) started off pretty darn small. Everyone was starting to watch the swell forecasts for a nice healthy swell due on Friday. A boat motored to check Hideaways early and, although it was offshore and clean, the waves were small and inconsistent and there were already two boats on it, so we returned to the resort and surfed 4Bobs. After lunch several of the guys launched a dive trip, and five of us hopped in a boat to check what we expected to be tiny but clean Beng Beng. Once again, we never made it. On the way to Beng Beng, we noticed that the winds were really pretty light, maybe 5 mph or so. Hey, back home we all surf if it’s 5 mph onshore, so let’s check Nipussi. Score! Nobody out, and the sets were going several feet overhead. Way better than knee high Beng Beng! We surfed for hours, shaking our heads at how clean and big the wave faces got, then nursed our noodle arms with Bintangs watching the sun set on the ride home.
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