Passengers:
Nathan Edwards, Christopher Graves, Bruce Turner, Andrew McMurtie, Adam Taylor, Ryan Taylor, Brad Potter, John Robertson
Only the dolphins were having fun as they spun out of the 2 m north slop to check us out. A quick squizz at the BJ's bow as it slammed down the troughs on it's crawl back to Padang and they were outta of there, leaping away on top of the waves like there was no tomorrow. Aboard the Barrenjoey, we felt like tomorrow would never arrive. A low pressure had developed right over the Mentawais and kicked up some strong north winds, causing chaos amongst the fleet. One squall, around the 50 knots, hit with a vengeance around midnight and ripped the mainsail to shreds, ending the BJ's stabilizer existence. Oh we were living the dream alright·a bouncy, rocking, wild, never ending nightmare of movement.
It's not all beer and skittles," commented Myrtle, Bintang in one hand, rail in the other. Both he and Robbo were genuinely enjoying the wild ride as they bagged their mates for attempting to get some rest.
In a charter that had the fleet whinnying about lack of surf and inclement weather, we did alright. Gut feelings took over in more ways than one. The swell pulsed back and forth but never really went bang. The rain kept the sunscreen usage to a minimum. The wind, well it blew on occasions, but one had to find the offshore spots for the barrels to tease the surfers.
We went to some popular places and the boys notched up some tube time. We traveled to some mysto spots and they cracked a few rarely surfed waves. We fished and ate sushi. Ryan was particularly adept with the spear gun till the head fell off. Also scoring 2 of the best barrels of the trip. I saw 'em.
Nathan showed us all, and others, what power surfing is all about. Robbo invented maneuvers on his personal Strappers after being charged by the jellyfish. Although he would possibly call it being "nailed" by some fierce stinger. Scared for life. Adam was enjoying the power of the right-handers while Potz cruised through the whole trip (his third with us). You couldn't get Myrtle out of the water, and when he did, he was ordered back in again.
The goofyfooters a special mention. Power surfing from the boys. You could tell they needed some big lefts, but that did not stop them. Chris's laybacks brought us back to another era and had us all cheering till one deep gut wrenching thing took him out. Bruce was unbeatable, and for his age (???), one of the older blokes, showed us all up with some inspirational surfing. We had to watch them tear the last lefts to pieces on the final day.