BROTHERHOOD

All words and photos by Uncle Lip.

The high school buddies covered the north to south surfing solo. Welcome to Mentawai lads. It was a thirsty meet and greet before departure at the famous Bat’n’Arrow bar in Padang for these first-time voyagers from Central Coast NSW and the old time school buddies where frothing to get out there.

Conditions/Forcast

It's that time of year - stellar weather, amazing sunrises & sunsets, light winds all day and plenty of swell to play.

Just how we like to start our trips.

Solo and pumping

Empty Maccas.

Get the Boat off the bottom

Best afternoon surfing of my life “Robbo”

Can we find a right Lippy? Sure.

When a swell hits in March.

Get the Boat!!

When the strike mission becomes a well worthy mission.

Can’t beat the weather in March.

Brownie off the bottom

Jimmy working on his down carve.

Mr casual Horgy.

Get the Boat.

Casual approach

Brownie off the top out the back.

Wave number 30 for the morning.

Standout Sessions

Hands down the evening at a fun little right hander which will remain nameless. After going left for two days the natural footers (majority of the group) were ready for some rights. It wasn’t the biggest day we had or the most perfect but it was pretty special. Just a bunch of best mates trading wave for wave surfing under an amazing orange sky while “Foxy Lady” was standing by with an esky full of cold beer.

Robbo later told me it was his best day surfing ever and it’s comments like this that get me purely stoked knowing I’ve just shared a session that will never be forgotten by our guests.

Wave of the trip

As always a lot of epic waves go ridden throughout the trip some captured some not. Brownie was the standout spending a lot of time in the water and getting that wave count high, surfing dusk till dawn most days. His first ever wave in Mentawai started with an unorthodox take off before realising he’s surfing into a beautiful high line. Nice way to kick things off Brownie!

But my favourite wave witnessed this trip was when Holmies shook off his travel grease, turned last minute and went top to bottom on a Maccas grinder.

The high school mates enjoying Sumatra’s number one beer garden.

Personalitys

What an epic group to kick off the season. When you throw a bunch of best mates from childhood together for a two week surfing adventure it's always going to be a good time aboard the Might Mango. From the get-go it was nothing but laughs.

• Holmies late night guilty pleasure dance party’s.

• Great conversation time with Robbo.

• Carlos now known as “GTB” abbreviated to “Get The Boat” always up for a good time and a story to tell.

• Brownie keeping the tired ones motivated.

• Horgie always super appreciate of the team’s efforts and day’s experiences.

• Winny keeping me updated on the NRL (shame he goes for the Roosters).

• Down carve Jimmy.

• Eddie, one of the most positive blokes I’ve meet in a while

Safe to say everyone brought something to the table to keep the vibes high for the two week trip on the high seas. It would have been fun being in these lads class at high school.

A small head cut requiring a shave kicked off a domino effect of silly hear cuts this trip and the boys new through the Mango social media that a boat haircut is pretty much tradition.….Boom! Mohawk!

Jimmy followed, then the rest of the team not far behind, including finally the reluctant Holmies with a bit of peer pressure and liquid courage.

“Tidak Masala”

The boys were led astray by the crew to believe “tidak masala” translated to “cheers” in Indonesian. It is not.

Quite often the expression was used when cracking that first cold afternoon Bintang.

I later ask why are you guys saying this as it translates to “no problem”.

NO PROBLEM fitted perfectly to this trip as we were living our best lives without a problem in the world.

Food

As always Situ and Putra don’t let you go hungry in style. Covering all cuisines, it was the Indonesian buffets that really got the guest taste buds going. Situ’s traditional Padang rendang and his authentic satay chicken are always the crowd favourites.

The Indonesian buffets were a major hit this trip for the guests.

Fish On

Mackerel corner hasn’t let us down this year and the pictures don’t lie. More mackerel madness again this week.

Holmie' with a double hook up!

Yeah Eddie!!

Ocean to plate.

Never miss a Foxy trip.

Maccy corner baby!

Special Thanks:

Always hats off to my crew who don’t miss a beat and are truly faultless. Brownie for rounding up the rat pack and making the trip possible. Huey and mother nature for putting on a clinic. It’s trips like these when you blink and it’s over. See you in 2025 lads.

Yours truly Uncle Lip