Mentawai surf report – Words, clip and photos by Andy Potts

The first four days of our Mentawai surf trip were spent cruising down the island chain slowly, searching for fun, uncrowded waves to give the crew plenty of time to prepare for the “Swell of the season” to date – which was due any day now. (Of course, this swell is set to be blown away in terms of size this coming last weekend of the month.)

Day 1 and 2 would be filled with fun, chest to head high Lances Left and Right. Day 3 delivered clean, empty and manageable Greenbush with a few first timers stoked to tick the world renowned wave of their bucket list.

On day 4 and 5 the swell dropped off a little, giving us the time to get the boat down south and re-assess the trip plan with a solid dose of swell imminent.

After day 5, the lads were ready to get into some bigger sets, but chasing all the wave magnets hoping to see the first signs of the new swell just didn’t totally scratch the itch so to speak.

Day 7 of the trip (June 7) turned out to be one of the days of the season as the much anticipated swell arrived with all cylinders firing.

We had planned to spend the day down in the southern end of the Mentawai chain, giving ourselves a few options if the other charters decided to come and spoil the party.

A few hours into the day and with only a couple of boats around with minimal crew on board, it all came together. We enjoyed a perfect 6-8ft+ SW 17-second second period swell and perfect light-to-variable offshore winds.

The beautiful southern reef also came to the party, delivering some of the best tubes I have ever seen in the Ments.

I must have heard “That was the best wave of my life” at least 6 times echoing from the line up. This would also be backed up with “The worst beating of my life” comments from a few long time charges too.

A handful of broken boards, next-level sore sun-burnt bodies and endless half-squished limes floating around the break, you knew it was a day to remember for all involved.

The boat mooring was filled with an energy like no other that night, as all the boys gathered together to check photos, talk it up, sink a few Bintangs and prepare themselves for what the next day would bring…

Special thanks to Tim, Martin and all the boys aboard the Indies Trader III for changing lives.

Written by:
Ben Horvath

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