September 10, 2005 Arriving In Sumatra

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After a long 24 hours, delayed flights, etc, etc, etc, I finally made my way to the Island of Sumatra where I will meet friends from home for an 11 day surfing boat trip around the Mentawais Islands of Indonesia. My journey started this morning with no sleep for 24 hours and left Bali at 4:30 am. I had to catch a flight into Jakarta then connect to Padang, Sumatra. I ended up having to wait about 4 hours in Jakarta because of delays. The vibe in Jakarta is very different, mostly Muslims. All of the ladies in the airport were fully covered up from head to toe with just the eyes showing. I definitely had many stares while I was sitting in the airport waiting. Finally arrived in Sumatra to be greeted at the airport by an Indo guy holding a sign with my name on it. He put me in a pick up truck and sent me on my way to a hotel to meet up with the rest of the boys.

When I arrived to the hotel I met up with Matt & Dale from home along with the rest of the crew (Stef and Martin from England, Ken and Nate from California, and Rob from Hawaii). It seemed like it was definitely going to be a good crew from my first impression. The last thing you want is to be on a boat for 11 days with people you don’t connect with! There is also picture below of Daryl who is the owner of two boats and pretty much has his sons running them. Daryl is definitely a classic character that is pretty much laughing is way to the bank! You really have to meet him in person to know what I am talking about. Below are just a few photos of Sumatra as we start our journey out to sea for the next 11 days in search of perfect waves.

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Sumatra

Padang Harbor

Our Boat, Navistar

Local Fishermen

The crew

Daryl, Mr $$$$ Bags

Headed Out to Sea

Sunset In Sumatra