The warm water and perfect waves beckoned me back to Indo again.  This time we started on a 10 day boat trip through the Mentawai islands off Sumatra then hung around Bali and Lombok for another few weeks.  I had been reluctant to ever go on a surf boat charter.  Hard to justify dropping $4000- $5000 for a 10 day surf trip when that could easily last for several months just cruising Indo or Central America by land.  But now, I can say I’ll do it again in a heartbeat… only on a little bigger boat with a few more luxuries.

Our boat situation was pretty classic. Laughable even.  She was an old teak and hardwood fishing boat fitted to become a surf charter vessel and we got to break her in on her maiden surf voyage.  They were still putting the finishing touches and final stripe of paint on her when we showed up at the dock.  The “S.S. Guinea Pig” was about to take out her first crew of surfers.  Hoping she floats.  The river harbor of Padang is the most disgusting body of water I’ve ever seen. The locals use it as a trash dump.  Guaranteed to grow a third eye or nipple  if you went for a swim.

As we set sail that evening for a 12 hour all-night chug to the wave infested island chain across the Mentawai Straight, we learned that it was our Chefs first time working on a boat.  Awesome.  And our Galley consisted of a giant freezer sitting on the stern deck, a bench and a small stove and sink on either side of the freezer.  All on the open deck.  Wind or rain or waves… he was outside cooking. The odds were against him.  But, apart from the lack of sanitary standards, “Cookie” the chef actually did cook up some delicious meals… and some not so delicious, actually most of them sucked.  Special needs diets need not apply.  Hope you like butter by the scoop.  Brown went on a hunger strike towards the end of the trip.  Everybody had the squirts at some point.  And I’m not sure if it was the seas making us queazy or the fact that every time Cookie cut raw meat (everyday. all day.) raw chunks and juices would be flung all over the deck… only to wash down the port side of the boat and pool up in front of the doorway to our bunks.  S.S. Guinea Pig was changed to S.S. Salmonella. But Cookie turned out to be the happiest, craziest, drunken, pervert on the boat… so A+ for entertainment value, and he did a hell of a job… there’s no way I could cook 3 meals a day for 10 hungry, foreign assholes on a camp stove… on a boat.

Our days were filled with surfing, sweating out the butter from the last meal in the humid tropical heat, and keeping on a steady drip of Bintang Beer.  Life was good.  Here’s some more pics…

I found a few nice shady spots on the trip

As mellow as it gets

The work of a village artist

Jason Lives!!! Sans chainsaw.

Little Sponge Bob Dude

HT’s on the biggest day

It’s always Bintang o’clock somewhere

Little dried out fish and sea creature parts anyone?

Misfits

Vader lives on an island…and surfs.

Stopped here to let Cookie go find us more food.

Epic.

Why am I not here right now?

Too many damn wave pics to post…

Good setting for a sun

Mr. Puente making a mark at around 3pm

Can’t find the end-of-trip-crew-group-shot… over it