3 Days of Bliss

Since my last post, the surf has been on. We've been doing 2 sessions daily and I'm exhausted.

We had some fun sessions at a different outer reef break, about 30 minutes off the island . It was a nice point break, which meant you could anchor the boat right next to the break (where Alex got this sequence of me and the Avocado). There was also a nice channel on either side of the wave so you didn't have to paddle through the oncoming waves if it got too big. The first day we went there it was shocking--there were actually 10-12 other people in the water. The first time that's happened. Needless to say we were outraged at this inconvenience. There were a few locals who were totally cool, and the rest were tourists who weren't very good surfers. They were mostly just dangerous as they'd drop in without looking and then lie around on the inside after getting pummeled, boards floating loose. But they all left about halfway through our session and then we had it all to ourselves.

The swell really picked up last night. For our evening session, Tal, Tedo and I headed back to the reef that has been our "home" break (called Cemetaries, as it's off the beach from the local burial grounds). We paddled out and the sets were steady overhead and a half and a few bigger. It was about as big as it gets for me to be able to be out there.

Though we'd probably surfed here 7 or 8 times before, we discovered that this particular reef is really difficult when it gets big. There aren't any good channels through which you can paddle out, so you needed to make it through several layers of breaking surf to get to the (empty) lineup. Pretty much out of gas, I was vaguely surprised I made it out at all. I figured I might not be so lucky a second time, so I took my time and waited for a good one, dropped into a sparkling emerald wall and got a long, fast ride. I should have kicked out sooner but took it as far as I could. I then took a 15 minute beating trying to get back out before I gave up and paddled back to the boat. It would have been nice to catch one more but having the big stuff arrive at the end of 3 days of double sessions was bad timing. My neck, shoulders and back were marinating in lactic acid. I had that empty gas tank feeling that I associate with words like "cycling," "Noel, "Alps," and "Galibier."

It was Tal and Alex's last night, so we left the resort and went to a restaurant run by 2 German ex pats (with a Brazilian couple that just arrived and had been on the boat with us all day). After a long day surfing and island hopping, we were all exhausted. It was Sunday so there no transport around and we hoofed it home under a blanket of stars. It was probably only a 15-20 minute walk but I think we were all so tired it felt a lot longer.

Surf is supposed to be pumping the rest of the week. I'm taking the day off to recover from trying to keep up with Tal the Israeli Energizer Bunny. I'll miss having Tal to push my surfing (and Alex was a total gem too), but we're planning to hook up in New Zealand, where he is going now and I will be after Bali. Safe travels guys!