I had a really hard time there.
From the previous post, you will remember that I decided to go to G-land because I couldn't find a flight for Sumbawa - Lakey peak. I also decided to go, because of the following two factors:
- the forecast was calling for a 4 feet, 15 seconds, SW swell. Under these conditions, the lineup is pretty empty, because the hard core surfers like bigger sizes and more southerly directions.
- since the camps were empty, I got a deal: a private bungalow at the price of the dorm room. BTW, included the fast boat transfer, that was $550 for six nights. Not cheap compared to the Indo standards, but that's what it is.
I'm going to let the photos lead the tale.
There's three camps on G-Land. This one is right in front of the observation tower. The food was ok. Unfortunately they try to make it western, but I would have liked much better a mie goreng than a chicken burger...
Overall a good camp, but Bobby's seemed much better organized (even though more expensive).
This lovely fellow was part of the welcoming scene.
And these lovely reef tatoos were part of the welcome too!
And now a long series of empty waves. Seems like empty perfection. And maybe it was. But not for me. Not for me on a 6.6, at least.
Very Indo.
So with my 6.6 the only place where I could catch the wave was right next to the curl of the peeling lip.
Did you find the spot in the photo below?
Ok, now look down the line and see how steep the wave already is.
Nonetheless, it's not going to close out! It still going to peel! But at a speed that for me was impossible to make.
All these photos are the spot right in front of the tower, called Moneytrees. The more famous and challenging Speedies wasn't even working at this size (thank god!).
I think I needed a 7.2 to 7.6 board to surf there. I just couldn't do it on a 6.6 with my skill level.
I got so frustrated that I thought about leaving after only three days, but a couple of very nice (and very good) aussie surfers took me out at Kongs (a little up the lineup) and over there it was just a little bit more mellow.
One day I also went to another wave called Tiger Tracks (you need a boat) and that was really fun. I should have surfed there the rest of the week, but I kind of wanted to practice on the harder stuff.
Overall, the amount of fun I had at G-land was extremely small compared to the one I had at the UNS of Chapter one.
Deceiving perfection.
We all looked like that back in the days.
My lovely bungalow in the jungle.
Ballsy shot.
Loved the open air shower.
Daily torture. Watching counteless perfectly peeling waves from the observation tower knowing that you won't be able to make them...
China built camp truck. No idea how they keep that thing running.
Easy to spot the four guests and the four locals.
Observation tower from the water.
The morning we left was the start of a potentially 10 feet SSW swell.
"The bigger and the more south it gets, the better it lines up!", they told me...
"Sure, but the heavier too though!", I replied. "I'm out of here!!!"
As we were leaving, at least 30-40 guests per camp arrived. Hard core surfers. When it's good, there's a hundred guys out a G-land.
This mini sequence was taken from the boat while we were leaving. The swell was still relatively small.
The boat ride was a couple of hours and no big deal. This is Bobby's boat.
And now your torture: a fat section of GoPro shots.
Start of a long sequence. That's what 4 feet, 15 seconds become at G-land.
End of the sequence. Let me remind you that those photos are taken every .5 seconds.
This is an emblematic 3 photos sequence at Moneytrees.
I took off right next to the curl and by the time I'm on my feet and trying to put pressure on the inside rail look how much water I got behind me.
Since I'm not Bruce Irons, I put too much pressure and caught a rail. The board slowed down and here I am flying over the nose.
Now look at the board and the big barrel it is in. I'm still flying over the nose and I'm really glad that I didn't get hurt.
Too much for me, really. Should have had a 7.6 gun.
Nah, should have been somewhere else.
Bit easier at Kongs.
Lastly, here's a clip of a wave at Kongs.
Notice two things:
- at the very end the camera moves because I actually hit the lip! Too bad I didn't stick the landing...
- after I get my board back, you'll see one guy in the background cheering with his arms in the air. That's one of those aussie surfers that took me with them and they were happy that I was finally having a decent time. Thank you Nick and Simon.
One more Indo 2012 chapter to go, stay tuned.
PS. One of the surfers I met in my trips launched a surf spot app for i-phone.
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