Boat Trip

Boat trip Day 1
Thursday morning we gathered our stuff to go meet Don Bennett and board the Moggy for a 5 day trip to the islands to the east. This was a 45 minute car ride through town with heavy traffic to the marina. We found the 45 foot catamaran without a problem. When it came time to pay Don I asked if he took travlers checks and he said no! Travelers checks must be old school because it has been a problem getting them cashed since we have been here. Only the banks take them and then only 1-200 dollars worth. So Don took us to a bank where we found they don’t take them period! I had a couple of 100 dollar bills but no one wants them either unless they are dated 2003 and just certain serial numbers! There are just too many counterfeit bills floating around this part of the world, I guess. So we did a cash advance on the credit card and off we went. We had a pleasant trip to Nusa Lombagon and of course surf was on our minds , so we anchored at ‘shipwrecks’ which had a very clean 4-5 foot right reeling off with 20 people in the water. The three of us paddled out and amazingly enough caught quite a few waves. I personally had a great session. So was Jonathan until he hit the reef and got his ‘tattoo’ across his lower back and hand. Now all three of us have scrapes to show our efforts. Nothing serious but there is always that chance. Off to the anchorage before dark where Goose and Eric (two very nice Indo guys who are mates on the Moggy) cooked barbequed fish and veggies on skewers. After that it was lights out.
Don (the captain) is from New Bern and probably one of the first surfers in NC. He went on to shaping boards and moved to Hawaii to continue his trade. After 20 years there he moved to Bali bought the Moggy to start surf charters which he has been doing for 15 years now. We are enjoying his company and stories which there are many!!

Boat trip Day 2
Morning started at 4:30 am when we moved out of the anchorage for Desert Point rated one of the best lefts on the planet. The sun rose about 6 am as we crossed the Lombok Straits to see 200-300 small local fishing boats all with a different colored sails. The sail rig is called a “Lateen rig” on all these smallish boats that look like large canoes with outriggers on each side. They look like a bug from the front. The trip across the straits took about 3 ½ hours going 9-10 knots. We have been trolling while moving but so far no fish. Dillon is loving the boat life and just can’t sit still. On the bow being a lookout or jumping over the side when anchored is the norm. Surfed Desert Point about head high but not what we hoped. This wave is considered elusive and fickle so we had fun with what we had. Of course the bottom is just ragged coral. My heel drug across it after one wave but luckily I was wearing my reef boots. The current through the Lombok Strait is rather serious running 3-4 knots at times to the south as the Pacific ocean flows into the Indian ocean. Get a map and you can see how this can happen.
All meals are deluxe with both Goose and Eric being good cooks. Both of them have worked for Don for the last 8 years or so. The surf coming up did not look promising so we went 6-7 miles to a great snorkeling spot and it was beautiful. Mary Anne enjoyed the hour especially because the water was so warm. Next was a walk on a nice beach then to an anchorage for the nite. Watched ‘Water World’ on the DVD player before a dinner of BBQ chicken , corn on the cob, potatoes. Mushroom/bean sauté, and French bread. It was lites out by 9 for all except me as I am typing this to post in 4 days from now!


Boat trip day 3
We had anchored ¼ mile off a small village for the nite. I had looked closely with the binocs and could see fishing boats, cows, and general home type structures on the beach. The boat guys had said it was a Muslim village before we went to sleep. Any way about 4:30 am this Muslim prayer music started blaring over the loudspeakers from town! This continued for at least 45 minutes. The sun does not start to show light until 6 am. This village defiantly gets going early! We were under way for the 45 minute ride to Desert point again as the sun rose from behind a 10,000 foot volcano on Lombok. The haze (smog) is so that you can not see them most of the day. Indonesia is the most densely populated area on earth. The fresh coffee made the trip quite pleasant. The surf had come up to 4-5 feet and fairly decent, a different swell than the day before. We jumped in the water and had a good session for a couple of hours. Had breakfast then went out for another surf session. Jonathan got a’ tattoo’ on his butt which shredded his surf trunks. Not just a tear but shredded!! Next Dillon comes back out with the same surf trunk problem! The lefts were very fast and steep with rides of about 200 yards at high speed. Jonathan being goofy foot got some serious barrels , me I was just trying to get some rides and stay alive and off the reef which did not work! It is something else to be standing in shin deep water on a knarley reef and have 3 feet of white water coming at you 5 or 6 times in a row. It makes you feel a little helpless. Just before the whitewater mows you down you jump as high as you can and hopefully land on your surfboard paddling like crazey just to repeat the process in 12-15 seconds. Dillon has the technique down pat. I did have some great rides and only a little scrape on my left ankle. That makes about 5 boo boos I have so far from the reefs. Had a sandwich and we could see some very clean gaping barrels coming down the reef from where we anchored so Jonathan and I went back for another session at 3:00 pm . We had been in the water for at least an hour and not a single wave came in. There were about 8 guys in the water and I mean no one have a wave. It was like mother nature had turned off the wave machine. An hour before the reef was raging and then nothing at all. Jonathan never got his hair wet. We both just laughed because it was so unreal. Over all this was one of our better surf days of the trip. To catch desert point is a real feather in you cap so we were happy! Moved around to another anchorage for the nite and we will see if we have music in the morning again! If there is no surf we have two snorkeling spots to check out as a back up activity. We did see a sea turtle that was as big as a double bed mattress! I am not kidding. There are number of ‘surf’ boats cruising around. We had 2 here for a little while today but one of them moved on. Each one of them carries about 10-15 surfers each. Their normal trip is about 10 days hitting all the different surf spots in the Lombak and Sumbawa. Good night! Jim

Boat trip day 4
Under way by first light without the wake up music. The village (as well as most) had a fire that smoked up the whole area even flowing oout over the ocean. I mean lots of smoke. It must be for mosquito control is all I can figure out. Malaria is in these islands. On the boat we have not seen the first mossie as the aussies would say. Coffee while watching the sunrise beside a volcano is a little different than I am use to as well as seeing the southern cross every nite in the southern sky! Surf was on the smallish side so we had breakfast then went for a session. The swell had dropped off so we had a few in an hour and a half but not much. Left Desert Point by noon for the 2.5 hour crossing of the Lombok Strait under calm conditions. We did see a decent southwest 4-6 foot ocean swell running as we passed 3 tankers which were headed north. Fished the whole way but no bites. Stopped between Nusa Lombagen and Nusa Penida to go snorkeling in a very small cove. The coral formations were spectacular. Goose stuffed bread into an empty water bottle and filled it with water before we jumped in. Once diving you squirted the bottle a bit to squeeze out some bread and the fish just swarmed to eat right in front of you ! You could see the colorful fish up close. It was fun. The current between these two islands was running 6 knots and created whirlpools and some very unusual water in this 400 foot deep channel about ¼ mile wide. Here the locals grow seaweed and there are miles of farms on the edge of the islands. Stopped at Shipwrecks for a late afternoon session but the swell must not have been hitting this place at the right angle as it was on the smallish side too. Watched some Indiana Jones movie and had an absolutely spectacular dinner then lites out. The stars at nite are really something. The big Dipper is low on the horizon and the North Star is out of sight below the horizon.

Boat trip day 5
The boat was just too still for the surf to have come up during the nite. We would have felt some motion if had picked up. Mary Anne slept out on deck for the last two nites on a cushion! Actually slept in until after the sun came up but not much. With surf prospects poor where we were, we went to another spot about 20-30 minutes away. Found about 6-7 people in the water and watched for 15 minutes but did not see anyone catch much of a wave so we headed back to Bali. Arrived at the marina before noon to have lunch after we tied up. We enjoyed the Balinese crew as they were very friendly and nice which made the trip much more pleasant. Grabbed a cab for the trip back to where we had been staying to find a new group of people. This time it was a high school surf team, coaches, and 2 dads to share our time with. Jonathan , Dillon and myself went for a surf but could not find any good waves. I mean the swell had picked up but it was just not breaking right. So we rented 2 motor scooters for 4 dollars a day each with surf racks! Dillon is more excited about these than anything! So we are mobile at a moments notice. Dinner and bed at this point on Monday nite when it is Monday morning on the east coast.
Thanks for reading I enjoy posting. jim