Aloha……anyone out there not know where the Mentawais are located? OK….next question….what are the Mentawais? Still lost? Well, for those of you who have no grasp of surf geography, the Mentawais are an island chain off of the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. What is so good about the Mentawais is that the most perfect surf on the face of this planet lives and breathes there daily.
So, over a year ago, as a present to myself for graduating from college, I took a two week surf trip on a boat out of Padang, Sumatra to the Mentawai Islands just to get away and reward myself for such an intense course of study. I graduated so I deserved this trip, oh yeah….my wife let me go too so that is a huge bonus.

After over a year in the planning process and saving my pennies I caught a Northwest flight from Honolulu thru Tokyo to Singapore where I had to spend the night. The next afternoon I was on a Silk Air flight on over to Padang where I was thrust into the third world…..heck, flights from there to Singapore are only once a week. I was met there by my surf guide and a bunch of other surfers looking for the perfect wave…..but this is where the journey gets going. We were all shuttled on a flatbed truck with our bags of surfboards to the DIPO Hotel where we would camp for the night…..after darkness, this place is the only happening spot in Padang and that is only because a bunch of surfers are there.

Up the next morning, I awoke to a sweltering sunny day in blazing equatorial heat so I elected to rest more by staying in my air conditioned room. That evening we were transported to the port of Padang where we boarded the Suzana….not a plush boat by any stretch of the imagination….but a seaworthy vessel to say the least. We slipped out of the harbor around 2100 hours and we were off to even more remote parts unknown. Yes, seasickness did set in but I had armed myself with meds from the travel clinic so I was not in too bad of shape. I crashed around 2300 as the seas on the Mentawai Straights were beginning to rage. I awoke around 0500 the next morning to find that we were in uncommonly calm waters in the lee of the Mentawai Islands. The surf guide was up already and he reported that in about two hours we would be in some serious surf. I was way happy so I began to prepare my equipment.

Once anchored near a surf break…..I was amazed to find that perfect waves were all around us and there was nobody else within miles of our boat. We surfed so many unreal spots over that two week period and many of the spots are often featured in surfing movies and publications. I could not believe how fortunate I was until, at one location, a young boy in a dugout canoe…..with no clothing other than a loincloth hand woven of only natural materials, approached our boat. As he approached, I could see that he had wood carvings and other home made treasures in his canoe. Even though I could not speak a word of the local language, it was easy enough to overcome that obstacle. He did not want money for his wares……what he wanted was clothing and food from our boat. As I engaged in the trade, I realized that this kid had nothing outside of his canoe and his wits to survive on in this remote land. No electricity, no running water, no supermarket…..nothing modern at all but he carried on as though none of that matters. I was awestruck and could not wait to make a trade with him. I traded several of my surf club t-shirts and some juice from our stockpile…..and this kid allowed me to take his dugout canoe for a quick paddle around the lagoon. UNREAL.

Once our two weeks were over and we headed back to the port of Padang, I was once again able to sit and absorb what the real world was all about way out there on the far reaches……practically the end of the earth. I returned home on the same route I had traveled to get there and was welcomed with open arms by my family. It was good to return home but I will always carry fond memories with me of this trip to these far reaching lands. Most of all, I will always carry with me the smile on that young boy's face as he put on his first ever t-shirt. I taught him how to say "America rules" and as he was paddling his dugout canoe back to his village wearing his new "Hawaii Military Surfing Ohana" t-shirt, I waved to him as he chanted "America rules" and I could see how proud he was. It humbles me to know that there are such good people out there in the world. No moral here, just another short story in my personal stash.

For more surf related stuff….or for information on the Hawaii Military Surfing Ohana contact Mike Fulcher, President of the HMSO at MWFLECH@aol.com