NEWSLETTER

Summer's coming to OZ

and Stu and I can look back on one of our most successful seasons to date.  From mid April till October our surf adventurers have generally scored plenty of quality waves in West Java and Sumatra.  After 2 relatively quiet years ('98 &'99), due to the unrest, the change of government, elections, East Timor, and the adjustments Indonesians had to make, it was great to see surfers returning, giving us a busy year and the opportunity to show you a good time enjoying the waves, culture and friendliness of the Indonesian people.

 

The Wet season was late finishing, which gave us a bit of a slow start, with waves not really getting consistent until mid May.  We had a few good days in West Java early.  Turtles was a bit on and off but a couple of big days at Mama's saw the early crew going off.  As usual, Mama's showed you can't take it lightly with a couple of broken boards and some minor injuries.  Stu  headbutted the reef one big day which earned him a few stitches, the result of pushing it to the limit. From May on most visitors scored quality in West Java.

 

I was kept busy on the Sumatra trips from May until the end of September, while Stu, Andi,and Agus kept the West Java trips going.  We had surfers joining us from OZ, NZ, USA, Brazil, and the UK during the season and we also made many new friends, hosted crews from Waves and Surf Adventures magazines, saw plenty of snapped boards and legropes, a few reef injuries (luckily minor- though I suffered some missed surfs due to infected cuts) . We were  stoked with plenty of top quality waves and kept the locals amused with surfer "culture" and most groups enjoyed "Memories" of Jalan Jaksa.

 

We had some very social groups.

Terry Kelly & friends, John Redman & his mates ( our biggest crew (9) of the year) and the Beeby crew with "Raz" spent many an evening, as did most groups, on the balcony of the  of the Sempana Lima or, on occasion,out the front of the Rahayu until the cold Bintangs ran out, or the Toko Gobel shut and it was time for the duty free spirits to come out and party time could continue until the fridge at the Rahayu was cleaned out of Coke and Sprite,much to the delight of Abu, the owner.  I'm stoked to say that the Freeline crews were always popular with the locals wherever we went due to their friendliness and good humor..  The western surfer culture impressed them and we retained the good reputation that Freeline groups have built up over the years.

 

The people and kids

who wait every day for us to pass on the way to the surf or going home still give us the "tourist...tourist" chant and I've lost count of the "hello mister's" and high 5's we receive as we move around the area.  I'd like to say Thanks to everyone who joined us this year for their friendly, happy, and respectful attitude to the locals.  They apprciated it and so did  I.   It made my job a pleasure and the locals shared my disappointment when the last trip for the year rolled out of town.

 

Both of the surf magazine crews

were lucky enough to score the righthander at Jimmy's Point big and clean.  Snapped boards and leggys were a feature and a couple of times we almost had snapped surfers as a few BIG cleanup sets came rolling through.  I won't forget the time when Will, Hilton, Joe, Chris and Jesse got nailed on the biggest day I've seen there.
Three days in a row, after a couple of hours of charging big clean barrels, Huey decided to send the boys in with a cleanup set of mega proportions, smashing everyone into the bay or across the reef creating major damage to boards and leggys and pumping large quantities of adrenaline through battered bodies. 

 

Had the local gallery hooting!  They really enjoyed the quality of the surfing but the sadistic buggers were really stoked with the " over the falls", the cleanups and the barrels to the death.  The boys got into some epic "no exit"tubes.  Simon Massey, with the Waves mag. crew, got the best of the season - barrelled so deep - but, as the wave wrapped at the end of the reef, the " Galaga champion" had nowhere to go so stayed shacked until his world collapsed.  Very ballsy!!

 

There were so many high points

in the surf this year, too many to mention all but it's safe to say all groups were stoked with the waves and the lack of crowds, though the Waves mag. crew suffered a flat spell in the middle of their trip, but the lefts at the  start of the tour and  the big rights at Jimmy's on the last few days gave  Heath, Christo, Simon, John Pinky and Jarrad  plenty of good memories.   Days out in the lineup with just a few mates, choice waves, sun, palms, coconuts to eat and drink after a session, and some of the most beautiful scenery made it seem like paradise, a description I heard many.

 

Some of the people who help make these tours a success and our Freeline staff deserve a mention.  Andi,our main man in Indo who works so hard for us, Rinal, boss of transport and my righthand man in Sumatra, drivers Jimmy and Peri, Agus, our guide in Cimaja, the staff - Pipih,Maryati,Wiwin, Mus, Rizal,- at the Batu Besar losmen in Genteng, Nadia & Emma, the reception, cook and laundry girls at the Sempana Lima, Dewi and Princess Lia at the Rahayu, Putra, our young daredevil coconut supplier- no palm to tall for this likeable and helpful lad, and Ibu Gobel with the biggest smile in Sumatra and the only supply of cold Bintang, fruit juice and water in the area. 

 

These people, and the hotel kids who love meeting each new crew, all helped to make the time so special.  They all tell me who their favorites are, who the funny ones  and the friendly ones are and they all enjoy  trying to understand our western ways and language.  Special  occasions regularly pop up on these trips such as invitations to visit homes, fishing with locals, not forgetting the time Matt went running into the night with his camera to follow a wedding procession. We thought we'd lost him but it turned out he ended up as the guest of honor, up on the bridal table, complete with traditional hat and a bunch of photos to remember it all. 

 

Will's big fish that the boat captain wouldn't let him keep, visits to Gobel's playstation and just generally joining in and being accepted by the local community. So many high points! With all the activity in and out of the water and the new friends we make,  all goes to making it a pleasure for us to do our job for you.

 

Also a special thanks to Pete Hogbin and Eddy Lawrence

who test drove our first Panaitan trip.  Stu, Pete, Eddy & Diki, a good mate and Cimaja local spent 6 days there late in the season and had a ball, not to mention some pretty good waves.   We'll be including this trip as the West Java Boat Tour for next season.

 

Our expanding list of repeat customers,

like Harro, Mark,Heath, Christo, Mick,and Damien to name a few deserve special thanks, you guys make us realise we're doing something right and encourage us to keep trying to give the best service we can.  To everyone else who supported us this year Stu and I both thank you, we appreciate your comments and suggestions, so if you have anything  you'd like to tell us don't hesitate to let us know.  The Big Rock 5 group who run the Batu Besar Losmen in West Java have plans to build a losmen in Sumatra next year which should give a greater degree of comfort to the Freeline groups, especially in the breakfast and toilet line and probably better beds.

 

Well, thats's about it for now,

we'll give updates as we get new info for next year ..... we're planning already!!

Nev & Stu

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