FANTASY FORECAST
What can I say, the forecast for Indo during the winter of 2018 started to look like a fantasy forecast.
Chains of intense lows would push up in the Indian Ocean being the perfect swell window for the 18,000 Island archipelago of Indonesia.
It’s not uncommon for the surf forecast to start off optimistic shall we say, and then moderate as closer to the due date arrives.
This was not a normal train of swells, so good was the forecast that I started looking for places that could not only hold the swell and could be surfed, but also that I could document as well. Important aspect when you’re a surf photographer.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
I have some unfinished business from earlier travels, in the documenting of Nias and wanted to ensure that I got back there when it was at it’s very best. Particularly, as in recent years there have been some tectonic up lifting’s of the reef, thus making the break even hollower.
Having a good friend, expat Mark Flint that also happens to have the best accommodation on the point, a luxury losmen called Kabunohi, made the decision easier.
The usual suspects, the team of big wave surf nomads that circulate the globe, arrived at a similar time to myself, in time for an 8-10ft swell. Mark Healey, Matt Bromley, Lucas Silveira, Nate Florence, Billy Kemper, Ian Walsh, Kipp Caddy, JuggHead and Marty Paradesis and a host of others.
It was a jungle out there!
Monster Nias | Surf #43
Lucas Silveira deep in a doubling barrel section
Sumatra, Indonesia, c. 2018
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But it was the next forecast that was interesting; instead of reducing in size it was actually growing at an alarming rate. If this continued, as the forecast got closer, this could very likely be the largest swell I had ever seen in Indo. Confirming with my good friend Martin Daly, probably the most authoritative person on Indo swells and he agreed this was going into new realms.
My Whats App started working over time. I touched base with Laurie Towner again, and he was soon on his way. Every respected under ground surfer, as well as high profile big wave crew was focused on Nias.
“Mark Healey had broken several boards already on the first swell, a few days previous. He would now test the love of his girlfriend and have her fly from Hawaii to Indonesia with several guns (big wave surfboards).”
MASTERSTROKE
Very few surfers have ever had the need for an Hawaiian gun at Nias, as they are usually more perfect point waves that are being surfed. This was no ordinary swell and would prove a masterstroke for Mr Healy.
Having a huge board would play a big part in the difference between being able to catch the biggest waves ever to be surfed at Nias than getting pitched over the falls to certain doom.
From my side I was busy negotiating access to a boat for the swell, but it was all a bit of an unknown quantity. Could a boat even get out in such a swell?
THE DAY OF RECKONING
The day of reckoning arrived, before light Laurie Towner was up he had already had a severe wipeout and was returning to get a new board and some painkillers.
Our crew went to the corner of the bay to launch through the surf in our vessel, captained by a local surfer who was somewhat fearless, not necessarily the same for all of us on-board.
The only other boat for hire could not be launched for a few hours, as it was inaccessible due to the raging surf sweeping down the reef.
Hawaiian Big Wave Surfer Koa Smith - Being dragged across the reef meant the End of his trip.
THE KEYHOLE
The normally safe entry to the surf, the famous Keyhole, was now the most lethal short cut to the surf. There were massive swells sweeping across the normally sheltered Keyhole dragging hapless surfers across a jagged reef
Bear in mind even the smallest laceration, in this part of the world spells infection and tropical ulcers; large cuts are the end of your trip. Most of the surfers that day were being forced to enter into this Thunder Dome further down the reef and into the bay.
Axed big time - unfortunate soul.
Waves that washed up into losmens bought back terrible memories of the 2004 Tsunami that destroyed many homes one the point.
Coconut trees and assorted debris washed through the bay. The ocean was a cauldron of seething white water.
Big Wave Charger Carl Wright dropping into a black hole.
Mark Healey in the belly of a beast.
Mark Healey coming off the bottom of one of the biggest waves ridden at Nias.
We were in our little boat looking directly into giant black caverns, monstrous barrels, black holes.
Swells were 8-15 foot but the problem was the girth of the waves, they were doubling up and some times tripling up.
That ‘boat going over the falls’ shot that went viral - Ted Grambeau. Nias 2018
Fish traps were breaking from moorings; boats were breaking free and infamously going over the falls in that take-off zone. Safe to say it was koas and the ocean was winning.
A number of surfers put on an extraordinary show. Matt Bromley, Laurie Towner, Lucas Silveira and Mark Healey to name a few.
Matt Bromley consistently on the largest waves.
Matt Bromley surfing the biggest swell ever to hit Nias.
Late afternoon the numbers had dwindled and only a hardcore crew chose a second session.
The late afternoon light creates some of the most spectacular moments to photograph the waves in all their glory as the dark dirty water turns into a sparkling sea. Enter Mark Healey; a red board, he drops into a late pitching lip, one of the largest sets of the day.
Deceptively easy (or at least he makes it look that way) nurturing his rail into the face of the wave to lay a bottom turn into one truck-driving barrel. This is what I came for.
Golden Glory | Surf #42
Mark Healey takes the drop on his 7'6" quiver
Nias, Indonesia, c. 2018
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WAVES OF CONSEQUENCE
ENDANGERED - Surf Adventure (Iron Horse) “This was a journey. A real journey. And in my humble opinion, that ideal is endangered.”
POINT BREAK - HELL OR HIGH WATER - “The swell arrived and did not disappoint, conditions were flawless and the scene was set, local surfers continued to vi for waves as it was business as usual at the worlds most notorious left-hander.…”
EDGE OF OBLIVION - CODE RED - “Perched precariously on the back (stern) of George Riou’s boat, I am 100% focused on capturing whatever drama is about to unfold in front of me. A shiver runs up my spine as a…”
BIG WAVE SURFERS - Fiji “Fiji not only produced one of the biggest swells ever, but became a magnet for the world’s best big wave athlete’s, both tow and paddle.”
WILD OCEAN - DARK FUN - “Some surf locations need no introduction, however, if you're still unsure let me just say it's one of the wildest and most dangerous locations in the world for surfer and photographer. Great whites don't seem to mind the bitterly cold conditions.”
BEYOND LIMITS - SUPER HUMAN - “2015's year of Pro Surfing was beyond incredible and at the same time brutally punishing. The world's best surfers were absolutely pushed to the bloody edge…”
WAVE OF CONSEQUENCE - “These waves are ridden by choice not chance, those who chase them, hunt them and ride them, all understand the consequences and choose to risk their lives.”
