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

Surfing Uluwatu

We have spoken to quite a few people like taxi drivers and just normal indonesian folks that have ask me about Obama. I usually never bring up the subject of politics while out of the country but it is interesting to listen to these people. They are all for him and getting rid of Bush. I think Obama's mother is from here. I just found it interesting that people so far away from the USA seem to keep track of our election. Surfed Uluwatu this am and pm. Good waves down the race track section both sessions. Some really smoking barrells. I could not seem to find one or the nerve backside but Jonathan held his own. Dillon got a some good ones (with pics to prove it) but on his last one he got slammed on the reef in a tube section. He came up shaken with a few scrapes to show it. The pic of Dillon is Uluwatu and Jonathan was the best and most fun day at Gland. It take 10 minutes to upload each photo. Found a good Mexican resturant tonight owned by a guy from Puerto Rico. Off tomorrow for a boat ride to last 5 days on the next islands to the east. The captain is from NC/Va Bch. His son comes into the bikeshop as he lives in Wilmington. I am not sure of the internet connection though. We did buy a cheap cell phone for $30.00 though , call Georgia at the bike shop if you need to get in touch as she will have the number.

jim

some more ramble 6-24-08

June 24, 2008
Body boards are ‘lids’ in Aussie speak! I was talking to this Aussie surfer and asked if he rode bikes and he said yea mate! I ask what kind and got the reply of a road bike that does 250 kph down the straight-aways! This guy is in his 50’s too. So much for finding another cyclist. We are not in any area that got hit by the tsunami a couple of years ago as Ginger asked. Surfing at Gland required some kid of wetsuit as the water was a little chilly and a breeze cooled it right down. Some people wore short johns. As far as drinking water it is mainly bottled we consume. Some of you ask about the food and all I say is it is good. Same bkfast as in the states cereal, eggs, toast, juice and fruit. Lunch is sandwiches or pasta. Dinner is Asian usually curry for me, fish, chicken or pizza once! My triathlon training is not going very well unless you count paddling my surfboard numerous miles. I will use this as swimming training. The boat ride back from Java to Bali was fairly smooth and pleasant but it could have been very rough but we lucked out as the trade winds did not pick up in the morning. Shopped the tourist central Kuta all afternoon which was fun. Haggling over the price of anything is the normal. Sometimes I ask the price of something and I get an answer of ‘how much you pay’ and it goes from there. The driving is really totally nuts! Every available square foot of pavement in town not taken by cars is jammed packed with thousands of motor scooters. It is normal to see a whole family on the same scooter mixing it up with the rest of everyone else. There are very few cyclists. Gas is $6.00 a gallon so we should be happy back in the US. On the 26th we are getting on a boat for 4 nites with a captain from NC of all places way over here. I probably will not have any internet access during this time. The service we experienced at Bobby’s G-land surf camp was fantastic. Just an unbelievable encounter. Above most service received at home and these people don’t make much. Just truly genuine employees that love their job and are there for the guests. I can not say enough about this! Time for bed , more later. Thanks. jim

Just mucking around

Just mucking around is what the Aussies say for goofing off or doing nothing. Pretty well says it all. Another in when it is raining hard is 'pissing rain'. I will think of more on that subject later. The well paid help here at the camp make $3.00 a day plus room and board. . I did not missplace the decimal point either. They are very helpful and extreeemly nice too. It is the way everyone in the world should behave. The surf has come down to a more manageable size but is suppose to come back up by the weekend. Dillon is surfing really well. The paddle out and back is at least 1/4 mile and dillon did it twice this morning for a total of 1 mile.We leave here in the morning to get back to Bali. Catch a boat at 7:30 am. We made it through the Gland surf without any major reef encounters which this place is noted for or any bad hold downs. We saw conditions that could have done either. We saw a monitor lizard which was 4-5 feet long. I do have pictures! Wild boars the size of a big dog, tons of monkeys, and MA saw a snake. I could come back to Bobby's surf camp again. Coffee is ready by daylight, maybe that is a good reason. The vibe is the water is very nice and mellow from what we have seen. I was scared it would be worse. But a nice supprise!! Thanks fore the report on Fiona! We have met many fun people so far and hope the meet more in the coming days.. Jim

Sunday 6-22 9:00 am

Surf was cranking again yesterday although a little smaller this morn. Jonathan said he got more tube time yesterday than he has had in all the rest of his surfing career combined!! He was charging in the welllllll overhead waves. I was proud of him and his surfing ability. One wave he pulled in 3 times and made the wave. I can't say that for myself though but it was fun watching .
I tell people i have a bicycle shop and they don't understand. If I say push bike then the aussies know what i mean. Another word for a bicycle used in Aust. is treadly deadly !! The food continues to be good here at camp with a decent variety to chose from. Currently there are about 50 people at our camp and probably 100 total in all the camps combined. The people we meet are all interesting . It is fun to make new friends. The local photographer here up where I grew up in Houston although he went to Sharpstown High school, just the next school down the road. I did find one other cyclist here with us (an ex triathete) with his nephew.
more later, jim

bigger surf

The waves started out about 6-8 feet for an hour or so. I got a few good ones. Jomathan brought out his 5-8 which was a mistake so he headed in to get his bigger board and snapped the merrick in the white water as he tried to swim under a big one. He spent a total of an hour just paddling in and out to the line up today! Then the sets just kept getting bigger and bigger. Each set the whole line up changed. it was hard ot figure out. But there were some bigguns. Mary anne and myself did a run today. the road is a little better than the Uwharrie trail but not much. Dillon went and surfed a place called tiger tracks. Here in the jungle it makes you wonder why they named it that. The people here are friendly and we are enjoying the place so we are staying another 3 days before heading back to bali. Hopefully more tomorrow. jim

Cranking G land and 96 Bintangs

This computer took 15 minutes to load this website!! As far as the Bintangs (the local beer ) we recieved 96 "free" beers with our room for 4 people! Georgie, I need help drinking these cold things!! Trust me I am doing my best. We stayed at a place in Kutsa called Un's hotel for a 5 am wake up call for a 15 minute bus ride to catch a boat at one of the local beaches. It was still dark as we boarded the 30 ft triple 200 hp yamaha speed boat with about 10 others for the 30 mph 2.5 hr ride. The ride was very pleasant ending running between the waves to cross the reef to get to the beach. On the beach was an old old 30-40 yr old hand crank truck that we got in the back for a ride to Bobby's camp. The nearest village is 30 miles away via horrible road. I have never seen a jungle but this seems real to me. I can't believe anyone even hacked out the path for the road but when you see the surf and you are a surfer you would know. Bobby's is like a deluxe summer camp for surfers although there are surfers friends and girlfriends here. Jonathan and I went out for a surf after breakfast. Jonathan snagged a couple but it was hard to surf. Solid 6-8 feet with monster sets rolling through every once and a while. We came in at low tide so it was a 1/4 mile walk across the inner reek instead of the 15 minute paddle out like 2 hrs before. The Indonesians smoke like there are no health risks! In the afternoon we went to a place called 20 - 20's due to the 20 minute walk each direction but we renamed it 40-40's. There we caught low tide conditions with a long walk across the reef and more sea urchins than I have ever seen in my life. J , D and myself caught some fun fast lefts. They had a full moon party complete with local band and 4 traditional dancers. A nice evening with some poeple having a little too much fun. If you can't tell we all like G-land and are staying another 3 days if possible. A couple of days ago Jonathan broke (schreadded) his board at some barrelling right . Really it was not his board and we were going to tell Nick C that his cord broke and he never saw the board again. We gave it to a surf shop that was going to repair it and give it to some kid that does not have a board. We did find a good back up Simon Anderson (boards are hard to find that fit a kid jonathans size) at one of the local shops in surf central Kuta. Surfing is very respected in this part of the world!! Unlike Wrightsville Beach ! Evidently Taj Barrow and Luke Steadman were here yesterday and surfing bit we missd them. This morning Jonathan said he had one of the best surf sessions of his life. He was charging on the bigger ones with pics to show. I was very happy with my 5 waves and is one or my better sessions too. Yes 5 waves can be a very great session especially if you never eat it or get the thrashing of your life and get to the beach in one piece at one of the Narliest lefts in the world. Mary Anne is enjoying the surf camp too. The crowd in the water is very pleasant much to my surprise and not that crowded. Even the Brazialians were nice. now that is a change! Dillon and I spent 2 hrs walking the reef at low tide this aft. I told him it was better that any semester he could ever spend in biology class at school. Pardon the ramble but this is what i do the best . I am scared to spell/grammer check this for being scares of loosing it, so just enjoy for what it is. Thanks for reading Jim