We had been stuck in dry dock whilst perfect waves reeled unridden in the Islands. March loomed and we steamed into perfect sea conditions and no wind with our first 5 guests for the year.
Bitchin Bob, our occasional deckhand, had dragged his brother, Dave and a couple of mates, Pete and Ian, along for the experience. We had a Bondi icon in Harry Nightingale to make up the 5th person.
The first week blessed us with beautiful waves to wash the Padang dust from our cracked soles. Rights and lefts, tubes and reef cuts. There were no other boats to be seen or heard. No-one coming around the corner and lazy paddles between re-hydration.
After Selemat landed the first Dogtooth Tuna, the fishing comp was on. Everyone caught a fish this trip. Spanish Mackerel, Wahoo, Coral Cods, Trevally and even swapped a Barracuda for some bananas from one of the locals.
All sorts of boards were tried from Bob's hybrid flextails, to malibus, to Pipedream channel bottoms. Superb sunsets soaked up under the Bintang glow. Escapism in its finest.
The swell continued to die but the boys managed to get a surf in everyday. We even surfed a couple of rare reefs that just added spice to the holiday.
We heard that war was imminent·..if only the powers that be could experience our bliss.