What an afternoon | Surfer - Jai Glindeman

all-star cast for a last-minute strike mission

Words | Uncle Lip Pics | Swilly @swillpics

Soli Bailey sees the forecast of the year approaching Sumatra and rounds up an all-star cast for a last-minute strike mission of a lifetime onboard the legendary Mangalui Ndulu.

30 years young

Pre game

Waiting for the swell

Conditions/Forecast

Pressure is on when half the surfing world is asking about the swell of the year approaching Indonesia. After Soli’s 50th call in a week…the trigger was pulled - strike mission ON! With a few trade winds threatening on the broader forecasts, it was time to go back to look-out-the-window.com and play it by ear once we got out there. As the departure date got closer the wind forecasts got lighter and the swell firmed.

"Best year of my life"

"Currently out of office"

A day we will never forget

A long way from Ballina Piggy

A rare turn between barrels

All-round superstar

Bang Bang boogie

Cam Richards full package

Challening the inner Andy

Day one

Down carve by Pup

Have a closer look at technique - perfect

High line

In between swells

Raw empty power

Set!

Sheet glass

Shelly lock & load

Swell season is here!

Zacky boy getting it done

Standout Sessions

From the second we lifted anchor and set sail to Mentawai until the day we got back to port, the entire trip was one long standout session. Starting with a bang at a crazy righthander slab super session and finishing at one of Indonesia’s most feared left-handers going mental…..and every session in between.

Throw in all the laughs, fishing sessions, an egg war, there was honestly never a dull moment. What a trip.

Wave of the trip

Hard to put a finger on it this week with a dozen or so contenders for ‘Wave of the Year”.

Jai (Pup) Glinderman and Soli Bailey were pushing the hardest and always had us on the edge of our seats whenever a set loomed at the peak of the swells.

Everyone stepped up and got some of the scariest / best waves of their lives.

So many special moments it turned into one big blur and it wasn’t until we would go back and look at the photos and footage and take a second to realize what just went down. Session after session.

Does it start any better

Light show

What an afternoon

Personalities

Soli hand-picked the perfect crew of surfers and photographers for his trip. Everyone had worked together before at some point and everyone was on the same page. The perfect team in and out of the water, all with one mission in mind – get tubed.

Blurry nights in the beer garden

It starts!

Food

A lot of fish this trip so hard to beat all the fresh seafood on offer. Ocean to plate is always best.

Master craftsman at work

Slow cook

Fish on

Fish were certainly hungry this trip with a wide variety of species caught trolling, casting and fly fishing. With keen fisherman onboard, some mid-trip fishing sessions were a big highlight between standing in 6-8ft barrels.