Friday, July 20, 2012

Indo 2012 chapter two (Bali part one)

So why did I leave the UnNameableSpot if I was having so much fun?


I did it for two reasons: a forecast and a friend.

The only internet connection I had was provided via a USB modem with a local SIM card that I bought before getting there. There was a signal, but it was weak and the related speed was hence pretty slow.

My website of choice for wave forecasts is Surfline (I’m a subscriber). But unfortunately, most pages were too heavy to be loaded.

So I switched to another site called Magicseaweed that offered much lighter pages that could be loaded a lot faster.

At the beginning the forecast seemed to be ok, so I started to trust it. And I learned that as long as there was more than 3 feet of swell, it was going to be fun.

Well, the forecast for June 16 and the following days was calling for 2 feet or less and very windy and I started to think it was maybe a good time to go explore some other waves, when I received an email from my friend Paolo who announced me that he was going to be in Bali at that time for three weeks.

“Perfect!”, I thought. “It’s going to be shitty here, so I go to Bali and meet him and from there I’ll decide where to go next.”


Too bad that, despite the 2 feet forecast, the day I left was double overhead... damn! Well, at that point I had already bought the tickets and didn’t feel like changing them, but I sure learned that the MSW forecast for that location is not reliable.

“Whatever, I’m still going to Bali... I’ll surf over there.”

And so I did.

Airport left was the most fun break, even though it was usually pretty crowded. One of my favorite spots from last year (Secrets at Uluwatu) instead wasn’t working. Windy, choppy, weird, it reminded me of Middles when the trades are blowing...

At the end, with the exception of a couple of great days at Balangan, overall the surfing of the first Bali stay wasn’t particularly high quality, but I did enjoy doing it in the company of a friend. We also did some relatively fine dining (he took me to places where a dinner was $15-20 instead of the usual $3-5...) and explored a bit of night life.
That was fun, but I definitely wasn’t there for that. So, one morning I woke up, went to check Airport Left, didn’t like it, went to a travel agency looking for a ticket for Sumbawa-Lakey Peak for the same day (or the day after), didn’t find it, went to the office of one of the G-Land camps and booked a 6 days stay, leaving the morning after at 6 with the fast boat.

But that is material for the next chapter.


In the meantime, enjoy the photos from Bali and this little clip that shows the stairs that take you down to the beach to paddle to Padang Padang and Impossibles and a wave at Kuta Middles.



top turn at Uluwatu
nice cuttie!

this knee boarder was killing it

a glimpse is better than nothing

sizey

the start of a possibly memorable ride at Race Track


One of those Balangan perfect ones


Paolo knows how to relax

not sure about this shot...

the calf may appear big, but trust me that the overall was good indeed

do you prefere the unflashed chili...

or the flashed Bintang?

sunset at Balangan

Wedding photos... they crack me up. Yeah, I'm sure he walks on the reef in a suit and slippers all the times...

so what's that supposed to be? Romantic?!?!? Maybe if they weren't wearing those ridicolous dresses and if there weren't  professional photographers paid to capture the staged moment. I bet they were even instructed to do that head to head move...
Sorry, I'm against any kind of bullshit.


And now a fat section of Gopro photos + some from the beach taken by a photographer (with a poor lens) at Balangan.



mini sequence 1 of 3

mini sequence 2 of 3

mini sequence 3 of 3. Once again, on the wrong side of the barrell. Oh, you guys try!

still trying...

surfing is SO MUCH FUN!!!!

another one bites the dust

this is Padang Padang. It was high tide and it was breaking very close to the rocks

VEEERY close to the rocks!

love the sunset light through the lip

I mean, look at the colors! GoPro cameras are fantastic!

sequence 1 of 6

sequence 2 of 6

sequence 3 of 6

sequence 4 of 6

sequence 5 of 6. This might as well be the best GoPro shot I've ever taken!

sequence 6 of 6. Bye bye!

put those razor blades down, no need to cut your veins. This is the last GoPro shot...

small Balangan nugget

I had a couple of screamers at Balangan. The photos are not that good (shooting into the sun with a not so good lens), but the waves were amazing

quite explicit body language

you get so much speed...

take off with the hand in the water. I like it.

I stood up as soon as I could and I'm at halfway down on the wave. I saw Owen Wright standing up and pumping down the line dropping only two feet under the lip in the take off...
BTW, I call this size well overhead

sequence 1 of 3. It looks like a barrel, but it's not with my strict barrel claiming rules: I need to see the curtain on the beach side and I need to make it out of it. Didn't see the lip in this case

sequence 2 of 3. But is sure was right there...

sequence 3 of 3. It wouldn't have counted anyway, since I bailed right after this...
Plenty more Balangan in Chapter four. In the meantime, stay tuned for Chapter 3... I'll take you to G-Land!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Bella Giampa!!!

Without words...

Nino