Maldives Perfection

Above - The Kethi, our trusted ship for the trip.

Above - Tropical Maldivian Island - Ahhh the serenity.

Above - Drying out the day's fishing catch. Maldivian island community living.

Above - Small left grinds through unridden at Gurus.

Above - Perfect Right reeling down the line at 'Machines'. The exposed reef showing just how shallow it got at some of these places.

Above - Island women husking and grinding the coconuts. The distinct works carried out by the men and women is a classic example of community life on the islands, every one has a role to play.

Above - Early morning departure from one of our lagoon stop-overs, sunrise providing an idyllic silhouette to a tranquil little island .

Above - NS hunting the barrel on this one at 'Machines'.

Above - Tony Druit slotted very deep at 'Machines'. The reef under these was only about 2 foot below so there were plenty of cuts and scrapes.

Above - NS slotted and loving life right about now.

I've just been instructed by FS, "People don't want to see more pictures of surfing, you did that last year". Sorry sweetcheeks, but this year's sessions in the Maldives were even better than last year and it's not likely I'll be able to scramble another selfish trip like this for some time, so even though they might be mundane to some, i know others will appreciate these perfect waves, and at the least, i know I'll love reflecting on these in time to come.

Since indulging myself last year, i had only had the one ordinary surf in Dubai during a strong shamal that threw some waves up on Jumeriah beach. Besides this i had been relegated to 'mind-surfing' the sand dunes during my daily travels to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, picturing myself carving along the sand waves that run the hundreds of kilometres, but of course there is no substitute for the real thing and come June this year i was adamant that i had to get away from the scorching desert dunes and mayhem that we call work. So, with a thousand blessings from her Highness i was able to luck myself into getting a week or so away and booked the Kethi boat to charter our way through the southern atolls of the Maldives. Along for the trip this year was Ant Druit, Chel, a Portuguese fella and a couple of Germans.

There was no wasting time, once all aboard we headed straight to the Sth Male atoll and scored Gurus at about 3 foot, offshore and reeling some fast lines down the reef pass. It was less than half an hour in to the first session that i pulled through the back of a smaller wave only to get sucked back over to the reef. I protected myself from the corals by impaling my head into my board, the thump shattering my teeth together, biting my tongue and slicing my head open for a nasty little gash. My white rashie was blood soaked and with a throbing headache i paddled back to the boat cursing that my trip may already be over. At first, the Maldivian crew wanted to stitch it up with their fishing lines, flashing me a toothless grin which said, "i dare you". I opted for the German who qualified himself as the best medico on the trip because his mother used to be a school nurse? Luckily genetics had already ensured we didn't need to shave too much of my hair to clean the flaps of skin hanging from my head, and a few swabs of disinfectant and water proof bandages later, i was feeling right as could be and assured that this wouldn't halt my trip.

Day 2 we sailed away from the sth Male atoll and chugged our way to Neemu. The 6 hour trip providing some welcome relief to the beginnings of sore shoulders but mostly my noggin'. We arrived late afternoon to find a nice swell hitting the Malu reef. I rested my head and chose to sit in the dingy with the camera while the guys caught the outside bombs that were pulsing through. The swell was looking promising to really turn on for the next day.

Day 3, the Kethi crew had us heading out of our overnight sanctuary in the lagoon and soon we were chugging our way through the channel, heaving over the clean lines of the predicted new swell. Outside Muhli was on fire, 4-5 foot pumping right-handers reeling down the reef. The cobwebs began to fall away after so many months without surfing, and the flowing lines were just right for cracking multiple off the top carves and cutties. I'd surfed here the year before and felt comfortable with the reef positions and take off zones. A couple of 3 hour sessions, and whilst the body was barely standing up to the rigours of so much surfing, i couldn't have felt better.

The crew on the Kethi was a bunch of low key, young Maldivian guys who went out of their way to make everything perfect for us while on board. Whether this meant the pancakes and coffee after a morning surf, having the fishing lines ready after our midday surf or the icy Tiger beers ready to go after our afternoon sessions, these unassuming guys were par-excellence!

Day 4, a little morning sickness had crept into the waves, so we waited for things to clean up by jumping overboard for some snorkeling. We were snorkeling above the very reefs where we would be/had been surfing. Whilst the sun is scorching and will fry you in 10 minutes here, the water temps are perfect for long sessions in just boardies and a rashie. I've found that whilst the waves in the Maldives are less critical than say Indonesia, the fact that we have not and will not see another surfer for the 10 days of our trip, and the variety of speed runs, barrels, and open faces still provide everything that a dream-time surf trip should. We score a new wave breaking on inside Muhli for the late session. It is ultra shallow and fast, but it gives us enough stories of bravado and stoke to tell over a few beers later that evening.

Day 5, a quick 1 hour session turns into another 3 hour marathon, but the corners of our grins are touching our ears. Inside Muhli, a rarely breaking wave had been cranking for 2 days now, and today's 4 foot session was a blast for all the guys. We end up cranking the diesel engines of the Kethi later in the day to take our chances that the swell is reaching even further south, so the 7 hour trip again brings some welcome relief to the cracked skin on our ribs and insanely sore shoulders. My head wound by the way is coming along nicely too. We bypass the Thaa atoll on our way and are not disappointed when we finally reach the Lamuu atoll. It seems impossible that it could happen, but the waves just keep getting better the further south into remoteness that we travel. We're hardly even seeing fishing boats now and we've just come to a section of the atoll with a heavy unrideable left on one side and an all time right on the other side, named by one of the Germans as 'Machines', actually the true name of this break is called Tsunamis . Sitting just off the Maanbidhoo island, a cocos palm filled island with white sandy beaches surrounding it, Machines was the epitome of perfection as the waves exploded down the shallow reef. After a quick 2 hour session in the setting sun, we were finally scoring some genuine barrels. That evening we sat on the deck of the Kethi, drinking Rum like all good pirates do and exaggerating the stories of our waves ridden.

The next 3 days we moored our boat off Machines and surfed at least 3 times a day. The nights we slept on the roof of the Kethi, as with not a breath of wind and no a/c, the cabins were too stifling. Between surfs we simply read, slept and stretched. I bloke one board surfing Machines ans some of the guys coped some reef grazes, broken fins and leggies.

Days 8 and 9 we had decided to travel even further south and found a fun wave called Ying Yang
where we spent countless hours surfing, in my case scared of the fact that it may be the last surf for a long time. Funny thing or perhaps not to my masculine side, on the flight back to UAE, the Emirates airline staff commented to Chel and myself that we must be the only non-honeymooners on the flight, to which we jokingly replied that we had in fact just had a gay marriage. An hour later the chief steward came to us with congratulations and bottle of Moet!