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.
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| top turn at Uluwatu |
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| nice cuttie! |
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| this knee boarder was killing it |
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| a glimpse is better than nothing |
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| sizey |
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| the start of a possibly memorable ride at Race Track |
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| One of those Balangan perfect ones |
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| Paolo knows how to relax |
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| not sure about this shot... |
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| the calf may appear big, but trust me that the overall was good indeed |
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| do you prefere the unflashed chili... |
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| or the flashed Bintang? |
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| sunset at Balangan |
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| Wedding photos... they crack me up. Yeah, I'm sure he walks on the reef in a suit and slippers all the times... |
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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.
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| mini sequence 1 of 3 |
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| mini sequence 2 of 3 |
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| mini sequence 3 of 3. Once again, on the wrong side of the barrell. Oh, you guys try! |
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| still trying... |
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| surfing is SO MUCH FUN!!!! |
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| another one bites the dust |
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| this is Padang Padang. It was high tide and it was breaking very close to the rocks |
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| VEEERY close to the rocks! |
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| love the sunset light through the lip |
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| I mean, look at the colors! GoPro cameras are fantastic! |
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| sequence 1 of 6 |
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| sequence 2 of 6 |
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| sequence 3 of 6 |
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| sequence 4 of 6 |
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| sequence 5 of 6. This might as well be the best GoPro shot I've ever taken! |
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| sequence 6 of 6. Bye bye! |
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| put those razor blades down, no need to cut your veins. This is the last GoPro shot... |
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| small Balangan nugget |
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| 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 |
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| quite explicit body language |
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| you get so much speed... |
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| take off with the hand in the water. I like it. |
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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 |
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| 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 |
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| sequence 2 of 3. But is sure was right there... |
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| 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:
Bella Giampa!!!
Without words...
Nino
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