Windsurfing Lombok, at last!

This is my windsurf entry.

One day in Lombok, I thought to myself, I need something other than swimming to keep me happy in my free-time.



So I bought myself a windsurfer in November 2010. And began taking my first windsurfing steps after a loooong break from windsurfing. I was in way over my head. The board was too small, and too technical to ride, not to mention too fast. (Fanatic Falcon 111L). It's really a board meant for advanced riders. I love it now, but I didn't love it then. I'm sure the folks from the windsurf shop in Singapore meant well, little could they know about sailing conditions in Lombok and/or my skill level. (Although I do remember stating in the shop that I couldn't yet waterstart.) But when you have to learn planing on that kind of fickle board, or balancing on it to uphaul a 7m sail in rough conditions (because you don't know how to waterstart), it can be very unforgiving. And scary!



I knew so little about windsurfing, I had to consult Youtube on directions of how to rig up a sail properly.

In January 2011, my Naish 7.1m Rallye freerace sail (only sail!) and I took a little fateful tumble in the waves off Selong Blanak beach. It was a beautiful day, but hey I couldn't even make it past the shorebreak. The sail was practically torn into two under the weight of the crashing waves. No battens broke, surprisingly.

As I climbed out of the water and carried the rig out, my worst fears became true. I inspected the sail: it had a giant L-shaped gash that no amount of sailtape would ever fix.

I was only just learning how to balance myself on the board then... with broken equipment and no way to get a new sail quickly, my windsurfing was obviously going into hiatus. I was kind of in a state of shock and perplexity: did that just happen to me? Did that rogue wave - because that's what it was, a rogue wave - just kill my ambitions in a split second?

Learning to windsurf was what I've been waiting to do for a loooong time, I even had my motorcycle modified to be able to transport the board, sail and mast. I couldn't believe it. I dragged the torn sail behind me out of the water, you wouldn't believe it, but oh how mirthless a beautiful blue sky can be!

I don't have a photo to show for it, but the Naish Rallye looked in bad shape.

You know that feeling of happiness when it overcomes you and, say, you're on standing a beach... you suddenly find yourself doing cartwheels of joy? Well let me assure you, that was not a day to do cartwheels down the beach. I felt VERY mellow.



For the next 2 months, I wasn't up to much: mostly loafing around like a walrus, drinking beer, shooting cans. As Steven Wright noted: "24 beers in a case and 24 hours in a day....Coincidence?". I'm only joking. Saying stuff like that could probably get me fired. In March 2011 my parents brought me 2 new sails when visiting. It's stuff like that for which I'm super grateful to my parents for, even really indebted. Not stuff like edging me on to go to college (came out more confused), or making me learn more languages so that I could feel less rather than more polyglot ;) , or wearing braces (my teeth are crooked again).

I then broke another sail (Neilpryde 7.7m) on another beach, in another shorebreak. That was up in Senggigi. The wind had died, and I was sailing back to shore. And that's how that rogue wave caught up with me. And hit my board, and took me down.

No cartwheels of joy on that day either.



In August 2011 I met Hans and Henni Brunner from the Sanur Bali Windsurf Shop “Jump and Jibe”. They are great people, and super helpful and probably the only ones who are actively promoting windsurfing in Indonesia. Against prevailing wisdom, there is actually decent wind practically every month where I live in Indonesia, in Lombok. It's just a matter of driving to the right beach, and having the right 'informants' to tell you where it's a windy day. One of my best informants is Tambun, my preferred coconut seller on Tanju'an beach in Kuta, Lombok. His wind information (wind at planing threshold – yes or no?) is almost always spot-on. In return for this service, I buy copious amounts of coconuts from him.




I bought a 2-camber Freerace sail from Hans and Henni (Severne Turbo 8.6m) and a Lorch Breeze 142 L freeride board. They perform fairly neatly together. The sail is so light, I can waterstart it with relative ease, even at sub-planing conditions. At 10 knots, this equipment can get me planing, even as a passive rider. Yuppie! The upwind ability is okay too, and I'm still experimenting with different settings and one other fin. Of course against the bursting speed of the Fanatic Falcon the Lorch Breeze is more of a Sunday ride, with a lot less adrenaline kicks. But for me windsurfing is not really about going the fastest I can, it's more about hooking in, getting into the footstraps, planing away and taking in the scenery, the ocean, feeling the wind, the sun, and feeling a little bit Zen...

After those sessions, when windsurfing is just sheer joy, that's when I do cartwheels on the beach.

All pics were taken back in August. I don't have any more recent pics, but I hope soon!