Proving that sometimes it’s worth it. Photo: Nick Pumphrey
Most people who ride logs will tell you that they love it–that it is hard to find a feeling better than a faded bottom turn straight into a noseride or a high line of trim. Summer seasons around the world provide waves that are perfect for such acts when most beaches are plagued, or perhaps blessed, with below head high waves. A lot of loggers might even prefer the soft lips of summer to the wildness of winter; more partial to waves of length than waves of consequence. But when it comes to planning a trip to Indo, it is hard not to think of barrels, and a so difficult decision has to be made by the traveling logger: to take the log, or to go strictly short? Here are some observations based on a couple of trips to Indo, including a recent trip with the Rhythm Europe team to Bali and Java, logs and all.
Reasons Why You Shouldn’t
1. Getting out of the UK, or any far flung corner of the planet.
Living in the surf rich regions of the UK–Cornwall, Devon, Scotland–means living a fair way from London, so the first hurdle is trying to squeeze your log onto a train or a coach, which isn’t easy. Get there early and keep smiling, although it is probably best to steer clear of the tube (not the watery one). Many a logger has been lost in the myriad of busy tunnels. Once at the airport, people are going to be looking at you funny, and while you may have a mild feeling of dread inside, try to exude confidence at all times, especially when dealing with check-in staff, who always need a little convincing that the board will fit on the plane. This might also be the point when you are hit with a huge excess charge, which is never cool. At any of these stages, the airline/coach/train company can refuse to carry your massive luggage. It says so in their conditions of carriage.
2. Getting around in Indo.
While this is unlikely to be an actual obstacle, it can certainly make life a little more expensive. Taxi drivers will immediately double their fares when they see you at the airport, and for traveling long distances you’re going to need a minibus or a van to fit the thing inside. While everyone else is buzzing around on mopeds, shortboards strapped neatly to the side, you will probably want to get a car instead, which will cost more and make travel times longer, because it’s pretty difficult to maneuver the busy streets with a log sticking out the front and back.
3. Scrapes and breaks
So it’s your first morning. You’ve finally made it, and to celebrate you decide to take your log out for its first tropical ride. It looks about 2-3ft and glassy, perfect for anything surely… well, maybe not. Indonesian waves can be deceiving. They are more cylindrical than in many other places, and nearly all of them break over reef and rock, so when duck-diving your lightweight performance log or rolling your single fin, you are way more vulnerable to snaps and creases. On top of this, the sharp reefs and rocks mean that any lost boards to due to snapped leashes (or sometimes no leashes) really take a hammering–good news for the ding repair boys, bad news for you.
4. You search for smaller waves.
You’ve worked out that your log doesn’t fit wonderfully into Indonesian barrels, so you start looking for smaller waves and hoping for smaller swells. This is especially true if you don’t have a shorter board or a back up board (bring a shorter board), meaning you’ve traveled to the far side of the world and you’re searching for waves within your comfort zone. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Some people will always prefer a smaller peeler and that’s fine but it will mean…
5. You won’t get barreled as much as you should.
The one question that people ask when you get back from an Indo trip is “did you get some crazy kegs?!” And if you’re on a log, then the answer will probably be “yeahhhh, kind of…” because unless you’re Ben Skinner or Bonga Perkins, it is extremely difficult to fit a 9ft board into an Indo tube. Sure, you’ll get some head dips, but not that proper tube that will etch itself into your memory forever.
Reason Why You Should
1. You could find logging heaven
After all the lugging around arguing with taxi drivers and check-in staff, dodging mopeds and sets, after searching not for tubes but for loggable peelers, you might find just that. Indo is famed for its barrels and endless shortboard perfection, but it can also provide logging waves of the highest quality. While getting tubed might be the best feeling in surfing, a long hang ten has got to come pretty darned close. Now combine that with a sunrise and a flawless pointbreak, and you get a seriously wide smile.
