Above - Departing Oz after a brief 2 week visit. Customs had trouble clearing B3 and B4 but after much haggling and a couple of 'lobsters' in their palm, they eventually allowed my boards and golf clubs on the flight.
Above - The mighty 'Gulfaam', my island for the next 7 nights. She was a great vessel and got us to every possible perfect surf break.
Above - Just a taste of the perfect left barrels on offer at 'Gurus', probably the best wave i have ever surfed.
Above - NS, a new board, a fresh cake of wax, middle of the Indian Ocean...someones gotta do it.
Above - Perfect right in the middle of no-where, no-one within a 9 hour boat trip, 25c water, razor sharp coral 3 feet below, sun blaring down....ppperfect!
Above - Another steaming left churns through.
Above - Down in the Neemu atoll, the righthander of 'Muhli' was a thrill. A speedy outside section, that mellowed off for some good lip smacks, before getting serious and dredging out over a coral shelf only 1 foot deep, but throwing a seriously loud and tasty barrel before the channel exit.
Above - Lefthander at 'Twin-peaks', i thought this was the best wave i ever surfed until we found 'Gurus' later that afternoon.
Above - The Spaniards were demons for wearing their sluggos saying that it is such a cultural thing in the Canary islands that some people even get padded budgie smugglers? L to R; Jose', Miguel, Chris, NS, Alexis.
Above - Maldivian kids playing off an island lagoon.
Above - Maldivian kids island hoping. Enlarge the photo and check out their anchor and paddles.
Above - On the island of Meemu, Maldivian women weave rope for fishing nets.
Above - A touch of island flora. Species unknown (to me).
Above - Island life is pretty simple, sand roads, no cars just bikes, here a mum on her way back from school pick-up.
Above - Catch of the day. Maldivian islanders primary income is from fishing.
Above - Aboard the Gulfaam, board storage.
Above - Another reef and wave found, jump in the dingy and zip in for a surf.
Above - Photos will never do justice to the awesome colours and scenery of the islands, lagoons, reefs and channels.
Above - The only other people we saw checking out the surf.
Above - "Is that Kelly Slater coming hard off the bottom turn setting up for a big carve?"
Above - "he's riding NS' new board and wearing a silly hat though."
Above - "the hat was for the smaller days and helped with the intense sun and glare...still looking good in the turn Kelly."
Above - "OK, it's NS, not KS." Small but fun session out at 'Quarters'.It was bloody hard to say good-bye when the time came in Oz. Lucky for me no-body had their phones on anyway. B1 had taken off for a school camp to Bathurst (can you imagine how cold that would have been, but he and his mates were pumped for the trip). I dropped B2 to school, we both forgot i was going that day, so we were both sad about not saying bye properly. FS the two bubs and myself went for coffee up to the Edgy cafe' and then hung at at the look out there for a short while. The weather was the best of the whole stay, sunny, warm and views all the way up and down the coast. What a fantastic place. Before i launch into the Maldives journeys, i should point out that i've already nominated FS for wife and 'life-partner' of the year award for granting the pass to head off to the Maldives on a selfish surfing trip. The reviwing committee for the award said that whilst admorable, FS would now need to follow that up with another pass next year to some other exotic location....not sure how that will float??
The check-in guy was cracking down on excess luggage and unless i could prove i was a professional sportsman I was going to be hit with the excess charges for the surfboards and golf clubs. So of course i responded, "I'm a pro surfer heading for the big waves of Dubai" The guy was as 'camp' (not there's anything wrong with that) as they get and responded, "ooooo, i see, well, mmmm, so you're a pro then heh, i didn't know there was surf in the U.A.E, mmm, ooooo", FS interjects with hysterical laughter, my face goes red with being caught out and a couple of 'red-lobsters' later I'm checked in and kissing all good-bye (not the check-in guy).
15 hours later i landed back in the UAE, went back to our house, unloaded the golf clubs and all the jumpers and 6 hours later jumped a plane to the Maldives, another 4 hours i land and it's 6am, the sun is out and I'm met by a guy telling me that the small plane i was meant to be catching down to the Lamuu atoll has been cancelled because the boat blew up yesterday...."mmm, right, that'll make the boat trip a little more difficult!", another boat, The Gulfaam had been commissioned and we were to set sail in a few hours for the remote (everybody usually goes north) southern atolls of the Maldives.
The Maldivians speak a language (called Divihii) derived from a mixture of Indian, Sri Lankan and Arabic, so i was able to speak a bit of my loose Arabic, again it was enough to get me pointed in the right direction when i needed it. We had 4 Maldivian crew aboard comprising the Captain, his First mate (captain of the dingy), a cabin boy and a chef.
The other passengers were 3 Spaniards named Jose', Miguel and Alexis and a German named Chris. I guess i felt a little nervous as here i was on a surf trip about to sail off into the middle of the Indian Ocean, my fellow passengers are already pulling out their boards, taking wax off, putting new wax on, inserting their FCS, one of the Spanish guys pulls out a machine called a Compex, an electron-therapy pulsator with sticky pads and cables everywhere. I can tell these guys take their surfing seriously, their all tanned with the obligatory wetsuits lines, slightly burnt faces, calloused knees and hardened rib lines, crusted hair, love of a joke and pretty care free from lots of paddling and surfing.
My surfing in the last 2 years comprised of a boogie board session in a stationary wave in Dubai's Wild Wadi, some sand boarding in the middle of the Abu Dhabi desert, and about 4 surfs back in Sydney the week before. One of these surfs i ripped the fins out of my new board just jumping off Dee Why point during a larger swell, my ribs were painfully bruised and i had done just enough to convince myself that i had two left feet.
Day 1. After mooring in a nearby harbour the first night we lifted anchor at 5am the next morning and the diesel engines chugged to life...we were off!! We decided it was imperative that we hit the surf some time that morning but we wanted to head as far south to escape the other boats and people as much as possible. First wave was down in the Male' South Atoll at a break called 'Natives', a playful 3 ft right hander, reeling off for about 400m over coral reef (all the breaks here are over razor sharp coral reef beds). Any concerns i had, were washed away with that first surf. I'd found my feet and perfect lines continued to come through until after 2.5 hours i couldn't lift my arms anymore. Later that afternoon we sailed a little further south to a break called 'Riptides'. Another righthander picking up more swell at about 4-6 foot, another 2 hours out there and i was really totally stuffed...bring on the Compex. The others went surfing out a lefthand unnamed break across the channel. Day 1 was done, we feasted like kings 3 times a day and pumped water into us between sessions.
Day2. I awoke and could hardly lift my arms. The long waves are great, but you've got to paddle back out every time and the larger sets would catch you wide and wash you through to the reef. My ribs looked like the cow carcass from that famous scene in 'Rocky I', when he used the hanging carcasses as punching bags. The 3 crazy Spaniards hype and excitement was exactly what i needed though, and i was stretching out the aches at every possible point. We pumped up the boat stereo before each surf and would watch the perfect swell lines pump through like super excited grommets while we'd get ready. Meanwhile we headed further south to the Meemu atoll. Along the way we saw HUGE mantyr rays, Spinning Dolphins and millions of flying fish ( i thought they were a mythical fish, but these things would fly/glide about 4 inches off the surface for up 200m and more). The surf report before we left harbour suggested a 15 foot swell (f..k, i hope not, was my thought). Meemu's swell lines were much larger than the previous day near Male' and the boat heaved up and down as we passed through the channel surrounded either side by a perfect left and right breaks at about 6 foot. We surfed Muli, a right hander in a glassy offshore breeze, protected by the nearby island. I loved it, long lines, smackable lips, carving faces and a sweet barrel section. I had a couple of freaky moments when my leggy got wrapped around a coral head, set waves were pounding through and i couldn't release the strap, but somehow all good in the end. the waves were lightening fast on take off, but would then just line up as i had always imagined the perfect wave would.
Day 3. Surfed the lefthander called Veyvah, 3-5 foot, sheet glass smooth (i wish Punk and Merv were here to enjoy these lefts is what i think), a 3.5 hour session by the time i was back to the boat, i am now missing skin where my ribs are, my neck and shoulders are killing like never before, we eat like kings again and rest. Thank god we've all got booties to protect our feet from the reef, even just a couple of brief scrapes and boardies are cut like ribbons and skin is razored off. Nothing too nasty for anyone yet. That afternoon we surf the righthander at Mulhi again, sticking to the barrelling inside section. I was really amazed at quickly the size of the surf increased with the changing tides. You paddle out at 3 foot and a couple of hours later it's a solid 5-6 foot, still perfect but with a nice little extra punch. Spent the afternoon looking around the island and meeting some locals.
Day 4. With no breeze blowing last night, I ended up sleeping on the roof of the Gulfaam (the cabins were like a sweat box if no breeze is blowing), The amount of shooting stars flying through the night sky was spectacular...i made a wish for FS and the boys for every star shot. The Maldives are a Muslim country and even out here in the middle of nowhere, i was woken by the prayer call at 4.30am on the near-by island. We surf the left again at Veyvah and are accompanied in the water by a few black tipped reef sharks, huge sea turtles and swarms of tropical fish swimming around our feet. The waves are again flawless at 3-5 foot. That afternoon we decided to chug back north a little. The rest will be welcome. We make it as far as the island called Fulidhoo, we moor in the lagoon and spend the afternoon snorkeling and jumping off the roof of the Gulfaam.
Day 5. Make it back to the Sth Male' atoll to what we think is a drop in the swell. We head back out to Natives and have one of the best surfs so far in superb 3 foot rights. I feel engergised by the surf, even after 2.5 hours. Back to the boat for breakfast and we sail around to a left hander called Twin Peaks. Swell has increased again. We head out at 4 foot. Before an hour it's jacked a little to 5 foot. The wave has an easy take off and then lines up for about 500m reeling down the reef. The colours reflecting up from the reef below as you fly down the line are awesome and provide a bit more of a thrill. 3 hours later i am convinved i've just surfed the best waves of my life and my back-hand surfing was better than ever before. Back on the boat my ribs are bleeding as are my hands from some minor reef cuts and the Betadine is stinging, but i can't get rid of the stoke. That afternoon, we come across another left just over the channel. There is another boat in the atoll now, but they are leaving as we pull up to Gurus. Both boats polietly wave to each other, but of course both are grunting 'bugger-offs' to each other...god forbid we have to share these waves with another 5 surfers!! We paddle out 3 hours before sun set. It's 3 foot and soooo perfect. On my backhand the wave is a fast take off and a bit of a race from out the back, before walling up and allowing a couple of carves and then bending around with the shape of the reef and warping into a big round barrel on the inside. This wave packs more punch than any other so far, but the up side is that the tide is dropping and the channel running out drops you straight to the takeoff zone after each ride. With the dropping tide, we're all surpirsed that the swell continues to rise and for the last hour into darkness we're surfing the BEST wave ever at 6 foot. We're catching that many waves that we're letting some past by (a criminal act anywhere else) while we catch our breath between sets. The inside section is now grinding out barrells like freight trains and the bending reef makes the waves look like knarly closeouts, but their not, we're getting the deepest, throatiest barrels ever (of my life anyway). The first mate is in the dingy calling for us to come in with the fading light. We can't leave it is too perfect and whilst some of the waves would have normally looked a little scary, we're in such a rythem and zone now that everything seems makeable...but of course not all the waves were forgiving and i took a number of heavy slams and twists, bouncing off the reef and once being washed through to the lagoon. When eventually we made it back to the boat, my throat was horse from all the hooting and yahooing.
Day6. The excitement and adrelin must have pulled me through last night's session, because this day, i can hardly move at all, i've twisted my knee, torn my groin, my shoulders feel like their hanging out of their sockets and i can hardly lift my head from the matress. I spend the morning from 6am until 12 trying to stretch and on the Compex...it helps. By lunch i head out a little right hander called Quarters (named after the labour accomodation for one of the nearby resorts). It's 2-3 foot and i have it to myself for 2 hours, a good session. I ripped the tail off my new board during the session and have coral embedded so deep i end up having to glass over it in some places whilst making repairs back on the boat. Late afternoon we all head out Quarters again as our favourite wave Gurus is looking a little sick. We surf 3-4 foot and fun, with long walls and a little closeout barrel on the inside section.
Day 7. I've got to get to the Male' airport later tonight for a 2am flight back to Dubai the next morning. We surf Quarters again and it is a really nice way for me to end the trip with 4 foot perfect rights coming through, a great wave for racing cutbacks and a few lip smacks and my old board is performing well. That night i say good bye to the 3 crazy Spainards and the German as they sail north to the famed waves of the North Male' atoll. We exchange emails etc and before i know it, i'm back in Dubai travelling back to our villa as huge sand dunes race by my car window and the tempreture gauge reads 49c!!!
