For over two hours we’ve been sitting in this restaurant, (no it is not Dead Puppy, Nail in your food Warung 29) the meal took an hour to come out and now the fruit platter has taken another hour. Luckily for the restaurant owners we’re with friends and remembered to bring a deck of cards or we might have just walked out without paying it’s taken so long.
Like lions at a fresh kill, heads down, we devour our food when it finally comes out. Looking up from our plates we scan the place for our friend Silus. Where is he? Seems as though he’s already left. Oh-no! Shit! That probably means he actually thought I was serious when I said I’d go night surfing with him and now he has snuck out the back so no one else tries to tag along with us.
Ahhh…It is already 10pm, I truly cannot be bothered even going to check the waves let along actually go surfing. I’m too tired. I need an excuse, o yes good idea, I tell the truth, “I’m just to tired”. I’ve been using that excuse my whole life. No one really appreciates it but it always works.
Walking out of the restaurant, ohh damn! There he is, on his bike, surf board in the rack ready to go, he’s chomping at the bit he’s so excited. Shit! I have no choice, I said I’d do it and now if I back out he won’t go either and I’ll never hear the end of it. Maniacs go night surfing, suicidal maniacs go night surfing alone and he’s not suicidal so he won’t do it on his own, I have no choice really. “Hold your houses, let me grab my gear.”
Two minutes later Rachael is crawling into our nice cumphy bed while Silus and I are fanging down empty moon lit streets on our Honda 125’s. I can’t shake the notion I’ve forgotten something crucial; surfboard-check, booties-check, rashie-check, wax-check, what else do you need to go surfing? I can’t think of anything, must be nervous anxiety knowing me might very well paddle out at a powerful reef break in the night time.
Arriving at Segar neither of us can believe how much the full moon is illuminating the ocean, it almost looks like it could be day; almost. The wind is just ever so slightly offshore and we can see the moonlight reflecting in the white water peeling across the bay, other than that it looks a bit small conditions appear to be perfect. Shit, we’re here, let’s go for it.
Waxing up my board it dawns on me; surfboard-check, booties-check, boardshort-no check. I’m wearing thick canvas cargo shorts and have forgotten my boardies at the room. Damn! There is no way I’m going back for them, it’s either surf in my cargo shorts which will not only be absurdly heavy and annoying but will get covered with way and they are my only ‘bottom half’ article of clothing. Hell! I’ll just surf in my old baggy, dead elastic boxers I decide.
Paddling out I feel as though I’m hallucinating, the moonlight is refracting through the ripples on the water forming dazzling shapes on the coral below and for some reason the surface of the ocean isn’t light up by the moonlight giving the sensation I’m floating in mid air. That combined with the endless black abyss in front of us, the glowing white thunderclouds on the distant horizon and the shimmering stars above it is a pretty awhh inspiring moment.
Only once we are out the back, bobbing alone in the ocean, waiting for a wave, the awhh is rather rapidly replaced by anxiety and fear. What on earth are we doing out here? This is downright scary! And then the first set comes…from shore we had thought it might be too small to surf, Wrong!! The waves are overhead jacking monsters pitching at the take off and barreling, way too big to be surfing at night. We are both sent scrambling to get wide enough to avoid copping the first set on the head.
Going around and around in my head I’m thinking. This is stupid, this is insane, I don’t want to get hurt, let’s get the Fing-HAM out of here, NOW! Only we can’t, we’ve come this far, actually paddled out, we have to at least try to catch a wave before paddling in.
White water off the distant indicator rock surges into view and then quickly fades away. That means we’ve got about 30 seconds before the first wave of the set is upon us. My heart starts racing, I know there are big waves coming, in the day it’s easy to get yourself into the right position, but sitting out here virtually in the dark we won’t see the waves until they are on top of us. It’s is a complete crap shoot, pick a spot, try to keep your nerve and hope your not to deed because if your are you’ll get washed in towards the rocks.
For obvious reasons the next ten minutes pass without either of us catching a wave, we are always to wide, we just can’t force ourselves to sit deep enough, it’s to scary. Then a huge wave comes. I’m sitting in the same place that’s been To wide for all the other waves but not this one. Wanting to get this thing over and done with as soon a possible I turn and go for it.
To be continued............
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