THREE SURFERS RE-WRITE MENTAWAIS SURFING HISTORY. INTERVIEW BY STUART NETTLE

After Bali was first put on the surfing map in the early 1970s the pioneers of Indonesian surfing slowly started peeling back the frontiers of the wave-rich nation. They ventured east and west along the archipelago to ride waves that had never been ridden before: Bill Boyum and Bob Laverty discovered Grajagan in 1973; Kevin Lovett, John Geisel and Peter Troy landed on Nias in 1975; Paul King layed the first tracks in Sumbawa during the mid-‘80s.

“NAH, NO MALARIA HERE MATE!”

In each of these instances word quickly spread through the surfing world and surfers headed – first in trickles, then in swarms – to the new locations, each hoping to get their own slice of the magic. The hordes of subsequent surfers often pushing the original pioneers deeper into the remote regions of Indonesia to discover even more great waves.

However, every now and again an expedition didn’t tip-toe into the dark but rather, took a giant leap into the unknown. The distance they leapt measured by how long it took other travellers to discover their footsteps.

In the following case, the pioneers were three young surfers from Sydney who set off to Indonesia in 1980. They surfed the Mentawai Islands a full ten years before Lance Knight – after whom Lance’s Right was eponymously named – journeyed there. In truth, the time it took for others to discover the Mentawais says as much about the group’s ability to keep their discovery quiet as it does their pioneering spirit.

THE LINEUP [NOTICE THE FOREST ALL THE WAY TO THE WATER’S EDGE. ONE TREE REMAINS TODAY].