http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/ siphoning spewage from the cerebrum of sullivan en-us Nucleus CMS v3.24 © Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://earlseyes.com/nucleus//nucleus/nucleus2.gif http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/ http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=59
Anyway, i'm out there with this one other guy, waiting to see a good set, and 2 more guys paddle out, on 10'6" guns and in a quick chat and chuckle with them, i now feel like i'm way undergunned and a little afraid. So i paddle to the inside and sit with the 2 other guys, who are tight lipped and dodging in and out to try and grab a small ledging 6'er on the inside bowl. Not easy. But it gives me a good perspective on the outside bowl, which is directly in front of me, not up the point as you might expect, but rather straight out in front cause these outer bombs from the west peak are really like taking off on a left to fade the bowl of this big shifting peak until it hits the inner reef and reels. If it's a good one. If it's not, it's just a big, heavy drop and then mushes to flat, depending on how much water is on the reef when that one comes in.

I get one inside; a drop, a wall, a closeout and i shoot out the back of the wave with the offshore wind. I now have the soothing feeling that i can do this. I paddle back to the inside bowl and watch for another few minutes til i get cold and realize it's now or never and i paddle back to the outer bowl. At this point it is getting crowded. The swell has peaked a few hours ago, the wind is coming good, so there's about 15 guys out now and atleast 10 of them are really going after it. Men of all ages. Young guns in their mid twenties, thirty something long time hardcores, forty something guys hanging on the corner as uncertain as i am, and a couple of old salty Sunset Dogs paddling right over and into the North peak bowl and waiting for the occassional, and oh so dredging and wall north peak bowl. So i get right into the mix of the pack, sitting under the guys with the 10'6es and hoping for one my size and position. I dodge in and out for another 30 minutes or so, see some epic takeoffs and wipeouts, and take a few on the head til one finally comes my way and i dig. Under the lip on about a solid 8'er, wind blowing the water up in my face, total commitment with no visual sense and stomach up in my throat... And I'm up and dropping, vision comes back, periphery is telling me where to point to get through about 5 guys below me paddling for the shoulder, and i make it, bouncy, but i hang on and soak up the offshore wind bump in my knees and ride it out onto the shoulder . This one ends up mushing out, but i got one, a big drop and my first real wave at Sunset.

Amping.]]> General http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=59 Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:59:00 -0500 http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=58 General http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=58 Sun, 27 Dec 2009 14:55:21 -0500 http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=57 And the Gods did smile upon us.
On the 18th the surf came together and gave us something to play on, but still not perfection. Barriga found 6 more Brazilians at the airport in Gunung Sitoli and accompanied them up to Asu to attend to some business of his own. A major stroke of luck, these additional guests provided the necessary income to fund the projects that I had in mind and they were all really nice guys and a real pleasure to hang and surf with. Nor once did they complain about anything, the simple accommodation, the food, nor the saw, drill, and generator running most of the day as Ronnie and I worked.
On the 19th Asu came alive. 4-6 foot with 8 foot sets and offshore, a strong swell that provided big hollow peaks on the inside bowl that I call “the corner” and long, carvable walls with unpredictable barrel, or closeout, sections on the wide bowl and through the inside. The guests were stoked. Ronnie was in full swing on the renovations so that I could help him in the morning, surf mid day, check on him in the afternoon, and then surf again for the sunset. This routine lasted 12 days…everyday essentially the same. All of the Brazilians left on the 21st, leaving a nearly empty lineup with only 12 surfers left on the entire island. I would work with Ronnie, keep my eye on the waves, watch the other surf camps come and go and generally surf by myself or with a handful of people.
The renovations were coming along stellar too. We connected the freezer and had cold beer and sodas. We built a “rat proof cage” around the food storage area so that the little buggers couldn’t get at our tomatoes and “Cheesy”, their 2 favorite foods. We replaced all the bad decking and floor boards. We replaced all the old woven siding and sealed it with a clear varnish. We painted the posts and trim a more natural brown than the yellow and green that the previous manager, a strong Brazilian nationalist, had painted them. And we repaired the roofing and installed clear plastic roofing over the bathroom of one of the bungalows to lighten it up.
The highlight of the 3 weeks of renovations came on the 1st of June with the felling of the “Big Daddy”, the hundred-plus year old tree at the back of the property. Big Daddy was about 30m tall and at least a meter and a half in diameter at the bottom, with one major limb branching out 10 meters up and forking again causing much concern over the safety of our generator house as the Big Daddy would most certainly fall in that direction. I struck a deal with Amatari, the local chainsaw operator, to take him down. I offered $100 USD, one million rupiah, and he was pleased to have the work, not to mention a bit intimidated, it was admittedly the biggest tree he would have ever taken down.
Amatari works with a 36 inch chainsaw and that saw never looked smaller than on that day when he was handling the big saw with one hand and looking up waiting for the big crack that would signal that gravity had overcome natural strength. I had my video camera rolling and my photo camera snapping as he strategically cut Big Daddy down. It started with an axe. I asked Amatari to climb the tree and cut the 2 big limbs threatening the generator house first. He agreed that the 2 limbs might certainly take out the generator, but he demanded another $20 USD, or 200,000 Rupiah, to do the dirty, not to mention dangerous, work of climbing up and cutting the limbs down with an axe. He leaned the only ladder we had up against Big Daddy and still fell 2 meters short of the nearest limb. He used a rope to gain leverage on the nearest limb and climb his way into the tree. He made his way out onto the big limb, clearing his way with the axe, and beginning to chop-chop his way through the first of the two limbs. It was nearly an hour of chopping at each limb before they came down. Each one followed by a cup of coffee and a cigarette while he rested his arms and mind. Then the time had come. He took a few slices out of the front of the trunk with the big 36 inch chainsaw and then made his way to the back, slicing through the big roots and then into the main trunk. It was at this point that he had the 36 inch chainsaw fully buried into the trunk, held by only one hand, slicing into the heart of Big Daddy with a smooth ferocity, spitting wood chips from the fresh slice in the trunk. And then it came, the first crack signaling defeat. Amatari pulled the saw out and retreated back to my side for safety as we watched Big Daddy fall, the shutter on my camera snapping, but muffled by the snap and crack of Big Daddy coming down.
Watching a big tree like that fall is somewhat of a physical contradiction of the senses. It is so big and so tall that is seems like it would come crashing down, but it actually appears quite slow. As it gains momentum it starts to actually move as fast as you would think it would, but then the limbs begin to make contact with the ground and impede the inertia, slowing the tree down and creating the perception of a smooth interaction between ground and tree. To the eyes and mind it seems as if one were standing under the tree one could actually withstand the impact, but in reality, the mass of tree is so great, even the smallest of limbs would probably inflict a mortal wound.
Once on the ground the tree seems even bigger that when it was standing and the serendipity with which Big Daddy came down is absolutely remarkable. A bend in the tree just above the trunk arched itself about 6 inches above the walls of our well, which we were certain would be crushed. The limbs higher up, of which we were certain would be taking out our outside toilet, actually Y’d just before the toilet sparing it completely. One of those Y’s which made its way toward our generator house Y’d yet again, sending one limb just to the side of the small house, while the other limb kissed the roof line and put a branch through one board of the door. A coconut tree, that we were not attached to keeping, was taken out, but to our amazement everything had gone even better than we had hoped.
We now have a huge tree and I am not sure how much lumber it is going render, but I am so stoked and now I have the resources to make further enhancements at the camp. Our goal this year is to make the land Gold, get everything done on the land to make the camp what we want it to be. Next season we can move forward with a boat and expand our operation. I am really excited with the progress we are making. I am now in Bali and the owners have just shared with me all of their developments here: Banners, marketing contacts, website, cards, sponsors…everything seems to be coming together really well. Check the website, www.asucamp.com
Thanks for checking in here too, I miss all of my friends and family, but I am having the time of my life. I find myself just laughing as I walk out the reef to my front yard to play…this is the best balance of work and play that I have ever found, tropical island utopia, please come pay me a visit and share it with me.
Love to all of you. E
]]> General http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=57 Tue, 19 May 2009 22:19:00 -0400 http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=56 The NW wind and rain that was slaughtering the wave on Asu was delivering morning offshore winds in Lagundri with afternoon rain showers to cool things down and shift the afternoon side-offshore winds back to straight offshore. A few moderate swells came through, about 3 to 5 feet, and even though it wasn’t big, it was more energy than I had seen arrive Lagundri yet, so I was stoked. Surfing twice a day and getting some really nice barrels, meeting travelers from all over the world and making friends with the local rippers and kid crews. A few day trips into town kept me out of the water, so it wasn’t all fun and games. Barriga and I spent a day looking for food in the “Big City”, Gunung Sitoli, where I was able to chip through half of my food “wishlist”, finding such goodies as pasta and spaghetti sauce , peanut butter and jelly, brownie mix, and some other hard to find staples. The main items from GS were the freezer and a little electric oven essential for cold drinks and baked goods. I also did a shopping spree for kitchen utensils and ended up coming across some mango trees, a lychee tree, and an orange tree, which I was really excited to get planted and fruiting as soon as possible. More tools were on the list, as were hitting the internet and getting a haircut and beard trim. We got material for getting some hammocks sewn up as well as rope to hang em.
John left us straight away on the 1st, but Sam hung around until her flight on the 7th. While she was with me in Lagundri she met Luiz and Luiz, 2 Brazilian guys both interested in going to Asu, one who spoke English and the other not a word. So we got them on board and I encouraged them to be patient and wait out the NW wind, all working according to my plan of waiting until all the supplies were ready to go and utilizing them to help subsidize the transportation costs. It worked out really well. We left on the 13th for Asu, with no issues on the way up the coast we made it to Sirombu in just 2 hours by car. The boat was ready and waiting, we loaded our stuff and headed out towards Asu, headlong into the NW wind that had whipped up a bouncing 6 foot wind swell that kept us hanging on to the rails the entire ride, rising and dipping, to-ing and fro-ing for the 1.5 hour ride.
We were just 15 minutes from arriving Asu when the front that had been looming out ahead of us passed over Asu and hit us like a brick truck. The wind whipped up to at least 30 knots and a steady rain beat us in the face, Luiz, Luiz, and I were drenched to the bone in seconds, and finding it hard to see in the driving rain. It was really funny as the front approached, because Luiz, the non-English speaking, kept pointing to how the front was going to pass to the north of us, but I was pretty sure that we were going to get nailed just as we landed the island, making it extra difficult to get everything unloaded. Well, we were both wrong. When the front hit it blew the boat south and we were just able to reach the lee side of the island at the southern point, catching a break and creeping up the lee side to our landing point. Had we been just a little further out and gotten blown a little further south, we would have ended up spending the night on Hinako, the island to the south, because our little boat that could, couldn’t have made it. So, we were both lucky and unlucky. Lucky because we made it, but unlucky because we had to wait 2 more days before being able to unload the boat completely of all our supplies and tools, it was even too windy and bumpy to unload the boat as it sat at anchor, and this was the lee side of the island. The first day we just grabbed the essentials, Luiz and Luiz’s bags and some essential food to keep us fed.
Ronnie and I worked on the projects that we could for the next 2 days, while the Luizes slept, read, and watched surf movies. 2 days later we unloaded the boat completely, got the Luizes their surfboards so that they actually felt like they were on a surf trip, and I got all of the tools that I had bought so that Ronnie and I could start the renovations on the bungalows.
It was another 3 days before the waves came surfable, forcing the Luizes to be very patient. We had one tree come down in the storm, which we hired the chainsaw guy, Amatari, to cut up into lumber to make new deck rails and seating for the bungalows. It also set off an alarm that the Big Tree was in danger of coming down and started the wheels in motion to take the big fella down…
]]> General http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=56 Wed, 13 May 2009 22:17:00 -0400 http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=55 Barriga was stoked to meet Samantha again and I took to him like a fish to water. We met Jack, an American expat living in SE Australia, he was the only one staying there when we arrived, so JP bunked with him and Sam and I took the other room. Only one problem, there were no waves. Jack had been “surfing the hammock” for a week now and he was stoked to have some company and REALLY stoked to meet my guitar with which he had a week long love affair until we left for Asu.
The waves eventually came, but only 2 to 3 feet on the sets and I rode my fish pretty much the whole time. The last morning we were there JP and I woke up early for the dawny and scored a consistent 3 foot morning with just a few people and lots of good waves, we were stoked and ready to get away from the crowds of Lagundri and get out to the outer island paradise of Asu. The crowd at LAgundri is the worst I have ever experienced as far as people and their ability to disrespect ALL the rules of surfing. There is a keyhole above the wave so everyone that paddles out goes straight to the top of the lineup, as if you haven’t been waiting there for 15 minutes through the lineup to take that position yourself having battled and jockeyed your way up through all the other tourists. Not to mention the locals who feel that it is their God given right to take any wave they please, it’s either frustrating of funny, depending on what kind of mood you are in.
David and Angela arrived to Nias to meet us with 3 of their friends, Aran, Kasa, and Raphael. David and Angela are the owners of Asu Camp, and it is through recent talks with them in Bali that Sam and I are considering running the surf camp that David has set up out there. David came to Asu first around ’95 and in ’97 he bought 36 are (pronounced ar-o , and equal to 10m sq.) of land for a ridiculously small amount of American dollars. Since then he has built 2 bungalows and a kitchen, a generator house, 3 bathrooms, and has 2 wells on the property. In 2004, the earthquake that shook Indonesia and caused the tsunami that created so much destruction, actually lifted, yes lifted the island of Asu about 3 vertical meters, or about 10 feet. The wave changed a little bit, in my opinion for the better, as the inside section, commonly known as the “nuclear zone”, was no longer a factor and the wave just reels for 200m and then ends now.
David had another Brazilian running the camp for the last 5 years, but this year he was ready for a change and looking to find some fresh blood to run the camp. At the same time he and Angela were just about to throw in the towel on the project, Angela and David ran into Sam in Bali. I was in the Mentawais taking photos on a boat and recently changed my screen saver on my computer to my favorite picture of me surfing Asu (certainly no coincidence…) and when I returned Sam told me she had some friends we needed to meet with regarding a camp on Asu. I was really skeptical, due to the recent build up and let down of my other “dream job” that had recently fallen through.
We met with David and Angela and it seemed like a really good fit, we decided to meet up in Asu and take a look at what we had to work with. David had not been up there himself since 2006 and was not sure what we were going to find, we wouldn’t even have electricity as the generator had died the year prior. We sorted the dates and decided to meet up at Asu in April to have a look. At the same time I got an email from John letting me know that a project he had planned on working was cancelled and he could come meet me wherever I was. So JP was in with us and the dates were set.
Asu arrival was epic, a 4 hour car ride from Lagundri, one flat tire, a local mafia bridge toll on a bridge being repaired, unreal scenery of off the beaten path Indonesian lifestyles, checking in with the police and paying them off. We arrived the ghost port of Sirombu to an empty pier and unloaded to wait for the boat. About 30 minutes under the brow beating afternoon sun and the boat arrived. Everything got loaded in the boat by hand, even the 250 pound generator that David showed up in Lagundri with.
We got to Asu in an hour and a half and had just enough light to unload the boat to shore with a dinghy before the night crept in and took away our ability to see or orient ourselves. We grabbed our backpacks and handbags and started huffing it through the jungle on a single track walking path. The 15 minute walk seemed like forever in the dark single file line of trekers, but alas, we arrived the camp, lit by candles and lamp light, it was a much anticipated arrival and we were stoked.
The next week was a balance of enjoying the waves, tide pools, snorkeling, chilling, sleeping, driftwood bonfires, spearfishing, and well, working. Meeting with David and Angela to find out what their vision was for the place and how Sam and I would fit in with that vision. After a week of meeting with them on sight it was clear to Sam and I that this was a place we could live at for the rest of the season, so we made a contract with them to work the season. We will be on Asu until the end of October at which time we will decide if it is something we would like to do again next year.
Internet is possible out there, but we have not yet set it up, I am hoping by mid June we will have an internet connection. There is cell phone service there too, so even though we feel as if we are in the middle of nowhere, we still get daily phone calls from family and friends. I am so stoked to be in one place for an entire season, to get to know the ins and outs, do lots of spearfishing and surfing.
Super stoked, more to come soon. Cheers, E
]]> General http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=55 Thu, 7 May 2009 23:34:52 -0400 http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=54 I came to Indo in December with a dream job lined up for the season and my travel itinerary delayed for a year. Well, wINDOws of opportunity have opened and I think I will be spending more time here than originally planned.
In December I came to Bali to start another leg of my extended surf trip and to meet a girl. I met Samantha in Padang, Sumatra back in June when fate found us both at an unlikely bar in Padang called Fella’s. We were introduced by Ovi, a mutual friend whom I had accompanied to the bar and who Samantha had recently spent a long over sea trip with returning from outer islands to Padang. It turned out that Samantha and I were destined for the same set of outer islands in 3 days time. I was travelling light and decided abruptly on a Friday afternoon to catch a Friday ferry to one of the surf spots to try and catch an incoming swell rather than wait for the Sunday ferry as planned. Samantha decided to wait until Sunday so as not to be rushed and she would meet me out there, maybe.
We ended up finding each other again about 10 days later at another surf spot where we spent a bit of time together, getting to know each other and surfing together. As we were living with different families we seldom crossed each other in the village and mostly spent time together out in the water where I learned that she was a charger, going after 6’ HTs and 8’ Lance’s Left, testament to her water time in Hawaii.
We parted ways on the outer islands without a goodbye when Samantha’s friend who runs a boat charter offered her a free and easy ride back to Padang on his boat. After taking the public ferry back to Padang to join up with friends from home for another boat charter I got in touch with Samantha on the phone and we agreed to meet up again when I returned in 2 weeks. We met when I returned and had a sweet goodbye where I got to meet her newest friend Oli, a monkey that she had taken in from some local kids when she was out on a boat trip. Oli was beautiful, but very protective of her new Momma and she did her best to herself between myself and Samantha when we were together. We said goodbye without plan or reservation, both feeling that there was something there that was not yet finished.
After Indo, travelling through Australia, getting news of economic breakdown in the states, Indo just kept calling. The thought of being able to extend my travels for another year for just a fraction of the total cost of my planned itinerary and the opportunity to get on a surf charter boat as a guide was just too much. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. So I called Marcus, the owner of the Gaia Senja Motor Vessel and partner in Banyak Islands Surf Charters with whom I had previously discussed the possibility of taking over as his guide and asked him if he was still keen to have me onboard. He was.
All plans shifted, I would spend a month in New Zealand with Mom and then head back to Indo. First to Bali for some offseason surf and a chance to see Bali for the first time, then I planned to head up to Banda Aceh, the northern reaches of Sumatra, still very uncharted in the surfing world. Then I would meet up with Marcus in Sibolga to take the boat up to the Banyaks and learn the ropes of guiding surf charters on his boat before he bailed to take a season off. I had kept in touch with Samantha via email and after connecting with Marcus I contacted her to let her know I would be coming to Indo and to find out where she would be in December. As it turned out, she was heading to Bali in November and was planning on starting a life for her and Oli there…well, isn’t that convenient…next stop, Bali.

Well, coming to Bali and spending time with Samantha it soon became apparent that plans can and will change. I delayed my trip to Banda Aceh a month by extending my 30 day visa to stay in Bali. I even started considering buying land in Bali as prices for land were very reasonable, later finding that building costs would eliminate that dream, Bali building was just a bit out of reach. Another month later and I am extending my visa again. My relationship with Samantha is blossoming and I am still enjoying Bali too much to leave, thinking I will stay here until I go the boat and enjoy Sam’s company as long as possible.
Our life in Bali was not all sweet and dreamy though. On Xmas day, after only being in Bali for 9 days, Samantha and I were taking an easy day at home and trying to take care of a sick and slow Oli. 2 days before she had eaten something that had begun to deteriorate her insides, well that’s my theory, because the morning 2 days prior she had begun crying in the kitchen for no apparent reason. We used to let her run free around the property and she always comes to us when we call, but this time she wouldn’t leave the kitchen and when Sam came to her she said she smelled something chemical on her so she showered her. We had been spending a lot of time at the beach in the next days, so we thought maybe Oli was sick and moving slow from exhaustion or something. On Xmas morning she was looking better but a few hours into the day she was slow and lazy again, not normal for this little monkey. We called the vet but she was not interested in seeing Oli on Xmas day, she said to call tomorrow. Well, Oli didn’t make it to tomorrow. That evening, with the electricity out, Oli died on our bed with a shriek so sudden and ghastly…it was death calling. I had never heard anything like it. I was shocked and Sam was crushed. How could this little monkey that had been through so much die…we were, and still are, in a confusion as to why this happened, but all things happen for a reason and may poor little Oli rest in peace. We buried her in a grave that we dug on the property of our house, covered her with stones, flowers, and fruits. While she lived she was the luckiest monkey in Indonesia.
Marcus comes to Bali before heading up to prep the boat for the season, and we dream, deal, and then dreams die. Marcus is trying to sort out a side project but as will happen in Indo, business moves very slowly. We try and formulate a plan to have both Sam and I on the boat, we agree on it, we eat dinner together and celebrate it. Marcus calls the next day and reveals that it is just not possible. A myriad of issues exist and the long and short is that he needs to run the boat himself this season. I am out.
I can still stay in Indo. I have a really nice camera and can shoot pics and sell them in the remote locations of the Mentawais to travelling surfers and boat charter surfers. I can live cheap. Not all is lost. I connect with an old friend, Chris “Scuzz” Scurrah who runs Sumatran Surfariis out of Padang and he gives me a spot on one of his boats , the Budyadahri, with Yu, a Japanese surf guide who was the first guide in the Mentawias for me some 5 years ago. Me and Yu have great time, I shoot some really nice pics, get some great waves, and make a little cash from the surfers who buy my pics at the end of the trip.
Sam is going back to Brazil in May for 3 months to see her family, she has not seen Mom and Sister, nor Pops in over 2 years. I plan to take her to Nias and another outer island favorite of mine, Asu for a month before she goes, then I will look for more work on boats as a photographer, spend my time living cheap in the meantime, and wait for her to come back.
At this point the earlseyes mission of travelling the world on a set itinerary, capturing video footage of “what the world does for fun,” is somewhat derailed, or can I say delayed or rerouted… I am still taking video footage where ever I travel, capturing as much of what the world is doing for fun as I can. But I have decided to return home to San Francisco in December to spend 2 months with my family, introduce them to Samantha, before I set out again, probably back to Indo.
We are headed to Medan Sumatra tomorrow where we will meet my longtime friend John Potocny. I have known John since I was 5 and this is his second time coming to meet me on my journey. He will be the first of my friends to meet Samantha. We will spend 3 weeks together before he has to return to Hawaii. I am amped to have him along again.

Many people told me before I left that I would meet a girl along my travels that would change everything… I met Sam and everything has changed…such is life.
]]> General http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=54 Tue, 7 Apr 2009 01:48:43 -0400 http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=51 This year the season has arrived early, it was only March 12th when we saw our first puffs of east wind combined with the arrival of a strong ground swell reporting at 7' every 16 seconds. This means that the West Coast of the Bukit Peninsula comes alive, namely Uluwatu and Padang Padang surf spots. 2 very special breaks in the annals of surfing history, Ulus and Padang are on nearly every surfers list of search and ride locales. They were certainly on mine. Ulus being held so sacred that Samantha had to nearly drag me out there the first time we surfed it because it was too early in the season and it was not yet "perfect", and i wanted the first time i surfed Ulus to be special, to be "perfect". But i went out anyway and battled the crowd for 3-4' fun, peaky waves.
The 12th of March things had changed. The groundswell was just filling in at 5' every 16 seconds and there were solid 3-5' waves coming off of the "inside corner" of Ulus and peeling fast through the "racetrack". It was going off. It was too small to scare most people from the water so it was pretty crowded too. Having just spent 2 weeks in the Mentawais islands on a boat trip trading waves with maximum 10 surfers, i was content to just wait my turn in the crowd with confidence that a wave or 2 would eventually come my way. And they did. My first wave was my best of the day, a screamer, rolling down the line with the power and surge of a new swell, the wave was constantly bowling in front of me inspiring me to pump and race to keep up with the peeling lip. Too scared to slow myself into the barrel, i just raced the sections to the end, probably about 200 meters from where i had started.
The 13th of March was the real deal. Pumping. 7' at 16 seconds means that Ulus was no longer "inside corner" but rather breaking on what we call "outside corner", 50 meters farther offshore and peaking in huge double overhead lumps, some sets lumbering in even larger than that on the face. When UIus is this size the number of willing surfers is greatly diminished. Whereas the day before had around 35 surfers in the lineup, this day i was sharing the waves with 4 others. Granted the tide was still a little high and the waves a little fat, i knew that as the tide drained out, more would come, so i got out early to get a headstart on the crowd.
I was right, the waves were a little fat, but lining up for an 8' shifting peak is a thrill, even if the wave isn't walling up for speed after the drop. But after an hour of doing laps, catching set waves and paddling back out, the tide was dropping, the waves were walling up harder and faster, and it was beginning to really pump. Simultaneously, a group of about 15 surfers paddled out at around the same time, arriving on our little party like a SWAT team...the fun was over and the business was about to begin. I was still able to get a few more waves before the exhaustion overcame my desire to deal with a crowd of 20 guys jockeying for big waves and i came in to enjoy the sunset.
Samantha had not wanted to come out with me, big waves on a boogy board can just be bouncy and difficult, and she prefers the more steep and barrelling waves. She had run into a friend on the cliff who invited her to go to Padang Padang. Farther down the cliff from Uluwatu and a little protected from the bulk of the swell, Padang is a wave that comes alive with a low tide and spins off reeling left hand tubes. When i got to the cliff and took a bucket shower at Ibu Made's cafe, all the local ibus (ibu means mother in Indo) were laughing at me telling me that my girlfriend had left me, gone back to Brazil. I didn't believe them, I was joking that if she did leave i was going to be "marah marah" or real angry... Then Made came to tell me that Samantha had left with a friend for Padang Padang and that i was supposed to take the moto bike there to meet her.
So after eating an icecream and sucking down 2 banana strawberry milkshakes from Made, i grabbed our stuff and headed to Padang Padang. When i pulled up on the cliff i saw that it was pumping. 6' reeling tubes that reminded so much of The Bluff that i had surfed for 2 months in Western Australia. I was amped that Sam was out there. I went down to the beach and walked out the point watching surfers and boogers get shacked in much hollower waves than i was seeing out at Ulus, though it was smaller, it was a much more technical wave.
I didn't see Sam get any waves, but she had gotten one earlier, a really nice barrell and she was amped on her session. I was still satisfied with my session too, but seeing Padang going off like that with only a dozen people in the water and me being too tired and too late to get any of it had me feeling a little like i had missed my best opportunity to surf this legendary wave. The surf was going to bew smaller tomorrow and i may have missed my chance.
The next day the surf had dropped, but there was still swell in the water. Sam and i had slept in and missed the low tide in the morning, but the morning was not quite right anyhow, the water had what we call morning sickness, just a light bump and funk to the surface texture. The waves in this area are proned to this illness and generally the best sessions are in the afternoon. So we went for lunch and did some internet work to nail down our next move and visa runs.
At about 4:30 we returned to check in on Padang Padang and i couldn't believe it, but it was working again, and yet again there was only about a dozen people surfing it. We watched it for a few minutes and i realized that almost all the people out there were boogy boarders. In the hierarchy of surfing, boogies are below surfers and i knew that if i paddled out there i would certainly be able to work my way into the lineup and get my share of waves at one of the most premier spots in Bali, so i poked Sam and said,"we're out there."
We paddled out and it was indeed all boogies and breaking at about 3-4' with the very occassional 5'er rolling through. I worked my way quickly to the top of the lineup through 10 boogy boarders, mostly french, who did not even let out a peep to challenge my paddling past them to the top of the wave, and rightly so as they were sitting about 10m inside from the real takeoff spot. I waited about 15 minutes for a good set and then in it came, looming and shifting deep onto the takeoff. I paddled hard and slid into a surprisingly easy takeoff, bottom turned and saw the glory, a 10m section sucking off the reef and pitting me into a heavy backside barrel section. I didn't make it out, but i did have an amazing view out of what we call the "almond eye" of the tube looking out at the shoulder until the wave collapsed on me and i had to dive off my board and out the back of the wave.
Amped, i quickly paddled back out to the top. After letting the boogies have at one more set, i again moved myself into postition at the top of the wave. A really solid set came in and i raced out to meet it, paddling a bit too far in my excitement and had to let the wave go by, giving it to one of the French boogies, but at the same time learning an important lesson, even if the set is big, it still moves in deep and breaks in roughly the same location as the smaller ones, just barrelling a little harder making it easier to make it out of the tube. So on the next set i held my ground, paddled in deep and took off on the bowl. This one was sucking off the reef hard, the drop was steep, and after cranking a bottom turn i was immediately shacked into a gaping barrel. I crouched down, reaching back into the wave with my left hand and thrusting my right shoulder forward, grabbing the outside rail of my board with my right hand and speeding through the tube with as much speed and determination as i could muster. I drew close to the almond eye and as i released the rail of my board and stood up tall on my board to exit the barrel, the last section warbled a little and a small bucket of water from the lip hit me on the back of the head. I was able to keep to my feet but it was the waves way of saying, "hey watch it kid, i will take you out if i want to."
It was my best wave of the day and Samantha was sitting in the channel watching the whole thing go down, so i kicked out of the wave and paddled back to the top with my baby, just glowing with adrenaline, joy, and exitement. Back to the top where i was able to get another 10 waves or so before the sun set, and though there were some sick and warping barrels that gave me an amazing view, none let me out of them standing.
As the sun set on the horizon there was not a cloud there to block the view of the sun. All the boogy boarders had gone in and it was just Sam and i sitting out the back of low tide 3-4' Padang Padang. I was just in awe of our situation. I grabbed another set wave, ducked into a small cover up and was able to make a turn on this reeling beast of a wave, i was stoked. As i was paddling back out and just marvelling in the moment, watching the sun set, i thought that this was the kind of sunset that gives a green flash, quickly thinking to myslef that i had never seen a green flash from the water before, and that it must be impossible, cause you would have to be on the crest of a wave with a full view of the horizon just as the sun was setting into the horizon AND there would actually have to BE a green flash, of which i have seen about 15 in my life.
But there i was, paddling back out to my baby sitting at the top of the wave, looking directly past her into the sunset when on the crest of a rising wave i saw the sun sink into the horizon and blaze fluorescent green and then dissappear. I was shocked, stunned, stupefied...could it be this perfect...

It was...open season.]]> General http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=51 Sun, 15 Mar 2009 01:17:59 -0400 http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=53 At the Center at 15 minutes to 8 to catch the 8 o’clock bus to the jumpsite. Classic to read the faces of all who have signed up; the first timers, the scared out of their minders, the friends along for the ride who look scared too, the confidently nervous, the cool and collected and the totally amped out of their minds. I was found in between the 2 latter categories, between a really cool Irish lad named John who had come to Queenstown specifically to do this jump and then bail to catch his plane in Christchurch before heading home, and another loony toon from England who was hell bent to make the jump naked and even more hell bent to let everyone know this.
When we arrived to the jumpsite I rushed to the edge of the gorge to have a look at the jump platform and I was not disappointed. So high it looks high. Perfect. Back to the bathroom to push out the nervous urine and then on with the harness to get this party started. Mr. Skin was already nakey and into his harness, covering himself with a T-shirt to the relief of all of us. They weighed us in, the heaviest people would be jumping first ending with the lightest, I suppose they want to test the bungee on the heaviest guy/gal first and then maybe only lose one jumper should it fail, anyway, I wasn’t first so I wasn’t worried. First up happened to be Mr. Skin and I got to watch his freefall from the confines of the 6 person transport from the cliff edge to the jumpsite. It was beautiful, the whole scene I mean, not Mr. Skin, the leap and freefall, the smooth extension of the bungee, the scream of fear and excitement. We were jumping.
I got to jump around 6th I think. The jump master was named Sully, so we had something in common besides being adrenaline junkies and hit it off immediately, though our friendship would last around 30 seconds while he double checked my harness and helped me to scoot to the edge of the “diving board”, a 1’ by 1’ platform that extends beyond the edge of the 15’ x 20’ cable car hanging some 150m in the middle of Nevis Canyon. On the way to the diving board I asked him if it would be OK if I did a “gainer”, jump off forwards but slowly rotate into a backflip, “No chance,” he replied, “OK, how ‘bout I jump off backwards?”. “No can do”, he denied me again. With no amount of persuasion was I able to convince Sully that it would be OK for me to do something stupid, so to the edge of the diving board I waddled, 100m of bungee hanging from my ankles. I took a deep breath and looked out among the expanse that revealed itself all around me. The landscape was dry, dull, and surreal. The rock, shale, and small bush that lined the edges of the canyons began to merge into a sort of kaleidoscopic imagery that was I suppose induced by the adrenaline and the surreality of standing at the edge of what seemed like infinite space. I did not lose my myself or my surroundings though, turning around to give my new adrenaline forged friends a smile and a big hoot before the 3, 2, 1 countdown. Now, I know that Sully couldn’t let me jump off and do a flip, and now that jumping backwards was out of the question and all I could do was dive off forward, I figured that once I left the platform there were essentially no rules, so upon my toes leaving the edge of the diving board, I rotated my head to the left and dove into a spin that essentially gave me the view of a forward dive and the freakout of the backwards fall as I rotated around and freefell looking back up at the jumpsite and sky beyond. It was epic. I love falling. Complete lack of control at any level but total confidence that everything is going to be OK in the end. Freedom on some whacked out level of adrenaline junky justification.
The fall lasts 8 seconds and it feels like 4, the bungee was smooth and the rebound was quick. In my experience the bigger the bungee the smoother the transition from falling to rebounding, making it a more pleasant experience, but lacking in the excitement of a second or third feeling of weightlessness from the rebound. Hanging upside down looking into the canyon and up at the sky, I was delighted to be upside down in such a backwards situation and instead of pulling the pin in my waist harness that would have righted me for the ride back up to the jumpsite as they reeled me in like a fish, I decided to enjoy the upside down view. When I got back to the jumpsite, I don’t think Sully was too pleased with my style of departure, nor my return, but he wasn’t going to make a scene of it and just unhooked me and continued with the next person.
Sitting through the rest of the jumpers was like torture, I just wanted to do it again. So I got off the platform, back to the edge of the canyon, and worked myself back to reality. I met another guy, remarkably also from Novato, his name was Adam, he had just done the bungee and he was going to do the Nevis swing in a combo deal, a novelty similar to the Canyon Swing I would be doing later that afternoon, so I decided to go with him to check it out while he did the swing. The Nevis Canyon forks just above the bungee jump and over one of the forks is another set of cables suspended across the gorge with an anchor point in the middle making the biggest “swing set” you have ever seen. The Nevis guys were incredibly professional, quiet and reassuring as they harnessed Adam into the swing. The swing mechanically levers out away from the harnessing platform and then when Adam was ready they gave a 3, 2, 1 countdown and let him rip. Looked like a lot of fun, but it wasn’t bungee jumping, and I wasn’t going to fork out more cash for this, even in my adrenaline deficient come down.
Back to town and out to lunch with mom to fill her in on my morning adventures. We grabbed a big burger at the town’s famous burger joint, absolutely delicious, and mom told me about her morning hike up the mountain. Back to the van to unload what we didn’t need from our pockets and then down to the Canyon Swing HQ for a ride out to their jumpsite. It was quickly apparent that the Canyon Swing was a totally different operation from the bungee company in just about every way. They took our name and had us sign a contract, validating our participation in today’s jump by doodling on the backs of our hands with markers colorful markers, everyone got a different doodle. We passé the time waiting by watching their promotional video, all of us gathered around an LCD TV. The promo video showed that not only were there no rules in how you could jump off of the platform at the Canyon Swing, but also that the employees who controlled the jump could mess with the guests to whatever degree they felt necessary. By mess I mean, pushing them off before they were ready, teasing them with false pushes and pulling them back onto the platform, hanging them out over the gorge and making them beg to be dropped. Now certainly these were only special cases, but it was a sort of preparation for what was to come.
The van arrived for transport and the guy who drove us up the mountain was so classic. My favorite line from him was, “As we pass over this bridge, if you look out the left side of the van, you’ll miss what you could see out the right side…”, as everyone looked left and then laughed at what he had just pulled on us. Another promotional video played over the LCD TV in the van, this one was a little more preparatory, showing us what we were in for. It portrayed employees trying to figure out how a harness works, reading “Canyon Swings for Dummies” books, and generally turning the whole experience into mind numbing nervousness for the anxious and absolute hilarity for the confident. When we arrived the canyon we made our way down to the jump platform to harness up and Mom quickly volunteered to go first, no weight rules here, who wants to go, goes. They only messed with Mom a little bit, holding her out over the gorge, heels on the platform, and giving her a good shake as if to fake letting her fall. She took 2 steps back once they had finished harassing her and she let it rip with a 2 steps and a dive into the infinite. “Wooohooo”, she loved it. She came back up, a few others jumped and then she wanted to do it again so I told her to jump off backwards, a very different feeling, so she did, and she loved it again.
My turn. I chatted it up with the guy who harnessed me up, talking about different ways to jump off, I had just seen him jump off into a flat spin so I knew he would be a good one to consult. He said that in between groups they get to just session the swing and that the owner lets the employees jump as often as they want. I told him I wanted to do a gainer and he approved, one of his favorites. By now the guys all knew I was confident and that I had done the Nevis Bungee that morning, so they were pretty bent on getting me as shaken as possible. Chris, the guy who drove us up the mountain was the one running the jump platform and he was classic. He held me out over the gorge and really had me wondering if he was just going to let me fall, I mean I was really not sure if this guy would go so far as to not let me do what I wanted just to try and scare the piss out of me by letting me go when I wasn’t ready. But he didn’t, he just told me to jump away from the cliff to my left and have fun. Step 1, step 2, and I was off, back flipping through the infinite space, so good. I came back up and immediately wanted a second jump. I asked if they recommended anything and my friend that had harnessed me up suggested kart wheels…kart wheels…good one. So they set me up on the edge sideways and said to rock away, towards, away, and then over the edge and just cartwheel into the abyss. This ended up being my favorite, even better than the gainer. The way everything was just spinning in front of me and the sensation of falling sideways was so foreign, I loved it. Back for thirds, again asking for suggestions. Chris asked me if I had any shoulder issues. Shoulder issues? Nice. No, none, why? They harnessed me up real tight and then hooked me up and swung me out over the gorge. Turned me upside down and backwards and had me look back and down and let me rip. This was a really cool jump cause I was able to watch the cliff face go racing by and it was further enhanced by a group of river rafters drifting by on the current below all yelling and ooohing as I came soaring by overhead. The Canyon swing, in the end, was by far a better and more exhilarating experience than the bungee jump, proving that it’s not the size of the jump, but rather how you execute it that matters…
That night I hooked up with Matt and Erin, a great young couple from the UK that mom and I met in Milford Sound who were really cool and really excited to go out in Queenstown, being that the rest of NZ is pretty darn quiet, when you get a chance to party in NZ, you take it. Matt and Erin had both done a bungee jump earlier that day too so there were lots of stories to share and much to celebrate. We planned on doing a whole tour of the town, Matt had a pub crawl planned out, but we got to the first bar, Moose’s, and met a whole crew from my bungee jumping experience plus some other friends from Milford Sound and just ended up staying there drinking and dancing with a good band jamming live tunes til 2 am.
Queenstown was not a disappointment. Looking forward to coming back here in the winter to feel the energy when the place is fresh with pow pow.
]]> General http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=53 Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:53:00 -0500 http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=52 Anyway, after skiing on the volcano we hightailed it for the south island, grabbing a ferry out of Wellington and crossing on a fantastic sunny day with sparse fluffy clouds and a moderate sea breeze. The seas were rolling at just a few feet and even though all the touros were huddled in their shells and fleece, the guys who work the boat walked about taking care of their tasks with their jumpsuits peeled down, with the arms tied around their waists, and just T-shirts to shield them from the cool ocean breeze. Doing some reading on the walls inside the boat about the 10m seas and gusting winds that they often encounter on this wind whipped straight, it made sense that the seamen were soaking up whatever rays they could.
Heading down the East coast of the South island, it was like a condensed California landscape; amazing rocky coastline skirted by green and gold grassy hillsides, backed by towering Sierra-like snow capped peaks. We felt very at home and kept commenting on where in California we were driving through now...
We were skunked for surf, but it gave mom and I a chance to do some hiking on the coastal headlands in Kaikoura. We made it down to Dunedin and went straight to the beach on the south side of the city. I was looking for a point break called Murdering Bay and as we pulled up to the beach boardwalk to have a look at some very average looking onshore beachbreak, I noticed an old character coming down the boardwalk at a casual, "I do this everyday" stroll reminiscent to the coastal walk of so many West Side Santa Cruz locals. I said to mom, "this guy'll know", and called him over to the car for some directions.
Not only did he know where it was I was looking for, but he confirmed our choice of caravan park, gave us a tip on dinner for the evening, apologized for not being able to guide us around town tomorrow, had not one of his beloved friends not "kicked the bucket" he would have been happy to, then he identified himself as Jack Alprez the "Jazz Man" and invited us to watch him play that evening in his quartet that would be starting up around 9 just down the road from where we should be grabbing dinner. He offered to "shout" us a drink should we decide to come in. I was up for it and told him he was on, mom was uncertain, but she was game. Dinner was good, rack of lamb for mom, and down to the bar for some jazz and a "shout". Jack was a man of his word, the place was cool, University town hip, and the band was ripping, I even bought a CD.
The next day I grabbed a morning surf at the beach that we had visited the day before, the swell was not big enough for the point I wanted to surf, so I settled on the beachy, but ended up getting some really fun waves and meeting Jason, a good local lad who plans indigenous, sustainable gardens and rides “fishes”. He was intrigued by the 5'6" "Fish" style surfboard I was riding and he told me that to get one here he had to have it custom shaped. I couldn't believe it, they're an old style surf board, but they are all the rage in California when I left and are a godsend when the surf is small because of their width and flat bottom that allows you to generate speed in the most awful of onshore springlike conditions. That afternoon, after trading boards, waves, and stories in the water with Jason, we were off to the Catlyns, the southernmost accessible terrain of the south island, desolate, wooded, and never flat...oh yeah??? Well, do we have a beef with the Catlyns... It was wooded. But it was flat, I surfed for an hour and caught 2 knee high waves and froze my buns off in the coldest water I had experienced yet. Reminded me of home, which is not necessarily a good thing when talking water temperature.
The evening we arrived happened to be Friday evening, and a holiday. Oblivious to both time and date, mom and I were clueless as to what we were in for. A group of 2 families from a town in the vicinity had come to spend the weekend and claim their "locality" in audacious displays of ignorance and arrogance towards any and all around them. They pulled into this gorgeous, serene valley and parked their cars, opening all 5 the doors, blasted the stereo and set up camp...the stereo did not turn off until 4am. The 3 wheeler ATV cranked up at just before sunset and continued ripping up and down the dirt road that flanked ALL the campsites continuously until about midnight, and then only randomly until sunrise. The only thing they lacked was the "yahoo" scream and shout that would have invariably identified them as some of the least educated and ignorant people on the planet. We spoke with a Dutch husband and wife the next morning on our way out who shared with us that they had confronted the "Father" the next morning on one of his escapades down the dirt road on the 3 wheeler. They asked him if he had any idea of how much disturbance he had caused through the night, his response was, "Oh, I hadn't noticed." They had clearly come to claim their "ownership" as locals and rumor was that the next night they would be "burning the beach" with a big bonfire when more of their friends came down to join them. They could have it, we were back on the road.
We stopped in Invercargill, took a look at the "Fastest Indian" motorcycle and split. Heading for Milford Sound, we made it to Te Anau and hunkered down for 2 days of rain. Internet, guitar, book, food, wash, rinse, repeat. The highlight in Te Anau was the beautiful lake and scenic temperate rainforest hike we took for an hour and a half on one of the tracks. NZ is covered with "tracks", really well developed hikes that run along incredibly scenic routes with sleeping huts conveniently located for multi day treks. We did an hour and a half, then back to the comfort of our home on wheels.
2 days later we were headed to Milford Sound. We got good weather, some clouds in and out, some rain, even some snow over the pass, and some sunshine. But turns out this is perfect Milford weather. With the rain the waterfalls were flowing full capacity and with the clouds moving in and out the excitement of grabbing little glimpses of the higher peaks was a rare and enchanting experience. We did a cruise on the Milford Sound on a 65' motor boat, we booked it late in the afternoon, after all the day trippers on the tour buses had come and gone, leaving the boat quiet with plenty of space to move around. The cruise was exceptional, my favorite part of the NZ tour, like Yosemite meets the ocean, we set out from the harbor and cruised the 5km or so out to the Tasman Sea to meet the open ocean rollers and catch a glimpse of a reef break left hander that the captain said gets absolutely massive on large winter swells. We got to see penguins and seals, everyone is so amped to see the seals, but being Californians, we were pretty dulled to the awe inspired into some of the touros by the sea lions. "Look at the whiskers on the seals", they would croon, and then you would hear, "Sea lions, not seals," as any guide within earshot would invariably correct them.
We spent one night in Milford Sound and got up early to go down to the water for what is generally the clearest part of the day, and it was. We were blessed with patchy blue skies, a low tide, and mirror like conditions on the sound which made for extraordinary photographic conditions and i scored some great shots. Mom and I soaked it up and then walked back to the hostel and hit the road. Bound for Queenstown, the adrenaline center of NZ. I was amped.
]]> General http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=52 Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:51:00 -0500 http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=48 We woke up early the next morning at sunrise and hit the road south for Mt. Ruapehu. We passed Lake Taupo which offered us our first look at the north face of Mt. Ruapehu over the great expanse of the lake, reminding me of Lake Tahoe at home and invigorating the feeling i had on the inside that today i would make turns.
We continued south around the lake and climbed up the base of the mountain into the Tongariro Nat'l Park and towards the West face of Ruapehu. The views of the mountain were insane, mom and i kept stopping and it seemed the approach would be half the fun. The sky was clearing beautifully of the last few wisps of cloud, but the air was crisp and cold. We continued around to the south side of the mountain and into the town of Turoa. We pulled into the parking lot of the local ski/snowboard rental shop and strode in to find out if their deals would be as good as the ones being offered up on the mountain.
The staff there was off the charts helpful, just so stoked to get everyone up on the hill and having fun, so there was no question that we were going to spend our money with them. They had everything we needed, skis and boots for mom, a board and boots for me, even goggles and gloves, and mom needed a hat for her ears even though they promised her she wasn't going to need it. And they were right. As chilly as it was down at the base of the mountain, once we climbed to the bottom of the ski station the spring sun was warming and we could feel that it was going to be warm.
Mom could feel my excitement so she cut me loose. We agreed to meet at the bottom of the upper lift at 1pm, which gave me 2 hours to find the goods. And finds the goods i did. I weaseled my way into the commotion around the lower lift line as a single and got right on the lift with some young kids who knew the mountain pretty well, so i interigated them on the way up on where the good stuff was hidden. They sent me straight to the cornice lines to the west of the chair, and as it turns out, they were dead on.
I spent the next 2 hours crushing these cornice lines, just doing laps, picking a new place to drop off the cornice line into the fresh and thick spring pow below. It was so fun. It never fails to amaze me how good it feels to make turns on a snowboard when it has been 6 months off. It is like it is a totally new toy, like you know what it's supposed to feel like, but it's still brand new again. I think i got in about 8 runs in the 2 hours before i met mom. We took a lift up together and did one run all the way to the bottom to grab some lunch.
We caught the bus out to the parking lot and pulled the van up to the edge of the lot to have an unimpeded view of the valley below. We made some sandwiches and reheated some left over pasta from last night. After eating too much and lounging in the sun at the van we both decided that we had gotten the best of it and that with just 2 hours of slope time left, we would be best off beating the traffic down the mountain, returning our gear and moving on.
The team down at the rental station tipped us off that we had just had "the best day of skiing in the world". Since Turoa was the last ski station left open in the southern hemisphere and the northern hemisphere ski stations had not received any new snow yet and were only riding on left over glacier skiing from last year, we had just had the best day of skiing of anywhere in the world on that day. That was an nice thought to drive away with wearing a big smile.]]> General http://earlseyes.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=48 Sat, 8 Nov 2008 02:39:00 -0500