Bali Blog 2

Bali Blog 2

Hello,

well, well who’d have thought it ? Rainy and small in September.... Ho hum Bintang time ! No really it’s been a bit dull up until yesterday when the sun came out and the swell came back, still funky winds had everyone wondering what was up and scuttling about for waves. I lucked in with a slightly cross-shore session at Sanur. What an incredible wave that is !!!! With a pushing tide and winds unseasonably SW there were a few 4 or 5ft sets and after waiting for the (slightly less than welcoming) local crew get theirs, plenty of waves. Of course, even after a warning from my Brazilian mate Marcos , I tried to go right through the end section and ended up bouncing of almost dry reef. Thankfully minimum damage to both me and equipment..... should’ve listened ! Ended up catching some great waves away from the masses.... about bloody time !!

Today dawned clear again and with more swell.... straight off to Uluwatu to see what was up. The last time I was there was 20 years ago..... like all of Bali it’s changed beyond recognition. There’s a full scene from the top of the cave to the parking lot (!!!!!) up top. The warungs are still there but added are the surf shops, photographers documenting everyone and charging a fortune (one guy wanted US$300 for a disc of photos) and surf shops selling everything. Thankfully the wave remains the same and today it was growling away in a very not clean and perfect Indo dream-wave way. 6ft plus sets, occasional bombs, loads of water moving and plenty of beatings.

Of course I got nailed paddling out. In fact just in time to see Aussie legend Jim Banks stylishly fly past in timeless fashion(good pairing those two, Banks and Ulus) before the mandatory trip down towards Padang. After a couple of trips around I finally got into a few waves wishing that my 7’0” Island series Bilbo pintail was a little bigger... Dodging the biggest sets (except for one screamer that went all the way through... ye-ha!!!) I went about getting a few beautiful waves and having fun on a difficult day at one of the surfing’s iconic waves. A bit bumpy, a bit heavy but a total joy. The 7’0” handled it well and made me think that we’ve got it right in the travel board department.... good clean, versatile shapes that go in the difficult demanding surf as well as the picture perfect days. Cheers Bilbo !!!

Talking of difficult days I saw Batty’s Kandui tube on youtube the other day, HEAVY !... and heard an Aussie bloke talking about him in the water at Ulu’s today !!! Good to see they’re getting the message !

Hope all well with everyone, stay tuned.

Rob.

Hi all,

here we are in Bali getting some sun and plenty of surf, it’s good to have warm water and consistent surf again after another patchy summer !!!

Staying in Tuban and mostly surfing the reefs out the front although the whole place has been firing. Crowds of locals, Japanese, Aussies, Euros and every other type of surfer you can think off!!!

Been trying out a couple of new Bilbo boards, 6’4” and a 7’0”. Haven’t really got to grips with the bigger one yet but the 6’4” is great. It’s 6’4” x 18 3/4” and 2 3/8” more foiled than my Lanzarote boards and about as small as I can get away with.... however with no wetsuit to worry about and clean conditions it’s proving to be a peach. Works really well with the Future Fins Vector Foils, good stiff fins that seem to push through the turns especially when there’s a bit of power.

We snuck of to a spot west of Canngu a couple of days ago and got some fun little walls. Thanks to local Brazilian Marcos for showing us the spot away from the Bukit crowds! No problem anyway as his two visiting mates, Rodrigo and Luciano are Gracie JuJitSu instructors.... Seriously though a couple of very mellow guys that it was a pleasure to surf with.

Anyhow check out the sequence, it’s a bit distant but you can see that a good bit of fibreglass can make an old (ish) man quite happy. I think this model is going to be a good all round travel board for the slightly more mature and slightly heavier guys who still like to give it a bash !

Speaking of older guys, Scotty Duddings ex Rip Curl UK is over from NZ and ripping... like the Sultan of Speed in reverse !

Had a beer with Jack Nicholson too !

Cheers all,

Rob.