The Real Kandui Surf Resort Mentawai Islands
Nov 26th surf report
I couldn’t even get any of the crew to go with me this morning. Basi manned the boat, but he didn’t want to bring his board. He was content with his success yesterday and the rest of the crew were just wiped out from all the paddling and beatings of the last couple days. I was wiped out as well, but who knows when there will be real waves again. It was the same ol’ scenario when we pulled up. Glassy, sets, no one around. We can live with that! The tide dropped and the sets stopped. The sun was blazing so it was time for lunch. With the prospect of surfing only waist high 4 Bobs for the next 2 months, I decided to give it one more go in the afternoon. Still, no one wanted to join me. When me and Basi got to Bankvaults, what do you know, perfect conditions with a nice, straight offshore wind. Waves were still overhead and no one was around. A boat showed up later and sent their dingy to get a closer look. They got there just in time to see me take a set on the head after not making a wave. They had made a U turn and were speeding back to the mother ship before I could even come up for air! God bless them. A bigger set came in (5 foot for those Hawaiian scale guys, which is more of a fear factor scale than anything else, in my opinion), but I was out of position. I knew the swell was on it’s last leg, and I wanted just one more bigger wave so bad! I sat outside and waited. And waited. Then waited some more, passing up plenty of 4 footers. The conditions began to deteriorate as I waited for a solid hour! I was trying to tell myself how nice it was just to sit and enjoy the spectacular scenery around me. But it wasn’t working. I just want one more! This swell was good to me. There actually was one more. It had a funky bump and I almost went down when it clipped me in the head as I was pulling in, but it opened back up and it was cake after that. I’ll send the sequence to Anthony, but he may be tired of seeing my mug on the surf reports everyday already! Ha, ha. That was it. This swell is history. I did the paddle of shame back to the boat after waiting for another set. But what a great off season swell that was!
25th November 2012
You can bet we were up before dawn to see if we could repeat yesterday’s good fortune. But so many things need to come together for epic surf that it’s rare to get it two days in a row. There was still size and the winds were light offshore, but there was also a funky, west bump in the water, which we who live out here in the off season have learned to hate. Just for good measure, the ocean threw in a stiff current for me and Soja to battle as we tried to get some waves. We should have slept in another hour or so, because all we did for that time was paddle and maybe get one wave each. Conditions got better as the day went on as the current and bump mellowed a notch or two, and there were some good good waves coming in for sure. A few other guys showed up (after seeing our posts on Facebook yesterday!), and it was actually nice to have a more waves ridden out there. By mid morning, the sun was blazing, the camera battery was dead (thanks to someone unplugging the charger to plug in a fan last night!), and that current had kicked our asses early on and we were done. I knew I was done, but Bankvaults emphasized the point to me after being clipped in the barrel and then taking the next 5 bombs on the head! Soooooo done. It’s not our policy to leave good surf, but we didn’t have an ounce of energy left. There were a couple hours of good conditions in the afternoon as well and we got good waves again. Just me and a couple crew this time. Our landscaper gave it another go, only to take the bomb of the afternoon on the noggin! He saw his life pass before his eyes and bee lined it back to the boat. Basi set down the camera and gave it a go himself, with some success! He could be the next Kandui charger. Great to see the locals be able to give it a go without any crowds to contend with. Still plenty of size this afternoon. We may have to check it out again tomorrow!
Recent Comments