finally got off the boat and got some wifi. caught a 50 minute flight
to malaysia and sitting here in starbucks after eating a delicious super
big mac. got 2 hours before boarding another flight to japan.
everybody is tired and exhausted. me, i’m burnt, want to take a shower,
sit in a fudo, and sleep in a comfortable bed. i’m half way home.
anyway, here is the blog i was trying to post a week ago:
i’m not sure when you will get this because there is no internet
connection around here. we had 1 hour of usage on this whole trip and
that was it. good for me because i needed a break from all communications.
anyway, we are in day 6 and so far, so good, and so bad. if you look at
the bad things, the weather has been horrible. rain, wind, cold, rough
seas, and not the typical mentawai i’m use to coming too. the good? no
sunburn, and a lot of time in my room watching movies. i’m up to 7
movies and lots of sleep time. half our members were either sick, or
have gotten sick. the coughs with the sea sickness must be the worst
feeling in the world. cuts on the body and one girl even fainting is
part of traveling. you run into things and just learn how to deal with
it together. i think the 4 young girls are learning a lot on this trip
as they will all come out of this stronger and better people.
here are the captions for the photos above:
photo 1: my bed. i spent hours sleeping here. during the rough
traveling, i put in a dvd, hold have one hand on the wall, my elbow in
the other side, and my leg on the roof bracing me from not falling off
the bunk bed. then protecting my computer from the rain leaking from
the roof. then the flies buzzing around trying to get out of the
window. it’s hard to believe my last boat trip was on a 60 million
dollar yacht. haha. but the truth is, i love it all!
photo 2: macs barrel. after half way through this trip, i am thinking
of quitting photography when i get off this boat. yes, i love shooting
my friends and love shooting photos, but i think i’m in love with
surfing more. i wake up early so i can get a wave before the sun comes
out. it’s still dark but it’s my only time. if it wasn’t for
toda-san’s kindness, my barrels would just be a blur. but he get’s up
early, grabs my camera, sits in the dingy, and shoots my waves. i
really appreciate it because i know he would rather be on the boat
eating ice cream and snacks. haha. i paddled out to macaroni’s this
morning, waiting for the best wave to come in, and when it did, i made
sure i was on it. then the rest of the day i sat on the dingy in the
hot sun shooting photos. would i have rather been in the water
surfing? YES!
photo 3: young guns. the young guns are in mentawai practicing for an
upcoming air contest that will be held later this month. the winner
will get $50,000 for just one wave! guys like Chippa Wilson, Matt
Meola, Ry Clarke, and Clay Marzo were entertaining us for 2 full days.
i was sitting in the channel watching some of the most spectacular
surfing i’ve ever seen. this are the top guns in airs and wait till you
see the photos i took.
photo 4: indo perfection. macaroni’s is one of the funnest left breaks
in the world. i will never forget the afternoon we had it all to
ourselves.
photo 5: lucky sun. so far, i’ve only seen one sunset. the rest was
rain, thunder, lightning, and darkness. i’m glad i took this photo.
anyway, rain or shine, i’m shooting. got some cool photos and come cool
stories. when i get back to hawaii, i’m ready to sit on my computer all
day and night posting them all. i’m having a much needed break and
enough boat rocking to last a few years. as much as i love traveling, i
miss hawaii. can’t wait to see you again.
