July 7 - Kuta, Lombok



Waves.

I’ve been bent on finding some good ones, because after surfing for 5 years, I feel like I've been on a plateau that it's time to overcome. Indonesia is known for good waves, and despite it being the windy season in Lombok, I found some good ones. It can be a rare occurrence to get waves with such good form in San Diego, but these waves had a different problem: they were too big, and this spot was too unfamiliar to me. So as has been a common occurrence over the past couple weeks, I got skunked - 0 waves.

However, I did have a bit of an adventure finding the spot.

 












I'm getting back to a bit of a morning routine, which feels really nice after being so sporadic over the first month (I think I was probably trying to fit too much into every day). Realized I need to remind myself why I'm here/what I want to get out of this (so far: think more clearly, learn/practice new things, make my body feel good).

Ordered breakfast (coffee and banana pancake) and loaded up the scooter with a surf board while I waited. First spot was Are Goleng (books said it was a good right-hander). Turns out it was super windy, but I got to talk with a local there who was building a homestay for tourists (he says the place is getting more and more busy every year), and help a family push their boat up on to the beach. Spent a little more time there just watching, half hoping the waves would turn into something surfable, half just watching the family in their morning routine. The kids were playing some sort of tag, and it was entertaining to watch. Upon trying to leave, some random guy with a cattle whip was standing by my scooter demanding 5k for parking. I gave him 4k and was on my way.

Next spot to check was Segar, which I headed towards, but rising to the top of a hill I looked back at Are Goleng, which was starting to look better (if it turned good, maybe I would get to be the only one out there?). My lookout point was also where some men were working rock crushing machinery. After hanging out for a bit, a man on a scooter pulled up, asked me if I liked coffee, and then motioned to me to follow him. We rode into the tent area and walked past the machinery and the men working to his bamboo hut, and for the next half hour, we tried to make what conversation we could. Neither of us knew any of the other's language, but we made do by showing pictures on our phones and practicing a rough version of sign language. Our triumph was when he said "coffee and cigarette, healthy!", and I understood. By now I had started to notice some details about this man. He was dressed relatively stylishly - a new t-shirt, unfaded by the sun, and also a large silver ring on his left hand with a red stone in it. I asked him about it, but our communication broke down once more.

Went back to Are Goleng (parking guy had moved on by this point) - still too windy, but saw an Australian guy and his partner there checking the surf, and he recommended Mawi - "I reckon you'll get a wave there, mate.".  So I went.



Surf notes:
  • Knowing currents and keeping yourself in the right spot is key here. It's easy to drift into the impact zone and not know it. Surfing is much more fun if you avoid this.
  • It's difficult to show up to a new spot with swell this big
  • I was in the right spot on a few, but chickened out. Need to calibrate a bit better on what's makeable, and then commit.
  • Biffed a duck dive and got tossed - another loving reminder from nature to be on your game. Always.

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