Mentawai Spot Observations - Macaroni's

Tide Height

We surfed it in the evening around 4-6pm and again in the morning 7-9 AM. These would have been fairly opposite tide phases and the waves seemed pretty similar in nature.

Swell Direction

The swell direction where we got it big was 180 straight south. The waves we observed were either a super-critical takeoff into a gnarly barrel or further down the line a slower mushy wall without the rippable open face. I understand it's more rippable and shoulder-hoppable with more SW direction, but we didn't see it from that direction so I can't say. Probably the most freakish thing we observed was the wall of the swell down the line was regularly bigger/taller than the part of the wave that was breaking. This seemed to be the case both from the lineup and from the boat.

Swell Size

As it gets bigger, Macca's breaks in pretty much the same spot. This means fun barrels at shoulder to head high turn into heaving, below sea-level pits when well overhead, and the rare double-overhead wave is awesomely gnarly with the top 25-30% of the face throwing out as lip. Evidently if it gets much bigger than 10-12 ft faces it breaks on an outer reef and is just whitewater through the inside.

The Reef

At Macaronis the reef is a big flat slab. If you get really close it it has some sharp stuff attached, but it's not particularly jagged or uneven. The real issue when hitting the reef is the violence of the impact, not so much the scraping/shredding of you skin. Guys have gotten compressed vertebrae and broken bones going down hard on bigger days, so with size comes real consequence.

I was on the inside in 18 inches of water when a big set hit, feeling pretty unlucky. The current sweeps hard down the reef, making it always seem like you are trying to punch through the breaking part of the wave if you paddle against it. However if you just relax and go with the flow the current mostly carries you out of trouble to the bottom of the reef, and you just have to make a long paddle back out.

Wave selection

Macca's is amazingly mechanical. You could move 15 feet in or out and be catching well overhead death slabs or shoulder high leftovers in the same session from about the same spot in the lineup. I observed the waves grinding down the line so slowly and regularly that if you were actually sitting in the lineup there was a zero percent chance of getting caught inside. Maybe this would work differently with a 225+ west swell, but I can't say.

The mechanical nature of the wave really helps when trying to figure out the takeoff spot. Move a couple palm trees further up or down the reef and you are too far back to make the tube or totally missing the tube and not getting barreled at all. If you are in just the right spot you have a heavy drop, a critical wall, pump a couple times then stall really hard to stay in there. It takes confidence to slam on the brakes after driving for speed but Macca's gives you that confidence quickly.

On the bigger days the 4th, 5th, 6th waves of the set were cross-chopped from the first couple set waves whitewater reflecting sideways off the reef and moving down the line. It seem be pretty obvious to avoid those.

At about the 20 second mark check the little wave breaking on top of the suckout - he thinks he's in charge!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwJuKFXpfmY

Surf video reviews: Young Guns 3, Absolute Mexico, Aquatic Dreams

Since the great majority of surf videos are not sold or reviewed by mainstream media companies I thought after I bought a handful of them I'd post my thoughts. Here's what I care about in a surf movie, in the following order:

• great waves
• great music
• cinematography/photography/aesthetics
• great surfing with a healthy mix of maneuvers
  

Young Guns 3 disappointed after YG2 had set the bar so high ON MY CRITERIA. I acknowledge that the younger Quik guys are growing up and pushing the limits more and more. The aerial maneuvering is mind blowing. Having said that, probably 20-25% of the DVD is 1-2 maneuver waves at a wedgy closeout beachbreak left. A long long way from the 4-6 maneuver linkages at Maccas or Rifles in YG2, each shot from shot from 3 or 4 different angles and accompanied by a fantastic soundtrack. I liked the fact that G-Land had its own section in YG3 and it's about time someone went back there and shot the new school on that wave. It takes a lot of water photogs/boats/skis to get the shots at G-Land because of the huge playing field, tide changes, currents, etc, and they got the shots. As a surfer who likes going left and getting shacked G-Land is the end-all, be-all wave. As a photographer it's a pain in the ass. Front-lit morning G-Land is onshore, rarely glassy or offshore, and by the time the 10am offshores pick up the harsh midday light or sponsor-unfriendly back lighting is a factor. Never mind the other hassles of currents, distance from shore, and lineup size. Safe to say it ain't HT's.
Absolute Mexico looks great, the surfing is much more on the WCT guys at La Jolla with only a smattering of big-wave Puerto Escondido. It is a great companion to "A Fistful of Barrels", which I also recommend. The music is latin but lively, and thoughtfully selected. You also get a healthy sense for what's IMperfect about the wave at La Jolla when pros are complaining about the swift current and the heavy drops.

Aquatic Dreams looks low-budget but delivers a pretty high action quotient. It's not groundbreaking in any way. The WA barrelling right sequence gets repetitive (Gas Bay?) but the waves are sick and it's not the Box. Expectations were fairly modest for this one and in my opinion it over-delivered.

Rags Right is gone - 3 ft. of reef uplift in Southern Mentawais

The article below came out on 9/28. I've been getting married, getting away, and getting sick so have been kind out out of it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/sports/othersports/02surf.html

This article quotes Scuzz (Chris Scurrah) and Christina of Sumatran Surfaris. Sumatran Surfaris is currently doing a company trip/relief mission combo and probably invited some media along to cover the trip. The article quotes respected CalTech scientist Kerry Sieh as saying that the southen Mentawais have been lifted roughly 3 feet according to GPS. The article notes that Rags Right is gone and Macca's is shorter, shallower, and more dangerous. As far as other spots go, if Rags Right is affected that much then Thunders is probably pretty different with lots of exposed reef on the inside. It was pretty shallow/hollow but rideable from 3-5 ft faces, hard to know how it will be affected. The Hole may also be gone since it was shallow/heavy to begin with and pretty far south. Green bush was named by Surfing Magazine, has been featured in videos, looks shallow, and I believe it's near macaroni's so it could be gone also.