CHARTER EIGHT // 4 AUGUST - 14 AUGUST // 2002

Passengers: 
Shaun Rosen, David Rosen, David Ranvernscroft

Early, heading back out again, 12 miles from nowhere. Stars splattered across the sky. No real wind except a bit of land breeze luffing the sails. Looks like swell coming. Barrenjoey is very quiet with only 3 passengers.

We roll into the anchorage under glassy 4-6' waves and no boats. A supposed rarity these days. We surfed and hardly talked to each other. There was only 4 of us out. It became crowded later, we ate Indian food and bolted.

Ended up at a beautiful left where Lofty, Shaun, and Davey surfed themselves out pretty quickly. I remember looking up watching waves peel perfectly and no-one around. Thinking that something is not gelling as all we have heard lately is about how crowded the Mentawais are. This just proves there are still those magic moments.

The simplest solution is for the boats to use their radios and TALK. Compromises can be found at every break. We are the ones on the spot. When the twisters develop, the dark clouds erupt and anchor chains snap, or engines break down, it is comforting to know that some of the other operators are there listening, when some-one calls for help.

Shaun dislocated his finger and had to surf one-handed. But Belinda went down with suspected appendicitis. We had already scored the waves, and decided to go in a day early.

B spent a night in hospital where they wanted to open her up. Maybe that was enough to set her better. She healed and we headed off to an island retreat for much needed maintenance.

CHARTER SEVEN // 22 JULY - 3 AUGUST // 2002

Passengers: 
Quinn Campbell, Patrick Connor, Kevin Casey, Conrad Baumgartner, Donald Hodge, Todd Fraser, Chris Cottle

QC, PC, KC,CC, CB, DH, TF joined us from the USA and the trip began as a shocker. First the Captain tore his medial ligament and could no longer sit in the line-up and call the lads into any particularly gnarly ones, something he loves to do. Then Chris came unstuck on a floater and broke his ankle. His trip was cut short. He hitched a ride in aboard the Nusa Dewata. The dream was turning into a nightmare·

There were still waves everyday, as always. But there was a dampener until the first beer garden session and the accent competition began, then Todd landed a large Spanish Mackeral, then the swell hit in the form of a particularly mongrelly south swell. The big rights shook what was left of the dust from the boys.

A little later in the trip we ended up at one of the more classic line-ups of the break. A long left that allows 3 or 4 riders to be surfing at once. Just us. Too much fun. Oh, and then some more lefts and then we were surfed out. Well, those that could surf. The Captain watched glumly, but smug in the fact that·'hey dude, you guys scored!'

CHARTER SIX // 8 JULY - 20 JULY // 2002

Passengers: 
Philip Hooper, Michael Hooper, Ian Wolfe, Dallon Hansen, LeRoy Horton, Peter Horton, Leo Page, RobBevern , Bob Bevern

We retroed back to the halcyon days and scored·heavily. Who said the joint's crowded? As the adrenaline began to peak amongst some particularly funnelling rights; some killer whales joined the frolicking. B and the Captain chased them in the Toranna (yellow tender) for an hour or so, scored some epic footage, and were told in no uncertain terms to 'blow 'away by the leviathans.

The excitement mounted in the tubes. Bob even started crying after exiting one. Tears of pure, unashamed joy. Ian scored some very deep ones that he finally began to come out of. Leroy and Rob seemed to almost play with the waves on their bellyboards. Well, occasionally the waves played with them. Dallon played like he was on the footy field. Charged·simply charged. What is it with these footyheads? The Brothers Hooper, Phil and Mick; seasoned surf travellers from the old school. A beer, a fish, and a 'nice' wave was all they wanted. They received all the above and more. They just followed along like it was all normal. They thanked Leo (the minuet of the Mentawais whose dancing in the tube inspired us all). As Phil commented at the end of the voyage.."if it wasn't for you guys (Pete, Bob,and Leo) we would never have considered surfing these waves" good on ya! Then there was Pete.

Pete smashed himself up, badly, on the reef. He was lucky to be wearing one of Wisey's rugby helmets from the previous charter, and only ended up with a depressed skull, suspected spinal injury, concussion, shock, and 10 stitches in his head! It was a scary situation. We could have lost him. Every operation needs to have basic medical training and some form of medical evacuation pre-planned. Injuries will continue to happen all the time out here. It is the nature of the reef.

He recovered, being the tenacious bastard that he is, and Mr Bagus sold us his wears and the BJ sailed happily back to its haven.

CHARTER FIVE // 22 JUNE - 6 JULY // 2002

Passengers: 
Julian Bloomfield, Sean Dew, Scott Wisemantel, Andrew Baker, Greg Jones, Matthew Chapman, Kyle Williams, Julian Dibbs

Here's to the bunch of boofy, bike panted, beer swilling, footy helmeted blokes of the charter. More new breaks discovered·Senor Hectors, Gracelands, Fitzus, Dead Dog point, Dibbsys, and Henry's Patio. Yep there's still some out there! And no, we cannot reveal their exact locations. The conditions were epic for wave-riding. Light and variable, what the Mentawais are famous for.

The boys only wanted 3-5 ft but they got a whole lot more and overcame their demons with style, aplomb, tenacity and hangovers. And geez, they had some good stories.

I think Wisey thought he was still on the rugby field, donning headgear and charging every break like it was a pack of All Blacks. Sean scored some classic rides at various rights that had me thinking he was an old hand at surfing reef waves. It wasn't till later that he mentioned he was shitting himself on a couple of days. Good on ya! Jonesy stayed in the surf for about 12 days straight - the lone goofyfooter going all the way. Kyle was adamant on surfing smaller waves and bagging himself. But on the heavy days he took it all on which made those beers taste even sweeter. Julian, Chappo, Dibbsy and Andrew, the Pom vied for the inside position at every break and the competition could only be classed a classic battle between surfers of subtlty.

Special thanks to Sean's World of Water, a video which pretty well sums it up. Epic!

CHARTER FOUR // 9 JUNE - 21 JUNE // 2002

Passengers: 
Tony Brigden, Neal Lyons, Michael Randall, Ben Day, Peter James, James Mackay, David Smyth, Nigel Randall

The Captain was in the bad books from day one by stitching Nigel up·twice. First was the drop-in (I swear I didn't see him!) then the 6 stitches to the forehead he had to administer after an untimely encounter with a piece of reef known as "The Surgeon's Table". This was on the paddle back out. Lucky Nigel was such an easy-going bloke and all was forgiven, many beers later.

Now these guys brought a chart of the area with the idea of marking down the spots for each day and making a sort of diary of their trip. Well the chart turned into a scribbling art form of clever comments and severe baggings as the Captain and Jamesy tried to outwit each other. Sorry guys, I just cannot bring myself to reveal exact locations. A legacy of my Crossing days.

The boys turned their fun to kite surfing one day, fishing everyday, cleaning up their reef tattoos, and generally hanging out drinking beer and watching the tropical sunset·..as you do!

Ben was the effervescent grommet of the trip, always in the surf. Neal was not far behind him. Jamesy rode proud upon his knees proving that the dying breed of kneeboarders is still alive and (dare I say it) flapping. James Mackay loved to fish and was constantly sneaking away on the Toranna (tender) with Selemat and returning with piles of Spanish Mackeral, trevally and Tuna. Tony, Neal, Mike and Dave all surfed their brains out, their bodies growing more surf fit with each day till it was over and we now hope their memories carry them through till the next aquatic adventure they embark upon

CHARTER THREE // 26 MAY - 7 JUNE // 2002

Passengers: 
Fletcher Green, Nathan Edwards, Nigel Muscroft, Milan Thompson, Jeff Sweeney, Brad Potter, Nathan Lyons, Shaun O'Callaghan

Tour Talley
Broken boards: 9
Breaks surfed: 18
Virgin Discoveries: 2

Pretty well sums it up. These guys surfed hard. They didn't mind a beer either. We bought some prehistoric stingray/lobster/ crab creature that no-one has been able to tell us what it is called. We let it go.

The lads named one of the spots 'Barrys' after their mate. It was an isolated, perfect, never before seen or heard of wave. We're claiming it! We also stumbled upon another spot, which was scary and exhilarating rolled into one barrel that will bellow in our brains forever!!!! Actually, there were a few spots like that. Sharks scared the lads from the water on 2 occasions, these guys are meant to be used to big Noahs down their way. The lads even tested the strength of the new Quiksilver rash guards over the force of a blowhole.

The surfing between Napalm, Nigel and Sweeny was a pleasure to watch. They pushed their limits on the gnarly days, which in turn pushed the other boys. Pottz and Nathan Lyons found their special break in the form of a particularly long and winding right. Fletch had a time surfing by himself on a couple of sessions and found sanctity and severity in the barrel at the tubing thing back up the track with his mate Milo. Sorry about that purple bruise on ya hip Milo! Shaun was mad in every session he surfed, including the lefts.

We didn't want it to end - it was just too much bloody fun!

CHARTER TWO // 11 MAY - 24 MAY // 2002

Passengers: 
Chris Athas, Dean Shoppee, Matt Cattle, Robbie Lowe, Jeff Johnson, Damian Goninan, Brad Spence, Mano Talbert.

The Boys turned up and were blown by the winds to one of the few surf spots on offer and proceeded to get tubed and surfed out in some beautiful waves. Matt set the tenor with double barrels and buckets of spray. Plenty of fish were caught on this trip. With the aid of the happiest surfing chef in the world, Zane, we ate like lords. Chris' youthful exuberance showed in his new found surfing style. He led his charges through the thick and the small. Jeff's incident with a killer butterfly was pretty bloody funny. Have you ever seen a butterfly bite someone on the face?. And the captain cemented his navigational skills by taking a few of the crew up some lost river then getting lost!

Anyway, we had a blast. Scored some perfect lefts, belted through some obnoxious weather, laughed our lungs out at Brad's commentary of the days proceedings, celebrated Robbie's birthday, ate mud crab, and overcame the demons to surf a bloody big right that smashed us all to smithereens.

Oh and thanks to Manno for designing the board rack that now has pride of place on the front decks.

CHARTER ONE // 27 APRIL - 8 MAY // 2002

Passengers: 
Paul Green, Damien Blake, Luke Hankey, Ben Garrard, Mark Sheppard, David Russel.

Where does one start the first story for our charters? After so many months refitting the Barrenjoey, and a further 2 months travelling from Sydney, Australia, to Padang, Sumatra, I can safely say that this charter is not only welcome but to a point almost surreal. We are doing it! Finally!

One must point out that not everything on this charter went exactly as planned (does it ever?). The arrival was very disappointing, none of the passengers boards arrived! We grabbed a bunch of old hack boards from a haunt in town and headed off into the sunset. A cold Bintang and a clean deck. The boys looked pretty bloody happy as the wild Sumatran Coast became a blur in the dusk.

There will not be any details of where we surfed in these stories. Most of the spots are now known. It is just an old habit that dies hard with the Captain.

One of the highlights of the voyage was the BJ being at a number of breaks by herself. Nothing like watching perfect waves go through unridden and having to drag sunburnt, sore, and tired bodies off the deck to go for another paddle because the sight of empty barrels was just too much. There were that many waves that the beers usually flowed before sunset as we pondered the perfection.

We had complaints about the air conditioning being too cold, the fish were constantly jumping on our hooks, and the passengers had a go at any and every wave they were taken to.

Luke finally got to surf the waves that his father has been speaking about and retroed back to the 70's on an old Stinger swallowtail

Paul after a long stint in the wake boarding wilderness remembered what it was about to surf perfection and was so stoked he was talking about his return trip, new boards, schizo, sciatic backhand snaps, and brain blasting barrels.

Ben 'G-Land ' Garrad, the lone goofy footer, whilst loosing a tooth, still managed to smile. Could be something to do with the best backhand barrels of his life!

Slim Dave pulled in non-chalantly, exited like a matador and donated a rod and reel to the BJ that has since hooked many fish.

Damo, the brash Body boarder, belted, barrelled and bounced his way between the lefts and the rights.

Sheppo tasted the reef, liked the blood and sought vengeance in his conquest on the bone crunching days.

We had Zane as our chef and his treats caused some laid back arvo resting under the canopy whilst he surfed by himself. What did he do to that pasta???

The first real 'badai' (black Sumatran storm) belted us on our way back to Padang. We managed to get the mainsail up and the Barrenjoey ploughed through the ugly seas. Everyone slept through the maelstrom which said a lot for the boat's comfort and made the captain very happy.

The BJ had made it through her first charter with flying colours.